rdl123

Hello Chris - I made my own pattern - I will try to upload it along with pictures...

Finally getting some time to work on this second saddle again...New shop is set-up and I have been able to put in some time. Built these hobbles: Tooled this fender: And finished tooling the skirts for this rig as well as got the horn cap 'n' wrap started: We have been doing a fair bit of riding - Built this breast collar for my first saddle too: Really hoping to have this second saddle done for spring! Cheers, Ron L

Hello Julia, The only thing I can think of is to have the client template the seat in a saddle that they like to ride...That would give you a fairly good idea. If they took one profile template and then two or three cross ways you would have a fairly good handle on the shape they are after. (That is if they have a saddle that they like the seat in already). Ron

Hello KGeorge, I am new to saddle making as well - I had this exact question on my first saddle... Here is the technique I used - Not sure where I picked it up but it seemed to work for me. Hopefully this sketch I made makes sense. Here is a picture of the actual saddle horn... As you can see I didn't make the prettiest job of it however it seems to work & nothing has moved even after roping a few bulls. Its important to really nail that filler piece down good. If I recall correctly I used a piece of 14oz skirting, cased it and hammer jacked it down to about 8 or 10oz. Basically pounded it with a flat faced hammer to compress it and make it firmer. The filler is the only thing besides a bit of glue keeping your horn from rotating when you dally up with something big on the end of your rope. Others will likely have better ideas / techniques and i'd like to hear / see them too... Ron L

As all can tell I have not been posting lately as I have been really busy - Haven't even had time to work on rig #2... Anyhow, I moved back to Saskatchewan and am setting up a new saddle shop in our place here. It's almost done. I'll post pictures as soon as I get it wrapped up. We have been doing lots of riding and have had a chance to go to quite a few brandings as well as pasture rope. It'd been nice to really use the first saddle I built - It seems to work pretty well - Although it could be a little wider in the gullet / hand hole. I have purchased two more trees from Ben Swanke. One is a 3B the other is a wade. The wade is set up a little wider and will be my second saddle.

Randy, As you are aware I am by no means professional - However in my limited experience I have found it beneficial to retain patterns. I made patterns for my first rig out of hard paper from walmart...when it came time to build rig two I was able to use these as a base guideline, incorporate some changes I wanted and come up with a revised pattern far easier than the first round. It has helped me save significant amounts of leather on saddle 2. What I really liked is that I knew from saddle one that there were definite areas I wanted to change - Having the original patterns let me easily trace the old pattern, work out my changes and develop a 'corrected' pattern. I suspect I will never quit correcting my patterns! My plan going forward is to use only one tree maker for consistency and develop two sets of guideline patterns - One for flat plate wade's and one for inskirt rigged wades. Dale Harwood seems to be really pattern oriented and I like the idea he promotes of consistency...His DVD's are well worth watching if you can get ahold of them. What I would like to know is what do makers use for template material? The hard paper I use isn't the best - What stands up better to moist leather and extended use? Ron

Hello Anna, I have included a picture here showing an approximate seat line - I think with the seat installed most of the rubbing issues will be eliminated because the seat jockey will be there. If you make your seat jockeys as deep as I have shown you may not need to add too much to your fender length...And if it was my saddle I would try to wet the skirts / rigging and give it a barrel shape to help it pre-conform to the shape of a horse...I know on the plate rigs I have built that is what I have done. Once everything was solid I wet the rigging plates and worked more curve into them. R