NewLeather

Very nice! If I ever get into mounted shooting, I'll give you a call

I had an old saddle with stains and blotches all over it, so I thought it was a great candidate for my first try at using vinegaroon. Here is the before pic: and here it is after 4 applications of black tea and 10 applications of vinegaroon: I still need to add conchos (don't like the strings) and need to remove some rust on the rigging.

Thanks for the great info! I originally thought this was a wade saddle, but after seeing it up close I realized it wasn't. Of course, I didn't know what it was and picked up the term "pre-wade" from a fellow rider. They had a similar saddle to mine, which was why I spoke with them in the first place. Your post really cleared up a lot of info for me. What would you call this? Best I have found so far is that it might be considered a working cow horse saddle with a Mexican horn.

Who (or what) is ShopTalk? I'd also like to get this book. It would be great to buy from a source state side.

Sorry for the delay. I haven't been on in a bit. No, sadly no numbers stamped anywhere. However, the saddle was heavily used and not well cared for for many years. Anything that might have been stamped on it is long gone by now. EEK - do you have a pic of your saddle? I'd love to see it and compare! Saddlebag - I will get a pic from the front ASAP. Thanks.

Both of the below websites have saddles that look similar. http://www.forttumbleweed.net/saddles.html http://www.westernsaddleguide.com/gallery-antique-saddles.html If need me, email the contact info from both websites and maybe one of them could help? It looks early 1900's to me, for whatever that's worth :-)

You are right on target! I just learned that the saddle maker, Ed Chapman, was only alive until 1977. He was 91 years old when he passed away. I'm guessing the saddle was made in the 60's? It has brass rigging, too (which I'm told was used a lot pre 70's). I wish I could nail it down to an exact time frame, but I guess 50's-70's is all I'm going to narrow it down to LOL.

I have still found very little info. All I've managed to learn is that Ed Chapman was 89 years old back in 1975 and was known as a saddlemaker. What would you consider this style to be? I have heard both "pre-wade" and "working ranch" but am unsure. Here is a pic of the saddle in question:

I picked up a gorgeous wade saddle today. It's obviously made by an experienced saddle maker who put in a lot of effort. It's stamped on both fenders with "Original Ed Champan Fort Worth, Tex" It's an older saddle, but beautifully made. Anyone ever heard of Ed Chapman? A google search pulled up nothing.

Natalie - excellent observation and thank you for pointing it out! What if I modify the leaf to look more like the bottom right corner? Would that flow better? Wyoming Slick - awesome info! I never heard of inverted tooling and I can see where this would be a neat design to try it with. I'm going to leave this pattern alone for future use with inverted carving and make a copy of it, in which I will fatten the vines and add more. That way I can have a regular version, plus an inverted version of the pattern. Thanks!

Thank you! I was having a hard time coming up with things to fill in the background LOL! I will have to go back in and tweak it some more once my neck quits aching.

This is my first attempt at a tooling pattern. I couldn't find any free ones that suited me, so I drew my own. This will be for a cuff bracelet. If anyone see something they think could be improved upon, PLEASE let me know. I am here to learn

Thanks! That helps a lot and is much appreciated.

Try the Tack Shack. They do repairs, but are somewhat costly IMO. Not sure of their number. Google the Tack Shack in Ocala.

Ooops, should have mentioned .... the tree is rawhide covered.

I picked this saddle up for $125 at a feed store. It was layered in dust and dirt. The silver on it was caked in tranish. 8 hours later, it looks much better. Bad news is, no identifying marks ... which stumps me because it appears to have been a quality saddle. The latigo keeper was replaced, so my guess is that was the only place that had a maker's mark. I've been told older Circle Y's often times were only marked there and the stamped serial numbers were easily worn off over time. The silver on it looks to be original and is stamped Alpaca Mexico. Research has shown me that Circle Y used this silver concho style back in the early 70's. I'd love to know what this saddle is and maybe find more. It is one of the most comfortable saddles I have ever ridden in. First pic if the "before" shot and these were taken right after being oiled for a 2nd time

If the bars are short and shallow, wouldn't this be a good tree for those short backed, stocky cow type horses? What is the average cost of one of these LaPorte trees?

I saw some Tandy leather strips 2" by 50" on Ebay, but not much info on them. Are they tooling quality? Light or medium duty? Anyone buy strips from Tandy before that can comment? Thanks

Hello everyone, I am a newbie and am doing research on building my first saddle. I know one of the most important things is the tree and getting the right tree to fit a paticular horse can be difficult. I just looked at Bowden trees and was amazed that none of them had wider gullets. The widest I saw was 6 1/2", which I was always lead to believe is a semi QH bar. The horses I own all take a min of a 6 3/4" gullet, with my wider horses needing a 7" gullet. My question is, where can I find trees that come in wider gullets and full QH bars? I would prefer rawhide covered wood, but am open to other types. Also, I know my horses all do best with a lot of shoulder flare. Does shoulder flare have to do with the tree or is that strictly how the saddle leather is built around the tree? Thanks! Christean