So having ridden in a western saddle only infrequently I’m not really familiar w western tack.
Just how do western saddles get fitted to specific horses?
I know pads and shims are used, do they also get re stuffed or flocked somehow?
[QUOTE=suz;7852094]
So having ridden in a western saddle only infrequently I’m not really familiar w western tack.
Just how do western saddles get fitted to specific horses?
I know pads and shims are used, do they also get re stuffed or flocked somehow?[/QUOTE]
Well, not, not really, western saddles don’t have any stuffing, so you can’t re-stuff them.
Western saddles have a tree that is lined with generally sheepskin underneath, so you have to be sure the tree itself fits the horse, which most do.
To that, you add a blanket, of different thickness for different uses, thicker for roping, lighter for showing in some disciplines.
There are some new gimmicky saddles that have floating bars that are supposed to self adjust, others with part of the tree flexible and so on.
Those are their own different kind of western saddle.
You can help fit with pads to a point, some have extra padding in front, built-up pads, I guess some have shims, we have for a hard to fit horse used open cell foam shaved to fit and between blanket and saddle, but it was rare to need any such.
That is such an open ended question, hard to answer in a general way.
Someone posted this not long ago, it is about flex trees, but you can see pictures of what western saddle trees look like and get an idea how they fit, before they are covered:
http://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/checking-out-a-flex-tree/
This is how they build a tree:
great info, thanks bluey.
I’ve always been interested in saddle making, and am thinking of ways to turn that interest into a small business for myself.
My BIL is a saddle maker (or was), he made some beautiful western saddles. You might want to start with learning to do some leather tooling, since western saddle have some tooling, some are completely tooled. Additionally, it takes an industrial sewing machine that is designed for sewing thick leather, used they can cost several thousand dollars. BIL enjoyed it and was fortunate enough to learn from a very talented saddle maker. He found that time and materials cost didn’t make saddle making on a small scale worth it, unless you have someone willing to spend a lot for a one of a kind custom saddle. Now he does a lot of saddle and equipment repair now.
You don’t HAVE to have a sewing machine, but hand stitching everything will make things very time prohibitive. Also, your fingers will be sore. I speak from experience.
I’m looking at schools online----js does your bil recommend his teacher?
My idea is to find a way to learn to help people fit their horses with western and/or endurance saddles. There’s quite a lot of trail riders who are looking for this kind of service where I used to live, and I may tap that market if it pans out.
Also I’m totally open to purchasing the equipment if the business plans indicates it to be a worthwhile investment.
Sadly, his mentor and teacher Slim Green, passed away a couple of years ago, this is his bio. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/legacies/NM/200003348.html
Since you are in TX you might look around the area, lots of saddle makers there.
If that were the case, I wouldn’t have such a hard time finding a saddle that fits Mac and me. Considering there are so many various options in western trees (bar angle, gullet width, flare, rock, twist, bar type, etc.), I’d say it is harder finding a western saddle tree that fits vs. an english saddle tree that fits. Just my experience, but after reading a lot of threads in this forum, I’d say a lot of people have the same issue.
I think saddle making requires a long apprenticeship in order to learn the trade, and even then you have to have the knowledge, skill, and talent to put out consistent work of quality and artistry.
More interesting might be what you are speaking of in having a fitting/repair type of service. There are a few people that service my area who are always busy. Some do english disciplines only, some have mostly western or endurance clientele, some do just dressage, etc. There’s certainly a need for someone who is mobile and will go out to the more rural/semi-rural areas and who is educated and who can do fittings and repairs.
Look at www.leatherworker.net for lots of resources. Good forum there.
Learning saddle work isn’t trivial…not rocket science, but not trivial. It’s taken me about 5 yrs of spare time to learn enough to be comfortably making my first few.
Good overview of the process would be to buy the saddlemaking set here:
http://www.ranch2arena.com/videoeng.html
