I was asked to write an article for Western Shooting Horse magazine about McClellan saddles but was allowed only 300 words for the article. For those who write you know that the fewer words you're given the harder it is to write something. I decided to focus the article on how to put a surcingle on a McClellan saddle as that is probably the most important aspect of using one and I figured I could keep that topic down to 300 words. The girth of the McClellan is rigged around the middle of the horse instead of up around the heart girth like most saddles. The military saddle was thus ridden with an extra belt that wrapped around the saddle to hold it in place. The question is, where do you put it? The Randy Steffen book about horse soldiers indicates that it goes over the girth. Well, back when I was trying to figure out how to use the surcingle I decided that didn't make sense. If the center-fire rigging on a McClellan saddle tends to slip because of where it is, it didn't make sense to put it over the girth. That would just be duplicating the problem. Modern day saddles put the rigging up toward the front where the horse's body narrows thus preventing the girth from rolling off the horse's belly. To me it made more sense to put the surcingle in the same location. So that's what I did. I also rotated the surcingle so that the webbing portion went under the horse instead of over the saddle. I buckled it on the near side with the leather going over the saddle instead of underneath the horse where it would rub. Although this technique made sense to me it was contrary to what I'd seen in the Steffen book. However, another trooper decided to try it according to the illustration in Horse Soldiers. He wrapped it around the girth and mounted up. About half way to the arena his horse started bucking. I looked down at his tack and realized the surcingle had slipped off the girth and was around the horse's loins and had become a bucking strap. The rider managed to dismount and very carefully unbuckled the surcingle before the horse exploded. Since then everyone decided to use the surcingle up front. It may not be period correct but it definitely works. I can't remember the last time we had a saddle come loose.
Can anyone tell me where I can purchase a shabraque to go under my McClellan saddle like the one depicted on the bay closest to the camera in the main photo? Thanks, mercadante11@Verizon.net
ReplyDeleteI've been a cavalry reenactor for about 10 years now. I've tried using the surcingle with the cloth up over the saddle which is more comfortable but would of course cause rubbing on the horse's belly. as with every single other girth or cinch strap on every single other saddle the soft part is always against the horse. So I started riding it this way with the cloth up against the belly of the horse just like a regular girth. This works fine although of course it does make the saddle rougher on me. but when you look at the history of the McClellan saddle it was designed for the comfort of the horse not the rider
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