Editor’s note: On Dec. 3 the Kaua‘i Museum celebrates its 50th anniversary. Museum leaders have chosen 50 stories from exhibits, collections and archives of the museum to share with the public. One story will run daily through Dec. 3. LIHU‘E
Editor’s note: On Dec. 3 the Kaua‘i Museum celebrates its 50th anniversary. Museum leaders have chosen 50 stories from exhibits, collections and archives of the museum to share with the public. One story will run daily through Dec. 3.
LIHU‘E — Many think of paniolo and the big Hawaiian saddles as the universal choice of Kaua‘i riders.
In variations of the Mexican-introduced saddles of the 1830s, each island had their own unique style of dressing the Hawaiian saddle. Nearly every form of saddle was found here because of the cosmopolitan population on the plantations having their own preferences. English saddles were used by the Scots and Brits; the U.S. cavalry’s McClelland saddles were used by former military men; and, of course, the custom-made Hawaiian saddles were popular as well.
Ladies had their choice of side saddles or any of the above.
Most Hawaiian women rode astride with a unique skirt wrapping called a pa‘u that protected clothes from the dust and mud of the trail.
At one time, horses were thought to outnumber people in Hawai‘i. Children to ali‘i rode with grace and little thought to safety. The Hawaiian cowboys were fearless and skilled enough that a handful of them entered a championship rodeo in Wyoming on unknown, borrowed mounts and placed in many of the events.
In the 1930s a new style of saddle was introduced and became popular with the plantation field supervisors, many of whom spent 10 hours a day in the saddle. Not only were they more comfortable for horse and rider, but the Australian saddles were developed for rugged trail-riding. In the Australian outback, where a rider in distress is hundreds of miles from help, this saddle is designed to keep a rider in it on steep trails, running flat out, or if the horse stumbles or is startled.
Western saddles were developed specifically for cattle work. Roping and holding cattle required a rider and horse to pull back, the rider throwing his weight to the rear of the saddle.
The Australian saddle borrows the best from the English and American western saddles. It is a trail saddle where the rider sits forward, like in English dressage. If a horse stumbles, the rider is already in position to prevent a fall with the poleys or knee pads there to stop a rider from going over the top.
Like a jockey, the faster a rider goes, the further forward, against the knee pad, is the weight. At a run, the rider is leaning with thighs secured against the knee pad, head down, back straight, reins short and with full control over the horse using leg pressure and body weight as well as the reins.
For a walking movement, the rider sits back in the saddle with the legs straightened, more like with a western saddle. This motion bears the rider’s weight more evenly on the tree.
Modern Australian saddles incorporate more features like western saddles, such as rigging, fleece-lined panels, fenders, and even horns.
On display at the Kaua’i Museum are saddles from Kaua‘i families including the variations mentioned here, including an Australian saddle.
