Some Regional Brazilian Saddles

Brazil has a wide variety of riding styles, and the saddles and tack vary quite a bit regionally. Here is a quick look at two kinds of saddles used in southern Brazil. The basto sela is a particularly interesting one - the two sides of the saddle are held together by stitching, making it a very flexible saddle. The "four headed" kind mentioned in the video is split all the way through the pommel and cantle, making it even more flexible. There is an image of one on this site, and you can see how the pommel and cantle each consist of two unconnected sections (thus making the four "heads" in the name).

Here is an interior photo from a tack shop in the gaucho region of the south, that shows a variety of saddles, including a fancy red sidesaddle on the upper left, and a dressy white one in the center. It is typical to store saddles by hanging them on pegs or hooks, like they are here.

Finally, here is a short video showing a saddle be adjusted on a horse's back. You can see the way the tack is layered on - first the thick wool pads, then the leather saddle (notice that the stirrups are attached externally), then a girth to hold the saddle (the girth is not sewn onto the saddle in any way), then the sheepskin, then a second girth to hold the sheepskin in place.

Thanks, Paulo, for the explanations and demonstrations!

Comments

[girasol]

LOL - you're not the first person to respond that way! A friend of mine said "that's a lot of cinchin' up!" I had to reply, "what, are you in a hurry to get somewhere?"

But seriously, I think what's interesting is how in modern Western and English saddles all the parts have been attached into one unit to some degree. The padding is built into the saddle, so you don't need the sheepskin (well, some long distance riders still add sheepskins!), and the girth or cinch is attached with buckles and billet straps, so it doesn't need to be wrapped all the way around the horse.

On the other hand, these old style saddles are easy to fix out on the range - if your cinch breaks, you can just fix it with some rawhide. There are no buckles or sewn-in billets that need special equipment to fix or a store nearby to buy replacement parts from. Same with the traditional rawhide bridles - except for the bit there are no metal parts, everything is just rawhide, straps and knots, so any part can be repaired by a cowboy wherever he is, without needing special tools or a tack shop near to hand.

[Kimberly Cox Carneal]

seems like an awful lot of girths to me. maybe they help to distribute the pressure across a greater area than just one girth, like English saddles.
I would SO love to come striding up to a foxhunting meet in that red sidesaddle!
Those saddles are works of art--so beautiful.