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BondoBobCustomSaddles

Latest Saddle Off The Bench

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So here is the latest, I have to appologize for the pic, but; as usual, as soon as it is done they want to pic it up. They promised me they would send me some pics with the horse tacked up. I will send them along as soon as I get them. Now while this apears to be a fairly simple saddle, there is a lot going on here and I will try to elaborate as to how this saddle was designed (by the owner). First, the owner is an old time horseman, that knows exactly what he wants and that drove the design in a lot of different ways. He wanted a saddle similar to his barrel racing saddle in weight and style (Complete with cinch, rear cinch, breast collar and all, it weighs in at 28 1/2 lbs.), since he rides 4 to 5 horses a day 6 days a week, and wants to make quick changes from one to the next easily. Second, he wanted a deep seat with a 5" cantle and a smooth seat since he finds a lot of the time he is turning from one side to the other and looking back and so on a lot. Third he wanted it to have a wraped horn since he does pony a lot on the trails. Forth, he wanted a big Dee so he could easily rig and unrig the girth from one horse to another. Fifth, he wanted to sit right down on the horse and wanted extreme cut-outs to get his legs down close and not work on his knees too much ( some of the horses that he rides could best be described as WIDE LOAD!) this is also why this saddle has a tin seat strainer instead of leather ( if I put him any lower, he will be sitting inside the horse!). Sixth, he wanted the horn while wrapped, to be small enough around so that he could just throw his breast collar center ring up over it while switching from one horse to another. Seventh, he wanted the rear billets to have a forward cant to them. Eighth, he also wanted the breast collar dees to be mid high on the saddle, and sticking out so that he could easily snap and unsnap the collar during changes. Ninth and finally, he wanted dees between the cantle and the rear jockey so he could strap on a bed roll or rear trunk or whatever. A lot of stuff going on for a reasonably plain saddle, however; that's what you get when you have a custom saddle made. All in all he was satisfied, which is the goal when you take on a commission to build something. He had one made last year and wasn't happy. He sold it almost as soon as he got it, and came to me.

Well, that's pretty much it on this saddle, except that he has just ordered one for his wife, so it will be the next one coming up. Please feel free to critique, I am always interested in people's opinions.

Bondo Bob

post-8161-127682889632_thumb.jpg

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nnnnnice with a capital N !!!! its good to hear the old timer knew exactly what he wanted !! & liked what he got !!!!

Well done again Bob

Cheers

Bevan

www.bwrwhips.com

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Nice job on the saddle.

The design sort of reminds me of an endurance saddle I used to ride.

Joel

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So here is the latest, I have to appologize for the pic, but; as usual, as soon as it is done they want to pic it up. They promised me they would send me some pics with the horse tacked up. I will send them along as soon as I get them. Now while this apears to be a fairly simple saddle, there is a lot going on here and I will try to elaborate as to how this saddle was designed (by the owner). First, the owner is an old time horseman, that knows exactly what he wants and that drove the design in a lot of different ways. He wanted a saddle similar to his barrel racing saddle in weight and style (Complete with cinch, rear cinch, breast collar and all, it weighs in at 28 1/2 lbs.), since he rides 4 to 5 horses a day 6 days a week, and wants to make quick changes from one to the next easily. Second, he wanted a deep seat with a 5" cantle and a smooth seat since he finds a lot of the time he is turning from one side to the other and looking back and so on a lot. Third he wanted it to have a wraped horn since he does pony a lot on the trails. Forth, he wanted a big Dee so he could easily rig and unrig the girth from one horse to another. Fifth, he wanted to sit right down on the horse and wanted extreme cut-outs to get his legs down close and not work on his knees too much ( some of the horses that he rides could best be described as WIDE LOAD!) this is also why this saddle has a tin seat strainer instead of leather ( if I put him any lower, he will be sitting inside the horse!). Sixth, he wanted the horn while wrapped, to be small enough around so that he could just throw his breast collar center ring up over it while switching from one horse to another. Seventh, he wanted the rear billets to have a forward cant to them. Eighth, he also wanted the breast collar dees to be mid high on the saddle, and sticking out so that he could easily snap and unsnap the collar during changes. Ninth and finally, he wanted dees between the cantle and the rear jockey so he could strap on a bed roll or rear trunk or whatever. A lot of stuff going on for a reasonably plain saddle, however; that's what you get when you have a custom saddle made. All in all he was satisfied, which is the goal when you take on a commission to build something. He had one made last year and wasn't happy. He sold it almost as soon as he got it, and came to me.

Well, that's pretty much it on this saddle, except that he has just ordered one for his wife, so it will be the next one coming up. Please feel free to critique, I am always interested in people's opinions.

Bondo Bob

Awesome job Bob!! The only glitch to fix is the carving out a few minutes to get US some more pictures!!

Jeff

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