English/McClellan saddle?

[Maggie Mieske <mmieske@netonecom.net>]

Dear Ridecampers,
Today I bought a funny looking saddle and I was wondering if anyone has
ever seen one like it.  It is shaped similar to an English saddle except
that it is much wider in the cantle (almost like the Plantation saddle I
recently bought also) but like a McClellan it is center rigged and has
an open seat.  It is a neat looking saddle and with some TLC and a few
repairs could be a really neat endurance saddle.  My husband says it
looks like someone took a western tree and put leather over it but
without a pommel.  The back of the leather appears to have initials
(possibly JJ?) scratched into it with the number 29... don't know what
that means.  Anyway, it is really neat and I am hoping to try it this
year.  Just wondered if anyone had ever seen anything like it.  I only
paid $50 for it so it won't be a total loss... it's neat enough, I'll
hang it on the wall if I can't make it usable!!  The leather isn't bad,
just dry in some places.  Otherwise, it's fairly supple after we cleaned
it up a bit.  My husband has it tore apart right now checking out the
tree.  Thanks for any info!
Maggie