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Can I complain about the McClellan saddle?
It hurt my ass when I did a (very) brief stint doing ONE Civil War re-inactment. The British Universal is a much more comfortable seat.
It's amazing how often the word "endure" or a variation on it comes up with the thing.
It endured in service until we stopped using horses for combat.
It's technically still in service because ceremonial units still have horses.
It's still being made today because of re-inactments.
It's definitely a saddle that either fits you, or doesn't and one size is all you have to choose from.
I'll bet it fit George's ass perfectly. I'll bet that George's ass was 50th percentile at best.
One place it really shines, though, is it's easier on the horse than most military saddles of its day. That's no small consideration.
It was also more affordable and easy to manufacture than the saddles it replaced.
If you put a gun to my head, I will be forced to admit that it would not have endured so long if it was really as bad as people complain it was.
My dad hated McClellans. He said nothing bit your nuts or butts like an McC. And the only thing they were good for was making the rider look like a stiff prig.
ReplyDeleteLike George?
DeleteI don't know nothing about saddles, but I know about having a broken coccyx. It taught me where the phrase "pain in the ass" comes from. Took most of a year to stop hurting and let me sit in a regular chair.
ReplyDeleteEven now, 20 years later, it tends to hurt if I don't sit in proper chair.