Saddle construction.

[Greenfield]

I have an old saddle (1940s?) with no obvious makers name, with what appears to be a 'leatherette' cover over a sprung frame. Can someone tell me what would would have been used to cushion the springs under the cover? I'm sure that I have seen what looks like horsehair felt on other saddles.

[V500]

I've seen that too, but an off-cut of foam underlay works better.

[Mark Cook]

I have tried traditional horse hair carpet underlay and it's just not hard enough.

Mark

[Derek996]

This image shows a felt like material.

[Greenfield]

Job done.
The 'original' mattress had a triangle of cardboard on top of the springs followed by some thin rubber carpet underlay and then the cover. I was virtually sitting on the springs and frame. There were traces of what looked like horse hair embedded in the coils of the springs.
I raided my campervan supplies and cut out a piece of carpet using the cardboard as a template. This gave a semi rigid cover on the springs but still retaining some flex. I then used layers of felt, 3mm thick, to give extra padding where needed, then replaced the cover. Sounds a bit of a botch but the work is invisible and my flabby uncomfortable saddle is rejuvenated.