off-saddle, verb

Origin:
DutchShow more Calque formed on Dutch afzadelen unsaddle.
historical
Note:
In both intransitive and transitive uses, also saddle off (see saddle sense 1).
1. intransitive. To unsaddle; to break one’s journey. Cf. outspan verb, upsaddle sense 2.
1823 T. Philipps Philipps, 1820 Settler (1960) 203I rode up to the door and began the never varied question ‘Can I offsaddle?’
1835 C.L. Stretch Journal. 23 Aug.I wish from my soul it was peace and that I could mount my horse with only a sambock and ride and offsaddle where I liked instead of being armed as you see me.
1838 T. Shone Diary. 16 Aug.Started on horse back for Graham Town. Off Saddle at Mr Curl canteen for one hour.
1849 E.D.H.E. Napier Excursions in Sn Afr. II. 12Another term of Colonial import is that of ‘saddling-up,’ and ‘off-saddling.’ If you pull up at a farmer’s house, after inquiring your name, vocation, and destination, he requests you to ‘off-saddle;’ which literally means to partake of his hospitality.
1852 M.B. Hudson S. Afr. Frontier Life 169Crossed the Fish River Drift, gained the Rand top, and were Offsaddled, when lo! sharp report rent the air.
1856 R.J. Mullins Diary. 18 Dec.The horse I led kept breaking away. We offsaddled in the Kei Poort and made breakfast.
1860 D.L.W. Stainbank Diary. (Killie Campbell Africana Library KCM8680) 4 Sept.I off-saddled for an hour and then went with Byron to see the Kafir Dance.
1871 J. Mackenzie Ten Yrs N. of Orange River 15It is when you arrive at a Dutch farm on horseback, and are requested to ‘off-saddle,’ and stay over night, that you can see Dutch hospitality and manner to perfection.
1905 P. Gibbon Vrouw Grobelaar 108Christiana was a wild fanciful girl, with an eye to every stranger that off-saddled at the farm.
1936 H.F. Trew Botha Treks 126If the commandos were on the march at daylight, they always off-saddled for ten minutes just as the sun rose. The believed that if they were caught by the sun in their saddles their horses would give in during the day.
1956 F.C. Metrowich Valiant but Once 201As it was stiflingly hot they offsaddled in a shady thicket.
1962 F.C. Metrowich Scotty Smith 112The man had offsaddled and his horse was standing next to him.
1970 ‘R.C.G.’ in Outpost 143On our return we wrote a history of the patrol in the area book, and a more monotonous document would be hard to find. Most of it was ‘Offsaddled at Rosebank Farm 3p.m.: Mr Brown had no complaints.’
2. transitive. To unsaddle (one’s mount) in order to rest it. Cf. upsaddle sense 1.
1849 N.J. Merriman Cape Jrnls (1957) 60We ‘off saddled’ and ‘knee haltered’ our steeds, after the colonial fashion.
1853 F.P. Fleming Kaffraria 106No other grooming is required for horses on the road in Kaffraria, than merely to ‘Off-saddle’ and ‘Knee-halter’ them.
1860 D.L.W. Stainbank Diary. 4 Sept.Captain Bennett..ordered the horses to be off-saddled for a couple of hours and fed and then to proceed.
1879 G.C. Cato Letter. (Killie Campbell Africana Library MS1602b)The Camp had halted for Brk’fst and volunteers off-saddled their Horses & camp life going on.
1884 B. Adams Narr. (1941) 193We off-saddled the horses and let them have a roll on the grass, which refreshed them very much.
1905 J. Du Plessis 1000 Miles in Heart of Afr. 99Donkeys are off-saddled and turned off to grass.
1937 F.B. Young They Seek a Country 168Jan Botha off-saddled his horse, knee-haltering it and allowing it to stumble away in search of grazing.
1968 K. McMagh Dinner of Herbs 173After off-saddling and knee-haltering his horses McMagh went to the house behind the store.
1987 W. Steenkamp Blockhouse 25I had off-saddled my horse and rubbed it down.
To unsaddle; to break one’s journey.
To unsaddle (one’s mount) in order to rest it.
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off-saddle, nounn.off-sales, nounn.
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