During the late 1850s the U.S. War Department, under the recommendations of the Secretary of War, Jefferson Davis, conducted experiments in the field on equestrian equipment for mounted troops. A Lt. Walter H. Jenifer served in Company A, 2nd U.S. Cavalry at the time and was intrigued by the experiments for improved horse equipment. Taking note of the strengths and weaknesses of the saddles being considered, Jenifer invented his own design. Although his pattern was submitted too late for consideration in the field experiment, Jenifer was granted a patent in 1860.

The Baltimore native borrowed the rawhide cover from the Hope for strength, mixed the pommel and cantle from the Grimsley Dragoon and the McClellan, and incorporated the flat seat of the English saddle that was commonly used in his native Maryland for his design. His concept of combining the attributes of several saddle patterns into one may have seemed logical in theory, but in practice it was a different story. Jenifer was further hampered by the fact that he was not a saddle maker and his design would be subject to the interpretations of local saddlers.

Upon secession of the Southern sates in 1861, Jenifer, whose loyalties lay with the South, offered his design to the Confederate government. It was accepted and prescribed in the Confederate Regulations as the official saddle for mounted troops. Under the directions of Col. Gorgas of the Ordnance Department the details for measurements and material for the Jenifer saddle were prescribed and sent to various saddlers in the Confederacy for manufacture.

The majority of the Jenifers were sent to the cavalry in the east, where they quickly encountered disfavor from the troops. The flat seat would have been fine for a well-fed horse under normal conditions, but with a reduction in the horse's weight, which often occurred during the rigors of campaign, the saddle would rub raw the withers and backbone. Many of the manufacturers took liberty with the design, altering the structure of the pommel and cantle, which usually added to its defects. The saddle was so abhorred that by the spring of 1863, even Gen. Lee wrote the Ordnance Department to deplore it and recommend a change. Several "improvements" in the Jenifer were authorized but did little to rectify the situation. In the middle of this, Walter Jenifer sued the Confederate government for patent infringement. Jenifer was eventually paid off and the saddle that bore his name was replaced with the more suitable McClellan and Hope patterns.