The Camargue saddler

At a glance

• Place: Mas-Thibert, Rhône delta
• Leather: Charolais or Limousin cattle hides
• Signature technique: the saddler's stitch
• Time per saddle: about 100 hours

The Camargue saddle

The Camargue saddle descends from the knight's saddle of the Middle Ages, adapted to the work of the gardians, who herd bulls on horseback and often guide their horse with one hand. Its high pommel and raised cantle hold the rider firmly when a bull hooks.

The tree and the stitch

The tree, or arçon, joins a pommel and a cantle of ash and marine plywood with bolted iron fittings, whose curve gives the seat, keeps the saddle from turning and protects the horse. It is covered with leather pieces cut with the half-moon knife.

Everything is sewn by hand with the saddler's stitch: a single linen thread coated with Swedish pitch and beeswax, threaded on two needles that pass through the leather from opposite sides. If one thread breaks, the seam holds, which is why a saddle can last a hundred years.

Accessories and finish

Girths, stirrup leathers, saddlebags for pincers and veterinary products, a cushion on which Arlésiennes sit on feast days, and a crupper ending in a leather loop filled with linseed complete the saddle. Cage stirrups keep a thrown rider from being dragged.

Edges are tooled and dyed red, a scalloped border is cut, and the patina is a mixture of methylated spirit, Siena earth, walnut stain, gum arabic and grey tobacco.

Tradition

Meffre refused to fit a cowboy horn to a Camargue saddle: as a Camarguais, it was his duty to keep the tradition. He nonetheless made western, Mexican and Californian saddles from models brought back by a singer friend from his tours.