Having started looking through/processing some of the images recently arrived from Joe Sullivan, he has some nice pics of a Mexican McClellan.
This caused me to wonder, and ask - has anyone done a reasonable study of 20th century Mexican cavalry equipment?
On related note - here's a 1915 notice in Harness, Vol 28, a industry publication that reprinted a newspaper story of large Mexican contract with S. C. Gallup for cavalry equipment.
gallup_mexican_order_1915.jpg (69.2 KiB) Viewed 1366 times
Not to my knowledge. Of course, there is a better than even chance that such a study would be in Spanish. Maybe some of our Spanish-speaking members know something?
That saddle is interesting. I took those pix along with the items I am selling, and posted them up to Todd even though I am on the fence about selling it. I had it re-strapped so I could ride it safely, but now it fits none of my wide-backed Arabs. Still, it is an interesting curiosity.
If we look at it, we find it is very close to the Mac, with the main difference being in the flaps and the pommel structure. The rigging is very similar to that of a M1904 Mac, except that the Q-straps pass through the flaps. IN a way, it is like a combination of a M'04 and a M'28 modified, with a little more ornamentation in the cut of the flap and the side of the saddle nails. The new Q-strap I had put on strap obscures the saddle bag stud, but there is one there. All of the leather was originally black.
About 30 years a whole lot of these turned up in Texas. Many people did not know they were not American. I once saw a 6-man ceremonial Flag honor guard in 1860s Federal uniform reproductions riding in these. Mine was in a saddle shop back in about 1981. I made a phone sweep of tack shops and feed stores with tack. Didn't find much, except for this, which the owner thought because it was black, that it was 19th century US.