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The Champ Saddles
came in two sizes and two basic
styles of each. The kind with the dot or conchos around the edges
are basically Cowboy saddles and the kind with large laces or
dashes around the edge seem to mainly be combined with the Cowgirls.
I am sure there are exceptions, but there does seem to be a pattern
to the way they were combined by the factory. Most Roy Rogers
saddles have the pointed tapaderos. |
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Pointed Tapadero
Saddles |
  Black Champ Saddle with Dots
These are some of the earliest
800 series saddles. Hartland Champ saddles have silver while
Breyer Champ saddles have gold decorations. Some evidence indicates
the saddles with the silver dots or conchos went mostly with
the Cowboys, while the ones with the large laces or dashes go
mostly with the Cowgirls.
Champ style Lone Ranger #801
Red and White Champ Cowboy #801
Black Champ Cowboy #801 |
 Black Champ Saddle with Dashes
The larger Laces or Dashes on this saddle seems to
be used most often with the Cowgirls. This saddle would probably
have been used with the white Champ horse with the black tack,
but possibly with the white Champ horse with silver tack. The
color of the saddle seems to match the martingale and bridle
whenever possible.
Cowgirl #802 |
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 Red Champ Saddle with Dots
Hartland made a Champ Cowboy
with a red and white shirt and this is mostl likely his main
saddle when paired with a horse with red tack. The early Black
Beauties also used this saddle until roughly when they switched
over to the Semi-Rearing horse mold.
Red and White Champ Cowboy #801
Black Beauty |
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 Red Champ Saddle with Dashes
The Red and White Cowgirl would use this saddle when
on a Champ horse with red tack.
Red and White Cowgirl #802 |
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 Brown Champ Saddle with Dots
This one would probably go with
the Palomino Champ horses with the brown tack —and since
it has the dots or conchos, it is most often used with the Cowboys.
Brown Champ Cowboy #801
Red and White Champ Cowboy #801 |
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 Brown Champ Saddle with Dashes
This one would probably go with
the Palomino Champ horses with the brown tack and since it has
the dashes, it is most often used with the Cowgirls. When Hartland
switched over to the early Dale Evans with black gloves, this
saddle would have been turned over to her.
Early Green Dale Evans #802DE
Cowgirls #802 |
 Blue Champ Saddle with Dots
At least two collectors tell me they own this saddle. I had to adjust the colors of a black one in Photoshop to have one to show here. It does have the dots and not dashes. I haven’t heard of one with the dashes. We can only speculate that it went with a Champ style Palomino with blue tack since that is the only Champ horse with the blue. It’s impossible to say for sure at this point, but it might have been a very early saddle used with Roy Rogers. Maybe not! |
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 Blue & White RR Saddle
Roy Rogers is shown in a few Christmas Catalogs riding
a similar saddle with unusual trim, but I’m not too convinced
many of them shipped with this saddle. It is extremely rare!
The early Roy Rogers saddle mold has one large star and three
smaller ones, just like this one so we can date it from the beginning
.
V-Fringe
Roy Rogers #806 |
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 Early Blue RR Saddle- Four Stars
This is the more common early
Roy Rogers saddle and was used until they made the switch over
to the Full Rearing Trigger. Without cinch holes, this saddle
would not stay on the rearing horse, but it served the walking
version fine for many years.
V-Fringe
Roy Rogers #806 |
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 Early Blue RR Saddle- Droopy Eagle
You have to be looking closely
to see the differences in this saddle from the one above. This
one is missing the little star at the front. It also has a different
eagle design on the fender right under where the rider’s
knee would rest. For lack of a better term, I have called it
a “Droopy Eagle”. They are less common but probably
not rare.
V-Fringe Roy Rogers #806 |
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 Blue RR Saddle- One Star
After a few years of selling Roy Rogers on a walking
Trigger, they created a new figure to ride on the new Rearing
Trigger which needed a modified saddle with a cinch hole to keep
the saddle on the horse’s back. This saddle also have one
lare star on the tapadero where the earlier one had four stars.
Early RR saddles were molded in white, or marbled white plastic
and painted blue over the top, then silver trim.
Horizontal White Fringe Roy Rogers #806 |
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 Blue RR Saddle - One Star - All Blue
Around 1992, Stevens Plastics in Missouri began offering
this set through J.C. Penney's mail order Christmas Catalog.
The set was later sold direct and also through specialty stores.
They used the same mold as the later RR sets, but molded the
entire saddle in blue plastic. Then they painted the silver trim.
This is a dead give-away on this piece.
Stevens Plastics Roy Rogers |
