Rolandranch

Looks like a nice cozy space! That space wouldn't work for me because those pelts on the wall would be calling me all day coaxing me to make something out of them.

Very nice! Did you background the whole thing or is that the natural texture of the leather? If you textured it yourself can you explain how you did it? Did you make the belt, too? I see only one thing I would do differently. I would leave a little extra leather past the snap to make it a little easier to pop open with your finger. Again, great work! -Ryan

Thanks, Ron. You actually nailed the kind of saddle I want to build. I want a working bronc saddle. I need a strong saddle to break horses, to pony young horses, and long trail rides. In other words, a saddle to handle everything about horse training. I'm still a young and a learning horse trainer so I agree that I do need to work more on my balance. For about a year I've been riding bareback at least one mile every day except on most Wednesdays and days I'm sick. Last week I was on a 7 mile bareback trail ride and I think it helps a lot with balance. When I grip the shoulders with my heels and lean back is when the horse's front is coming down from a jump or buck and I need to put my feet in front of me in order to catch myself. I've watched my brothers go over and into the dirt when trying to grip the horse's side instead of swinging their feet up and catching themselves. While on trail rides I'm often yelling at them, "Heels down and toes pointed out!" I see what you're saying about the rigging plate and skiving. From the top of my head, I would say I would skive it to get the free-swinging motion in the stirrup leathers but how much do you think it would affect the strength of the plate? Thanks, -Ryan

To be honest, most of the saddles I've ridden in are roper saddles. That explains a lot. It's funny you mentioned your Arab mare crow hopping. A month or two ago, I was riding my Quarter Horse/Tennesee Walker mare without any riding aids. No saddle, no reins, nothing but a halter that didn't do me any good since I didn't have anything attached to it. Anyways, we were going down a dirt road at a slow gallop when a car pulled out ahead. I asked her to slow by placing my heels on her shoulders (that usually works) but she was kinda buddy sour that day and didn't want to slow so she dropped her head and began crow hopping. I grabbed a hand full of mane and rode it the best I could. I tried to imitate saddle bronc motions and it actually felt pretty smooth. She didn't twist or spin so I didn't fall off. I got some weird looks for the folks in the car so I just waved and smiled like it was all part of the show. Ok back to the saddle. What effect do you think wade swells will have on the forward swing of the stirrup leathers as opposed to a swell-fork? As far as the rawhiding goes, a saddlemaker friend of mine and my farrier say that it's a Bull Moose and worth saving but I haven't decided on what to do with it yet. -Ryan

Thank you all for all the help. Now I have another question about trees... When I'm riding and my horse decides to get stupid and starts crow-hopping or something I like to bring my heels up to the shoulders for grip and to absorb the shock so I don't fly over the swells. However, all the saddles I've ridden in have their stirrup leathers is such a way that makes it pretty difficult to get the stirrups to where I'd like them. How could I modify my future saddle so the stirrup leathers can move up easily? Is it in the saddle making process or the tree making process? Here's an old tree to show what I mean. (Also, does anyone know of someone who re-rawhides trees? This isn't the style of tree I want but I may build off of it someday or sell it.) Would cutting the ground seat in such a way help? Thanks, -Ryan

Congrats and welcome! Your wallet has a nice shine. What finish did you use? Your buddy is gonna love it!

Thanks, guys for all the advice. I will definitely look into all the options given. Thank you, Ken, for explaining rawhide to me. That helps and clears up a few questions I had.

I've been using Barges all-purpose cement so I don't know how Master cements acts. When I want a good stick I apply the glue to both pieces of leather and let it sit for a minute or two to let it get nice and tacky. After that, I put a clean piece of leather over the gluing pieces and pound on it a little with a hammer. When I glue a grain side, I rough it up a bit with a wire brush before I apply the glue. Don't know if that helps or not. -Ryan

I was thinking $400-$500 but if a couple hundred bucks more make a difference I can do that, too. Might as well spend a little more and do it right the first time. I've been looking at Rod Nikkel trees but unsure about the pricing. I'll also look at Timberline and see what's there. I have a question about the rawhide. Do production trees have only cow rawhide? Do they also use bull rawhide? I've heard that bull rawhide is thicker and stronger than cow rawhide but I've only seen bull rawhide used in handmade trees. Thank you for your help! -Ryan Thanks! About how much does he ask for his trees?

Hello, saddlemakers! I need some advice on where to get a good wade tree. I've been looking into building a wade saddle for myself but since I've never built a saddle before I wanted to know where I can get a good quality wade tree for a decent price. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated! Thank you! -Ryan

you're welcome? (now I'm a little concerned about bikermutt.) No emoji wars ok?

No pics? It never happened. just kidding. I'm looking forward to seeing it!

Bikermutt, if you want more faces, click on the emoji button and then in the top right corner click on "categories" and there should be a button that says "emoticons" and it should show 98 emoticons. Don't know if you knew this or not just thought I'd tell ya in case you didn't. -Ryan

Now I'm not a seasoned carving veteran by any stretch of the imagination, but I would definitely say that tooling a belt in stages is a good idea. I was recently working on a saddle with a middle-aged saddlemaker who is now limited in leatherwork because he got tendinitis from tooling leather too much. When I tool leather, I take a short break between tooling stages to stretch out my hand. It's just not worth all the cramps to me even if doing all the tooling in one sit-down makes the work slightly better.

Good work! The stars in the corners are awesome.

I like it! I'm not a big fan of skulls but the tooling looks great. Keep it up!

Great work!

Looks great! I like that laptop case. Did you make the pattern yourself or use one?

Thank you!

Hand stitched?! wow. That's very impressive. Have you ridden in it yet?

Stitching looks pretty good to me. This "lil guy" can rip out of nylon harnesses?! Can we get a pic of Bo?

Thanks! I found both corner patterns online in two different places. They were for different things but I thought they matched pretty well so I used them together. I also altered them in a few places like the leaf looping around the border and extending a few leafs over the border. -Ryan Thanks, Yintx! I appreciate that.

I like 'em!

Thanks! No, I didn't make it. I got it as a gift from my dad. Thank you! Yeah, I like the window, too. @bikermutt07 I know. So far I've only done smaller stuff so it hasn't been a problem yet... If I need to do bigger stuff I have enough room to pull it out. I know what you mean about the arms length. Pretty soon I want to upgrade to a stool with wheels. Thanks! I like my window and hat, too. Thanks, Ross! Yeah, my dad got like five of those chests at Costco about a year ago I think.

Ok no laughing... just got it set up a few weeks ago. (jk you can laugh )