Mounted troop equipment

[battle of loos]

good morning,

I would like to complete this seal (pattern 1902, if I am not mistaken) dated 1914 and Canadian.

Is it compatible with a mounted gunner (Artillery)?
With this seal, he has the saddlebags, bits, flanges, reins, under ventrière and stirrups.
In annex, I have the oat bag and the water seal.
Thank you in advance for your advice and opinions.

regards

michel

[Spaceman]

My understanding from a bit of research is that this is a British Universal Pattern (UP) saddle meaning that it was a common design used by all mounted troops whether cavalry or artillery. The 1902 UP saddle appears to have had a fixed tree (3 sizes) whereas the later 1912 UP saddle had an adjustable tree so that the same saddle could be used to fit different shaped horses.

[battle of loos]

I will take a picture of the underside.

[Spaceman]

For both the 1902 and 1912 UP saddles, the 'tree' consisted of a steel arch at the front and rear to which the wooden side boards were attached. Essentially, the weight of the rider was transferred to the horse's back via these boards, albeit with felt pads in between.

The 1902 UP saddle basically had the arches fixed to the boards - to fit the saddle to different shaped horses required the arches to be changed. In contrast, the 1912 UP saddle allowed the boards to swivel on the end of the arches, as far as I understand the design, allowing them to take up the shape of the horse's back. So a fixed tree means it is a 1902 UP saddle and a swivel tree means it is a 1912 UP saddle, assuming it is one or other.

[reese williams]

The arches of the 1902UP saddle were permanently fixed to the boards and couldn't be changed. Different sized saddle were used to fit various horses as well as changing the arrangement of a blanket between the saddle and horse. The swivels on the 1912UP proved fragile and prone to breaking so it was discontinued. The 1902UP is still in use by the Horse Guard.

[Chasemuseum]

The saddlebags appear to be private purchase rather than issue. Not a big issue as these are not normally issued to artillery drivers.

The strap used as a stirrup leather appears to be a rein rather than a stirrup leather. Again you need two sets of reins to use with the P1902 universal (portmouth) bit.

A full headstall assembly is required.

 

 

With an artillery horse in a draught team, for WW1 you also need the traces & breasting that go with the appropriate position in the team,

 

This is the full harness RA1904 for a pair of wheelers (the two horses closest to the limber)

 

 

[battle of loos]

thanks for the picture.

[PBH]

The saddle in the original post does indeed appear to be a 1902 pattern, however the square loops on the fans are unlikely to be original; there should be only one each side and that attached to the leather pocket on the felt rather directly to the side board. The felt numnahs should of course be fixed to the boards by pockets and straps, in this case it appears to be a separate item. As Chasemuseum has pointed out, the bridle is incomplete without the underlying headcollar, the bit appears to be a civilian curb and accompanied by a tee-bar bradoon which would not be a feature of other ranks kit (in fact, although a bradoon or watering bit was specified for an officer's head set, it was frequently left off and the universal PMR bit used alone - items 15 and 38 in the b&w photo).

The King's Troop still use the 1902 pattern saddle but the Household Cavalry use a 1915 hybrid which is similar to the 1902 but retains the supporting strut to the rear arch from the 1890.

The 1912 swivel tree is an excellent saddle but came too late for WW1.  Rather than the supposed fragility of the hinged arches, it is more likely that with the increased demand for saddlery in 1914 it was simpler to continue production of the 1902 than switch production to the more expensive (and complicated) 1912. Nonetheless, the 1912 was still in use as late as 1945.

[battle of loos]

Thank you for crs very nice photos.
I will "disassemble" the saddle and present it to you in detail.

michel