Thanks for the vote of confidence. I think I'm going to soak it in warm water, reshape it by shoving a bunch of stuff inside the saddle and lacing it up (I do, in fact, have a leather punch.) Let it dry for a few days, then use obenaufs. (It's what I have and should work fine.) I plan on doing the unfinished bottom first in hopes of allowing the leather to absorb as much as possible. With obenaufs I generally let the stuff sit under an incandescent light bulb for a while till it softens/melts, then I rub it in by hand (on my shoes.) I'll keep applying coats until the leather stops soaking it up. (Took 3-4 coats with my belt which I've had for a decade and never treated.) With this saddle, I may put both the saddle and obenaufs under light bulbs to warm both of them, then apply the stuff and keep the saddle under the light bulb. It won't dry out, it'll just keep the obenaufs a bit more liquid. I have noticed that obenaufs likes to leave a bit of a greasy residue on whatever you apply it to unless you cover it with a coat of polish. (I used it on my belt and it took a good month for the residue to go away.) So I'm a bit weary about applying it to the top of the saddle, we'll see what the bottom of the saddle does.

Honestly, I have NOTHING to lose. If I don't do this restoration the saddle will sit in the "seats" box forever most likely.