10/12/2025
Remember the sidesaddle from our post last week?
One of our wonderful followers, Jeanne, recognised it as one she owned many years ago and kindly shared some of its incredible history with us!
The label inside shows it was originally crafted for a Count Fitz Hockley (or possibly Hockberg — the name has faded over time) in London, 1913. After this, the saddle somehow made its way to India, where it was later abandoned. A British family living in India at the time were offered the saddle, and when they later relocated to Canada they took the saddle with them.
Years later, a friend of Jeanne came across it at an estate sale in Canada and decided to purchase it. Though a little worse for wear, it was given new life with a fresh panel and new billets by a local saddler.
Jeanne later bought it herself and the saddle spent some time in the USA, where she even travelled with it to the Equine Affaire in Ohio in 1998 and met renowned sidesaddle expert Roger Philpot, who had just launched his sidesaddle magazine.
Eventually, Jeanne passed it on to another rider who it fit better, after which it was believed to have made its way back to Europe.
All these years later, that very same saddle has journeyed across the world once more and now rests proudly in its new home in southern Victoria, Australia.
From England to India, Canada to the US, back to Europe and now Australia — what an extraordinary life this old Mayhew has had!
It’s such a joy to see how these beautifully crafted pieces continue to travel, carrying a piece of history with every new rider.
📸 Pictured: The sidesaddle today with its current owner Weng Yi, aside on her beautiful Irish Sport Horse Green Isles Galloway (“Gally”).
