I have a very old saddle that I need to get rid of. I bought it in 1973, used steadily for several years and have not ridden in it since the early 80’s. It is a Barnsby all purpose - model is the “Supreme”. It has the metal Tattersall tag thing and is seriously the most comfortable saddle I ever sat in. Quite heavy, knee rolls with suede, made as a competitor to the Stubben Siegried. I have never found anything about this brand in searching online. So it has been moved around over the years, not kept in ideal conditions (i.e. in the basement now) but is overall in decent shape. Problem is it would have to be assessed by a qualified repair person - I wouldn’t ride in it without changing the billets at the very least. I am sure it’s not worth much but I really don’t know who, if anyone, would want such a thing. Any ideas on where to list it? I am in SW Ont if that matters. Thanks for any thoughts.
Facebook? EBay? Or you could just send it to me, since I don’t have more saddles than I know what to do with and have a soft spot for old sales.
LOL Tinah - too bad you are so far away or that might work. I guess I am reluctant to just put it up for sale because I am pretty sure it’s not safe for riding in it’s present condition. I don’t do Facebook and I’ve never bought anything online, much less tried to sell (not very tech-savy). Plus, from what I’ve heard about Ebay lately, not sure that is the best avenue. I’ll have to keep thinking. Thanks.
Find a good saddle repair guy.
They can assess the useability and safety of it.
Most important is the condition of the tree and padding.
If the tree is broken, it’s either decoration or garbage
If it’s wool flocked, that can be restored.
When all is right again, donate it to a Handicapped/Therapy riding group or turn it into a barstool.
Cut the billets off above the top hole, that way the buyer will only use it for display, or have to take it to a saddle maker to fix it.
Yes - A saddle repair person would be a good idea but I haven’t been able to find one by searching online. Would cutting off the billets make it harder to repair? because it is still is usable condition- tree is definitely good and I’m 99% sure it is wool flocked. I don’t recall any other type from back then. Plus, it was a very good quality item when purchased. The therapeutic riding place is a possibility - but I don’t want to spend money to repair it if I am giving it away. These are good suggestions; I am going to check things out further. Thanks all.
Cutting off the billets [both sides] will make it much less likely someone will use the saddle with weak billets and then try to hold you responsible when the billets pop.
Replacing billets is easy peezy and here costs about $150.00 when done by a qualified tack repair person. It will also give them the chance to look over the leather and tree and advise the customer if the saddle is worth fixing.
I’m told their are facebook groups for selling tack.
My old no-name saddle that needed work I donated to someone who was training to be a saddle fitter to practice on. I believe Schleese has a school in Ontario, maybe you can reach out to them and see if they can recommend a student or organization that might benefit from it. (If you’re okay with donating, not sure you can get money out of it if it needs work)
Regarding the billets, I believe most saddles have a belt-type material on top, and the leather billets are sewn onto that. So you can cut the leather portion; the entire billet needs to be replaced anyways and a new leather one will be attached to the material on top.
I agree with donate but I would either pay to have the billets repaired first or just give for free to someone who repairs. I honestly don’t see the saddle having any real monetary value and I would feel like a heel even if I gave to like a therapy program and then they had to pay to make it useable.
I also do like the cutting the billets idea.
I was recently prepared to buy an old Barnsby on ebay for $50 (shipped) because I want a Barnsby nail, and beyond that I thought it would be interesting to take it apart and have a bare tree and parts to use for Pony Club/4-H saddle fitting demos. But someone bid it up to $60 which was more than I wanted to pay so I dropped out.
Here is a shop that has a bunch of them:
http://www.pelham-saddlery.com/tack/cliffbarnsbysaddle.html
I’d bet this shop could give you a reputable saddlers name.
There is also a Barnsby FB page.
IIRC the original company went out of business not too long ago and the name and assets were then bought by a new bunch. A couple of my UK friends were not at all thrilled with the new purchasers. I express no opinion of them, but these guys have been spot on in the past. If memory serves it has long been a quality brand.
Good luck with your saddle.
G.
Billets not hard to replace…I did my own, on a County saddle. They were attached to web type material, a careful razor blade removed them. New billets sewed on w/ strong waxed thread (buy online ) and a heavy needle. Took me less than an hour.
Personally, I’d list it on the giveaways page and see if you get a taker. You’ve certainly gotten your money out of it.
You never know, I sold an old antique probaby-not-safe-for-riding saddle to someone who wanted to make a custom motorcycle seat out of it. Though this was probably more likely with a western saddle. It sold for a nominal sum, but it was local and out of my sight (in addition to just being plain cool). I was very upfront that this was a not-safe-for-riding saddle.
Speaking as someone with a 16 foot dumpster in my driveway…I’d say realistically assess whether anyone would ever want to ride in it.
I wouldn’t donate a 40 year old saddle to a therapeutic riding center unless it was in perfect condition…and even then, maybe not. It would depend on whether they actually wanted it; I suspect they often throw away things people give them because they are not usable to them.
So…short of donating to a saddle fitter in training…I’d probably throw it away.
But…I’m in a cleansing mood this week. 
Anything that hasn’t been touched in 5 years and not inherently valuable is likely to be cut loose.
I am somewhat disappointed to hear that it is worth nothing, I had hoped maybe a few hundred but I guess that was wishful thinking. I will probably hang on to it for now. It is old, but it has not been ridden in in 35 years so it is actually in pretty decent shape. When I have more time to spare, I am going to see if I can find a saddler to assess it. I have never had a Facebook account and don’t plan to so that route is out. Appreciate the replies.
I’d try to sell it on Ebay – be VERY honest about condition + lots of pictures. Price it at whatever you want, but with a BEST OFFER option – that way you’ll SEE what people are willing to pay. You can always counter any offers you get, or you can ignore/not accept them.
Barnsby saddles are extremely well made and last forever (I own one), however, they aren’t the most popular brand in the US, especially a general purpose model. Find a saddler that can check the condition, consider donating it and getting a receipt for a tax write off for the donation, probably as much as you would get from selling it.
These older saddles have very little resale value but there are people out there who love them and collect them. These folks tend to know saddles and won’t ride with a broken tree or cracked billets.
Saddle styles have changed a lot, so.people who grew up riding in those old flat saddles still seek them out and make their students ride in them too!
Everyone else is after padded thigh blocks and extra grippy Buffalo leather.
You could rehome your saddle to an aficionado by advertising in a used Tack forum. It wouldn’t go for much though. That’s the other reason people like them.
You could send it to me! I won’t ride it (promise) but it would be nice to have a saddle again to love (soap, oil from time to time) and my cat (not a barn cat) used to enjoy napping on my western saddle (which I actually rode in but couldn’t soap and oil since it was synthetic), so maybe it is time she switched to forward seat. I could put it on a stand in front of the window and if she rolled off the sill in her sleep she could roll onto the saddle and keep on dreamin’! 
(That said, I have seen seriously old saddles for sale on Pelham Saddlery’s website.)
LOL Scribbler - it is most definitely NOT flat. If I wasn’t such a loss in the techie department, I would try to post a picture because I think you are envisioning something quite different. It is well padded and has knee rolls - not huge but certainly there. I am going to keep it for a while longer anyway. I do not think it would be unsafe to ride in - just needs to be checked out by someone knowledgeable.
