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Leonard Cesena's Western saddle.

Leonard Cesena (Aug. 14, 1902 - April 1, 1985) was a Newhall cowboy who, like his father Leonardo Cesena, worked for The Newhall Land and Farming Co. when it was a cattle ranch. According to his granddaughter, Gloria Winton Farley, Leonard won a bronco riding competition at the Newhall Rodeo in the early 1900s.

At some point (per 1930 U.S. Census), maybe around the time Leonard's father died in January 1928 — followed by Leonard's younger brother Phillip in the St. Francis Dam Disaster less than two months later — Leonard moved to Calabasas where he worked as a house painter. (Leonard's widowed mother, Erolinda Rivera Cesena, and some of his other siblings continued to live in Newhall.) According to Gloria, he then joined the Los Angeles County Forestry (Fire) Department and retired as the Malibu fire captain after a 30-year career. [View related letter.] He lived most of his life in Agoura; his last place of residence was Thousand Oaks.

Leonard ultimately left his old Newhall saddle to his granddaughter Gloria, along with a horsehair rope made by his wife, Angelina Acosta Cesena, and a handmade, silver-inlaid spade roller bit of unknown origin.

The saddle is shown here as it appeared before it was carefully refurbished to its original working condition.

Update: Saddle reported stolen September 4, 2017, from Gloria Farley's home in Nevada. Thieves broke into her tack room and stole seven saddles and all of her bridles.

Ref.: Event No. 170905-3736. Las Vegas Detective Bureau: 702-828-8180.

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