Interesting discussion (don't think "sogging" is an Anglo-American" word but a pure English one, meaning dripping wet, soaked through). At this very moment I have an Ideale 90 or something entireley immersed in a bucket of distinctly offcolour water, and am wondering how many saddles worldwide are presently being drowned ? The saddle was going to be thrown out, so no big loss. Definitely wouldn't have tried it with anything even half decent.
Don't doubt for an instant that soaking a leather saddle thoroughly will make it supple, and the expansion, as with wood, will "seal" the cracks quite a bit. But a little worried about what happens further down the road. An ex o' mine who is a leather expert in the shoe industry said I was off my rocker if I soaked leather, because when it starts to really dry out it will be about as tough as a piece of cardboard. She explicitly said that the leather would be irreversably damaged, no ifs or buts.
A big issue is how much of what "oil" do you apply to the saddle when you have made it into whatever shape you want, and how long after the soaking, water and oil not being miscible.
Furthermore, Jerry says that a kind of skin peels off after the soaking, and that he then stains the remains of the saddle (with leather stain). I guess that the "skin" is what differenciates "tanned" leather from suede.
Anyway, giving it a go, but rather dubious. If it works satisfactorily long term, there are no end to the experiments one could undertake, like putting lever hoods thru 15 minutes of 850 watt microwave to see if it restores some plasticity. Come to think of it, have some more old leather in the shop, going to try frying a Brooks in olive oil right now.
Nick March, Agen 47000 France (where we avoid getting our Doucals soaked)