New England saddler Mark Dawson is one of the youngest craftsmen in Australia who can still make a traditional stock saddle.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
And now he’s been asked to put his skills to the test, to make a saddle for a new museum opening in Melbourne designed to showcase some authentic saddles made by the very best craftsmen from across the country.
“The traditional stock saddle has gone out a bit in the last 10 to 15 years and there’s not that many people who still no how to make them,” Mr Dawson told Fairfax Media.
“The saddles that we make these days are actually a cross between the American saddle and the Australian saddle and it has really taken over.”
Mr Dawson learnt the art of saddlery in Glen Innes at a place called WA Dibley in 1979.
“I left school was I was 14 and got an apprenticeship to a guy called Steve Pollard,” he said.
“Dibleys was there for about 90 years but in all that time they only trained two apprentices – the guy that taught me and me.”
Making a traditional stock saddle is a bit more difficult than today’s saddles.
“You start with a saddle tree which is the frame,” he said.
“You put webbing on the tree which suspends the seat above the tree just a little bit which gives it a shock absorbing effect.
“The knee pads are made primarily out of boot sole leather and harness leather which are all tacked together, covered and sewn in.
“The leather is English bridle leather … we don’t make a lot of saddlery leather in Australia.”
Mr Dawson said around $1,500 worth of materials were in the saddle, which he recently finished, worth a total of $10,300.
“The seat is made from Scottish pigskin – I have been saving this [material] for about eight years because I haven’t been able to get it,” he said.
“Scottish pigskin is about the only pigskin you could get that was heavy enough for saddle seats.”
The saddler said today, the tree maker did a lot more work in the saddles than they used to.
“The saddle maker has to do most of the work in the [traditional stock] saddles,” he said.
“I think I could make probably three of these [new saddles] to one traditional stock saddle.”
Mr Dawson will also be interviewed and featured alongside other handmakers who still know how to make the traditional stock saddles.
Behind the idea is international property developer and Melbourne man Michael Drapac. Mr Dawson will send his saddle to Melbourne this winter, with the museum due to open in 2020.