New Saddle for Me. Really It's Over 100+ Years Old Poley Saddle and Queensland Heeler Puppies

The Poley Australian
Saddle and My Sahara

I really love the Poley Saddle
it's Awesome. My Sahara loves it,
'cuz she was an angel with it on.
Must be really comfortable.

Perfect fit!

Smile for The Camera.
Yes! See.. Sahara Smiles, too!

The saddle is my mother's and was used as soon as she got it in 1960 and she always loved it. My great-grandfather was a saddle-maker and was well known in the community for leather work. He actually wouldn't have used the saddle because he went all "Western" and was a California State Judge. He also knew the gullet of the saddle wouldn't fit all of the Quarter Horses on our place or the large Morgan.. and too large for the Arabian. It fit his roper Chico and my mom's horse Babe. Of course, he changed the cinch it came with to a D ring with a roper girth, cinch strap, and off-billet.

The only thing I had trouble with is the rubber pads were missing from the stir-ups, so I had to use my Justin boots with the rubber soles. Soooo, my boots were exactly the same as the fender of the saddle and bugged me the whole time--the side of the saddle was constantly trying to side inside my boot. Now I see why the English Style boot is so high on the leg. I could go for that. This is comfy and I really could go for days trail-riding in this saddle. Now, I want an Australian halter/bridle that has the detachable bit, and a martingale and the cupper thingy that goes around the tail. Maybe even a Monkey Bar. lol Don't ask! I'm glad my mom ended-up with such a treasure and it fits MY SAHARA! I'm sticking with this saddle. I love it and my horse loves it too. I think we connect better, but we've always been "kindred spirits."

Ojai saddle-maker (a real expert) said that saddle was the oldest saddle he'd ever seen. We didn't think it even had a small D-ring for the cupper, but it was a little rusted to the top of the saddle gullet. Too Cool.

My favorite movie ever is The Man From Snowy River. It was my Grandpa Gene's favorite too. I didn't even know we had that in common. Grandpa Gene died when I was one and Grandpa Gene was Joe Wellman's son.

The saddle was sent to Grandpa Joe from Rosemary Waugh from Toloumbi, MacLean N.S.W. Austrailia. She had sold my great grandfather Joe Wellman a whole bunch of Kelpies. The first one was Tucha Tucka. Koolinga Roger was Tucka's sire and was a show dog that was dark red. The dam was Tarion Binda. My grandfather sold Kelpies all over the U. S. and the saddle was a present to my mother for helping with the obedience training and she also received a dog named Bushgirl. The Queensland Heeler just came with the bunch and her name was Gympie...maybe it's a name of an area, but my mom's family called her Gypsy.

We still have the Queensland Heelers, but the Kelpies are all gone. They sold so fast that my grandfather just couldn't keep up with the demand. Now my sister is breeding them and selling Queenslands. Her selling blog site is: Knappy Puppies

I took the pictures for her blogspot. Yay! They are cute as my Heelers! And...chunky-cute!

This is Rascal!