See, now, everything worked out!

Okay, I seem to be going through a bit of a phase here, folks, so you're just going to have to bear with me on the saddles a little bit longer. But I had to share this happy news with you all:

I found a buyer for the mechanical pony saddle!

Well, that's good news, I hear you saying, I guess, but it's not happy news. I mean, It's just selling a saddle. Isn't that kind of what you expect to do? What's so great about that? 

I found a buyer who was looking to replace her childhood saddle that she had lost in a house fire. I told her I had one she might be interested in, but it was purely decorative. She asked for a picture and when I showed it to her, she texted back "Perfect!!!!!!!"

Seven exclamation points, you guys. Seven. 

I made me so glad I had decided to go ahead and fix it up anyway, despite possible collector value being lost by my efforts. I didn't do anything that couldn't be reversed; just put on saddle strings and conchos, made new stirrup leathers (using the original diamond spots so they matched the rest) and added my newly-made-but-matching stirrups with tiny tapaderos.

Want to see the final result that pleased my buyer so? Of course you do. So here it is:

So stinkin' cute. I'm thrilled that it's going to a home where it will be treasured. And like one of my friends said "You're giving memories!" Ah, it just warms the heart.