"Like all men don't wear the same size of clothes, animals need different kinds of saddles as well. In the previous years, animals used to get sweat and hurt by heavy loads. The animals experienced poverty just like people did. People couldn't get enough of food, how were they supposed to feed their animals? Few people used to feed them, the rest of them just left them in their fate, wandering in the mountains looking for food".

Made of goat leather

Nick Kartsioukas, from Litochoron of Pieria, has been a saddler since he was ten years old. He is a man with a sharp mind and look, who observes everyone from head to toe, before he opens himself up. He believes that anyone whose last name is Samaras (saddler), has definitely an ancestor who did this job. "Even if you ask Samaras, the politician, I'm sure he'll tell you that some grandfather or great grandfather of his, used to make saddles".

Mr. Nick makes saddles with wool fabric sewn to the part that touches the animal's back, so that it soaks up the sweat, and with burlap on top. He stuffs the saddles inside with zea, rye straw, more in the animal's buttocks so that it doesn't get hurt and less in its back, so that it can move easily. The zea is resistant to moisture and doesn't moulder, that's why it was also used in roofs. He puts some goat leather above the burlap, not sheep leather because it soaks up the water and gets wet, nor pig leather because it's hard and has holes from the animal's hairs that are long like needles.

The goat leather once used to be naturally reddish, but nowadays industries paint it black and use fat to make it heavier, so that they can sell it in a higher price, charging it per kilo. For the saddle's wooden frame, Mr. Nick uses beech and ash wood, which he once used to cut secretly in the slopes of Olympus Mount, because foresters would chase him for clandestine logging.

The last one left

There is no other saddler today in Litochoron, Nick Kartsioukas is the last one left, he is retired and has relocated his lab in a storehouse. He has many memories from his profession: "I've seen animals that cannot stand the saddle, but the mule drivers didn't remove it until the animal gave in. In our days, animals are surely being fed better that they used to be some years ago, but when competing with men, they always lose the battle".

I remember my father, who had found some pounds hidden into a saddle: "Mule drivers used to hide them in there, in case they'd come across thieves. Apart from the money thieves, though, there were also horse thieves. Just like now, that people steal cars, they used to steal horses back then. Not knowing about the hidden pounds, the thieves were selling the animals. That's how saddlers were finding them, when saddles were being carried to them for repair".

Mr. Nick didn't get rich by being a saddler, but he and his family lived with dignity. The 350 drachmas he used to charge for each saddle he repaired in 1957 were being used wisely, but the 200 euros per saddle that he gained until recently were not enough.
TEXT-PHOTOS: GEORGE ZAFEIROPOULOS
SOURCE: www.greecewithin.com

MORE PHOTOS

Litochoron is a beautiful and well preserved village.

---