This ticket can be considered an extension of MC-181530, as I've noticed that this issue applies to more than just saddles.
The bug
There currently appear to be two distinct colors used for things made of leather. One of these is a light orange color (henceforth referred to as the "classic palette"), and the other a darker brown (which we will call the "modern palette"). The colors used by leather and its products commonly differ where consistency would be expected.
Examples of cases where the classic palette is used:
Leather itself
Item frames as an item
Item frames when placed
Saddles as an item
Saddles on pigs
Saddles on striders
Saddles on camels
Saddles on ravagers
[media]
Examples of cases where the modern palette is used:
Leather armor as an item
Leather armor when equipped
Leather horse armor as an item
Leather horse armor when equipped
Saddles on horses/donkeys/mules
[media]
Expected results
All items made of leather would use the same palette, regardless of what the item is.
Actual results
These two different palettes still exist, even differing for the same item in one case (saddles), and recent introductions continue to use different palettes (saddled striders use the classic palette despite leather horse armor using the modern palette).
How to fix
Either all classic palette using items should be retextured to use the modern palette, or modern palette items should be retextured to use the classic palette.
Notes
The "classic palette" versus "modern palette" distinction originates with 1.4.2's changes to leather armor, which switched it from using the classic palette to the modern palette (but leaving leather as an item, as well as saddles as an item and on pigs, unchanged). The following is a screenshot from 1.2.5, when leather armor still used the classic palette, demonstrating how leather armor matched the leather item much more closely:
[media]
In 1.20 Pre-Release 1.