Recently we were brought a saddle for cleaning and what we have come to call de-dazzling.  It inspired the De-Dazzle Saddle Contest! I know that there are some saddle makers that will do this per a customers request.  This was a DIY job that I thought was going to be a disaster and it turned out far better than we could have imagined. 

Before De-Dazzling

As you can see this silver was covered and hadn’t been polished in some time. As we took off the dazzles we collected them. Granted some went flying across the shop as they were popped off, but I can assure you that we attempted to get them all in the jar as we went. One of my neighbors even crawled around a bit on the floor to find any strays we missed.

So we got them all off, there was a lot of glue. At first we thought that the plating of the silver has started to wear and that is why they dazzled it. But after taking an hour, a q-tip, some acetone and a polishing cloth it was discovered that the silver was in great shape!

Partially De-Dazzled

The Final Shine

Finally when all the glue and dazzles were off, the polishing commenced. We were left with a blindingly shiny saddle that the pictures do not do it justice. Mirror like shine.

The Contest

The De-dazzle Saddle is a Dale Chavez Show saddle that was custom made when it was first built. It has its original silver which was in great shape and shined up beautifully. I just wish I had a photo booth that would have done it some justice. You really could see yourself in it.

In the comments section of this page put in your answer to the question. How many gems are in the jar?

The contest will run from the day this is posted until May 20th, 2023. When a winner will be declared closest to the number in the jar without going over!

There will be one winner declared who will receive a Grooming Zippered Carry-All that can be used for much more than just grooming supplies! Also included is one of our Hand-Held Flow-Through Body Brush- DELUXE that you can screw on the end of a hose! I’m also going toss in our Trail Bells. You can tie them onto any saddle or backpack to notify the wildlife around you! This prize has a value of over $40!!

AND THE WINNER IS!!!!

Michelle Ellis!!!! You were the closest without going over… Although you were shy by more than a few.

The number of gems that were on that saddle that made it into that jars was 1,079 GEMS!!!

Thank you to everyone for participating!!