Hi, Does anyone have any experience with the Rocking R saddles? Looking a one of the show saddles and just want some opinions.
I’ve posted about them many times. I’ve toured their facility in Ider more than once. Excellent quality, balanced, 100% made in Alabama. I’ve owned three, now have two, would absolutely buy another.
They do a ton of private label stuff sold by other makers for much bigger dollars. You get a lot of saddle for the money.
katarine, I know you said your saddle was very well balanced. In looking at this page http://www.rockingrsaddlery.com/wade-and-a-fork/ it looks like the stirrups are a bit forward. But iirc, your stirrups hung in a more centered position, no? I did look at their website but found that all of the pictures seemed to look like these…
Edited because I forgot to ask: What is the tree like? Does it tend to be flat or have a lot of rock? Flares in front? What do you like and/or dislike about the saddles you’ve had?
Pocket, those stirrups are hung in a good place, but have been photographed with the stirrups/fenders pulled forward.
If you imagine the stirrup hanging straight down, you’ll get an idea of where gravity would ‘place’ the stirrup naturally.
Kent Frecker usually photographs his saddles with the stirrups pulled forward, also.
http://www.freckerssaddlery.com/archived_pictures.php
Not all of his photos show the stirrups pulled forward, though.
If a fender won’t swing forward, you won’t be able to put your foot out in front of you if you want to. If you are going downhill, or trying to do some reining stops, you will probably not be happy with a saddle that won’t let your stirrup swing forward. So the fashion for taking pictures of a western saddle for sale, became ‘pull the stirrups forward’ so that a person could just see the saddle with its stirrups forward, and not have to ask the maker or ride in the saddle first, to ‘know’ that the stirrups could swing forward.
Sometimes you can’t see good, or bad, things about the tree once the saddle is built on it.
After Katarine gives you feedback about the trees in her saddles, you might be able to get photos of the same tree from Rocking R.
They have a photo of their flex-tree on this page:
http://www.rockingrsaddlery.com/trail-and-all-around/
so they might have photos of the other trees they put in saddles.
The flex-tree, I wouldn’t use…
http://www.rodnikkel.com/content/index.php/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/checking-out-a-flex-tree/
But Rocking R does make wood tree saddles with fiberglas, as well as offering rawhide-covered trees as an option.
It will be next week before I will have time to fully respond…
My son has one and likes it. He has the mounted shooting saddle, and uses it for trail riding, and speed/games. We just got it last year, but are happy with it so far. He likes it because there is not a lot of smooth leather to clean…
Thank you everyone for your replies. I ended up finding a semi-custom Wenger on the weekend, (for less money) which I was able to try on my horse this weekend. I would have had to purchase the Rocking R from a tack store over 1,000 KM away.
Thanks again!
I read the article about the flex trees. We just bought a Dakota flex tree saddle. The first ride my hubby took (he is about 240 and only 5’ 9" tall) the middle of her back where the saddle sits was dry and the outer edges were wet. He used his 3/4" toklat wool pad. So I was thinking maybe the pad was too thick.
The next ride I took I used a 1/2" pro choice old foam pad and got a perfect sweat pattern, I weigh 160.
Then the next day my son rode her with the same pad I used and got the sweat pattern like my husband did. He weighs about 200 and is 6’ tall.
Now I am wondering if it is possible that with both guys the extra weight caused the saddle to flew too much in the middle Any thoughts, this saddle has been used 3 times so we can return it if need be. It does look like it fits though except in the back the sides form a small upside down V, but that may be because it is new?? She does have a very wide back. thanks…
I ADORE my Rockin R, It’s the only good work saddle I have, and it cleans up for show. I have the Team Penner.
EDIT: Whoops, just saw you found a saddle!
I hope people come back to read this . . .
Does anyone know about the trees they use? I’m asking because I’ve hear that McCall saddles, for example, have trees that have more rock in them. I’m looking for a tree with less rock because I find the more rock, at the canter it pops up in back and slaps me in the butt. I tried a McCall and a Martin and had this problem with both of them. And both of them advertise (through a rep or online) that their saddles have rock.
Just call them, Pocket. My saddles are all 5+ years old- and Randall (the owner, who fitted my two customs) has since passed and someone else is running it. It’s a small shop, they will answer the phone.
I believe the trees are made by Steele
I sent them a note before going off to work this morning so I’ll see what they say. My saddle fitter actually has some Steele tree forms that they send out for fitting and I read on Steele’s website that Rocking R uses their trees so I’m trying to see if I find a form I like what saddles match up with it.
There are a few different companies that make steele trees and it is confusing but they are not the same. As to the saddle popping
Ng up and slapping someone in the butt your butt should not be out of the seat so that should not happen.
I have a custom-made Rocking R that is something like their shooting saddle: it’s a 14" with a high-back and square skirts. It’s a wonderful saddle for outfitting. The stirrups in the photos are ABSOLUTELY pulled forward for the photos, and not like that in real life! I was worried about that when I ordered, as well. I thought the price absolutely couldn’t be beat. If you’re worried about tree fit, you can buy a fiberglass model of the tree from them for $30 (or you could five years ago, when I got mine). I used that fiberglass tree to check the fit on my horse, and make sure it was going to work as well for him as it did for me. I was very happy all around. The only thing I don’t like about the saddle is that I got the tapaderos-- they looked great, but after a few years of riding, they clearly were not properly screwed in to the stirrups and began sagging. They were just nailed in to the wood, and the sag meant I couldn’t straighten the nails out, and the taps had slid enough that I hardly had room to fit my toe in the stirrup in my winter pacs. I ended up having to pull them off. I’m sure I could fix them, but moved out of the bad brush country I ordered them for so I never got around to it.
Glad this thread popped up. I need an arab saddle and the one they make looks great. And the price is darn good. I had a Circle Y flex and hated it so this looks like a good option.
I love my two. I am downsizing to one but they are well made, balanced, functional saddles.
