Aurelie

i have seen some on Weaver catalog if this can help

no one has an idea of what this could be due to? :/

Okay Guys, Between 2 milk bottles, hellish screamings and a dog acting like under steroids...i managed to make nice edges on stirrups straps, fenders and billets.... Usually "peanuts" thing to do but right now it's almost a miracle Let's say that some days i would rather stay in bed.... but anyway, day after tomorrow, hubby is on vacations so he gonna babysit while i work on that saddle and give a extra pair of hands when needed!! So i really hope that before next year , fork cover , back cantle and fenders will be on! (crossing fingers )

Great pics, great kids and really nice saddles

i ve never tried rawhide on cantle, swell or horn yes Al Stholman says it's stronger but i ve been told 2 different things : for those who are roping a lot : it's of a good use on horn and swell but for other use : it s not that better than leather i guess , it depends a lot on how you're using your saddle and for what .... i just "fear" to use rawhide on those parts because it seems a bit "touchy" to work with...... saving this for later

Today was a "cutting" day ..... cutting all parts of my saddle + cutting latigos.... and a day for a really bad surprise!!! I store my leather in a bedroom upstairs rolled and on the wood floor heater like in the whole house, no humidity, no sun light on the hides and i found stains on 4 hides : 2 natural skirting leather 1 chestnut skirting leather 1 yellow latigo those stains are on the outside edges (except the chestnut where it's right in the best part of the hide aka the butt) I am loosing a good 1/3 of each hide what can i say??? aside that i am mad, crazy....and i would REALLY like to know WHY and HOW this happened...... Given how much this costs to me to buy those hides, i really want to why ...so that i can fix the problem what is this? some kind of humidity ? mold? if anyone has an idea , i am interested to know about it thanks Aurelie

that's for sure!

Yeah, but McClellan (at least those from the US army - around the late 1800's) have not been the best fitted saddles for long rides (if i remember well what i ve been taught , that's was 1 reason why they stopped often enough on their long trips) regarding the horse 's morphology and health and that's one of the reasons why they modified them that's part of my wondering about the evolution of western saddles from the beginning to nowadays why's , how's and if oldtimer's saddles were used now...what could be the "negative" aspect to watch for thx! got it going to read it now

LMAO! yeah that a fair enough reason!

:D ok so then another interrogation: so what is the purpose of the skirts? if not participating into weight distribution?

As for me, measuring the right place of the rigging either on a flate plate system or in-skirt rigging is NOT the BIG DEAL Ok, it's a pain in the butt to align the rigging the same way on Left and right side, it takes time and i use a ruler with that bubble in the center of it to make sure i am square as i said, a pain in the butt, but not that difficult Where i do encounter troubles is when you need to get the bars in the pockets of the skirts.... It's a bit "physical" and i guess i am not doing it the easier way..... I remember my master telling me : flate plates are difficult to do but in-skirt is easy peasy from where i sit, i can say that i prefer doing flate plates than in-skirts...just because of those pockets! maybe someone got a tips for me! because , here in France, they 're fond of "In-skirt" and i fear i am not close to build a flate plate so soon Thanks JW! i am starting to see that it does exist a long list of different names for same thing i am starting to learn that list

Ok i am quite interested in this post since here in France, Weight is a real aspect that you must take into account with customers They want everything : quality, resitance and extra light weight (and the horse's health) ..not always easy to get all those parameters to work together. Something said several times up there in the post striked me Here what i ve been taught about skirts: you want to get the edge of your skirts between 5" and 6" from the back cantle (no more , no less) if you want the best baring surface too short = no baring too long = some hurting to encounter at some point so my question was : what about those extra short skirts on those extra light saddles??? is that ok?

where is that smiley who's claping hands when i need it??? really nice! i like the leather part that seems to replace the wyoming twist! i did not know it could be done that way ...i really like! something different!

really NICE job...... gonna crawl back into my workshop and try to do the same!

really nice saddles! may i ask what do you call "skirt rigged"? i do know about in-skirt rigging versus flate plate rigging is that one of those?

not too bad not perfect but not too bad

Geez ! it"s harder and harder to get time to work on that saddle with a baby underfoot...but i will be done....one way or another!!! Here i am...i finally finished my ground seat : ..and i have laid down on the hides my patterns 2 hides and 1/3 of a third one for saddle, breast collar and back cinch... i think i can improve that next time next step : cutting the parts and getting those skirts nice and square with the rigging dee Keep tuned!

THE big difference (i 've come to pin point) is : In-skirt rigging for whatever style of saddle (reining, barrel, cutting...) versus (Montana ) Flate plates for Roping saddles This is THE BIG STRUCTURAL difference The rest....is all about fashion and trainning , and trying and liking or not Why don't you buy Al Stholman 's encyclopedias? there are a lot of useful infos in thoses

thanks a lot for this additionnal information Denise! i will take eveything everybody throw at me regarding saddle structures always a lot of tibits that help drawing the whole picture

Thanks a lot Mike! Ok that's was something like that i had in mind to "fix" the bump trouble. I just was not sure if it was a "clean" and acceptable job to do reminds me of 1 solution to fix a poor saddle tree fit (some leather plugs glued and skived to the bottom bars => so i guess it's a common solution Anyway guys, i really appreciate all your help and tips It helps me to see if i choose the right options and from what i see, i am not totally dumb

Terrific Bob exactly what i needed! 1 more question (so that i am sure that i put the same meaning as you behind the word "to block" the leather > for me it's to rub hard the leather (where the bars are going to sit) so that when you mold the leather to the bar it goes right? is it the right meaning? Again thx a lot! i can work with that! good point i guess => i build my skirts that way but had the "problem" you mention about the bulk + i did not know it was called that way (i love that forum! ...learning a ton of things!) NOW, you lead me to ANOTHER QUESTION You say : we do not want the bulk on the top skirt (not much a trouble with back jockeys since they "hide" it) but if i look at your pictures ( + that 's what i had in mind from the start) => you will have a lump underside the skirt (instead of on top) SO how do you make it "flat" for the linning with sheep skin??? I thought that in a western saddle you wanted the underside of the skirts "flat" with no "lump" of the bars as on english saddles (not sure that you see what i mean..) or do the thickness of the sheepskin is enough to "get rid" of that aspect? (or maybe the fact that the bars of a barrel saddle tree are smaller and flatter than regular saddle tree - but in that case => i will still have the problem with a NON Barrel saddle tree) :D ...and here, i guess , you will regret to have answered my question in the 1 st place.....because it leads to another ones! Anyway, i really appreciate the tips and explanations! SHORT AND EFFICIENT, the way i like it!

Thx Bob for the reply so if i get it "straight", the fact that there is no bump on the top skirt (where the bars sit) is all about the way you "mold" the skirt to the tree good to know! i thought there were a "special " way to make thoses skirts looking flat where the bars sit i think i get it! here is a new scientific test for me! geez......got a loong list of scientific tests up my sleeve it seems!

Any ideas? any suggestions? no??

Cograt's Gianni! a 1st one....furthermore learnt on a DVD! Congrats! the next one is ALWAYS better than the previous one!

Thanks guys for the replies! I often go back to AL's books (sometimes i find it a bit "foggy" and complicated but good tips and ideas in them) I often go back to my training notebook and pics sometimes things do not work the way it should (i guess it's like cooking...some things work better for 1 person and other thing works better for another one...) and for sure...i am not "normal" i ve got troubles with "easy" things when "difficult" ones go well...go figures Thanx for the trick about the safety skiver, it's something i had spotted (the swell and the cut) added to the fact that i am lefty (and no tools for lefties ) i am totally aware of the fact it's not easy or even possible to explain something on a forum, or even by the phone that 's why i think a lot of what i am doing from different angles , lay down hypothesis and take one after another and "try" a solution 'til it's working the way I want (but sometimes like i feel at a loss) i use what i ve been taught as a guide line and i often go seek how things are done by others to try to improve the way i do and try to find something that works "perfectly" for me i guess that's the way saddle making works (or at least that's my point of view) so long you do NOT do something dangerous for the horse or the rider Going back at my instructor is not really possible right now since i am in France and he is in Montana I guess that if i was english mother tongue he could talk me through my trouble on the phone but i am simply not enough "good" (or rather a lack of habit) to talk that long and specific on the phone I just hope that within a couple of years , i will have enough money to get back to the states, find another instructor and learn a lot of other things i want to learn or improve Without you explaining everything on the post, i just wanted to lay down what i ve done and my hypothesis and have you tell me if you see some hypothesis i have missed I can work with ideas and opinions + my searching in books and internet I just need to be told if i am digging in the right direction i may be a crazy french girl, i have some brain and a wicked mind and can use it Again : thanks for your help i really appreciate Aurelie