BACKGROUND: Although considered highly mobilized for its time the German army still utilized a great number of horses through-out WWII with the average infantry division containing roughly five thousand horses. In 1939 the German army also had fifteen, primarily horse-mounted, Cavalry regiments that were mainly tasked with tactical reconnaissance. Even though most of the Cavalry units were mechanized by 1940 they still utilized a large number of horses through-out the war. By 1943 the Germans were experiencing fuel and vehicle shortages which resulted in an increase in the number of horses utilized in the field. Cavalry personnel were basically equipped the same as the standard infantry personnel with the addition of specialized horse equipment. The standard horse saddle utilized by the German army was the M1925, Western style saddle as introduced in 1925 and utilized for the duration of the war with minor modifications.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Multi-piece, mid-brown leather construction, classical western style, M1925 Cavalry saddle with wood, steel, catgut, and canvas fittings with internal, ersatz, padding. The main components of the saddle consists of the seat with a front fork, without a saddle horn, a rear cantle and lower skirt, side fender flaps, stirrup straps with stirrups and the girth/cinch cord retaining straps. The horizontal, contoured central seat flares upwards at the both the front and rear with a small dual-ply, leather reinforcement panel machine stitched to the front fork and a rounded rear cantle. The seat rests on the lower skirt with a steel reinforced, lathed wooden frame, a central, top, cat-gut forming and joining panel and a canvas bottom with internal padding to rest on the horse’s back. The seat is secured to the lower skirt by four, small, raised, rectangular steel rings which protrude upwards through cut-out slashes with corresponding attachment straps. The vertical fender flaps have rounded off bottoms and a dual-ply, leather, forward edges with internal padding. The side fender flaps have an underlying, swivel hinged, rectangular steel ring to attach the stirrup straps. The stirrup straps each have a pronged, steel, roller buckle with ten corresponding length adjustment eyelets and inserted tooled, steel stirrups. The underlying lower skirt has three, vertical leather straps with seven, length adjustment, buckle eyelets to each side to secure the vertical girth/cinch cord to secure the saddle on the horse. The girth/cinch cord is absent. The lower skirt also has a rectangular steel ring and a steel "D" ring to each side of the forward edge for additional securing straps and an additional steel "D" ring to each rear side to secure the flank strap. The additional securing strap is intact but the separate flank strap is absent. The lower skirt also has a protruding, rectangular, steel ring to the reverse center to attach additional items. Most of the components can be stripped off for cleaning and maintenance as required. The saddle has a couple of impressed numerical markings bit no visible manufacturer’s mark. The saddle is in overall good condition with light to moderate chafe wear and age and usage toning, and a few stitches missing from the reverse panel, but the leather is still fairly supple. The metal fittings show light to heavy surface spotting but still function. Scarce issue saddle in overall good condition.

GRADE ***1/4                             PRICE $410.00