JWP bucking rolls

[steve mason]

Howdy;

I just received an email from Jeremiah Watt about his new bucking roll system that I mentioned in another post. here is what JW had to say and a photo. I will be tying these out for sure, something I will not miss is stuffing buck rolls

"Just a quick note to all of you who work so hard at making better saddles each day, to fitting more horses and more riders with each passing day. We just wanted to let you know that we have taken some of the labour out of making Buck Rolls. These new Foam inserts feel like sheepskin or hair pack Buckrolls, but with 1/4 the time to make. And best of all, they do not pack down and are perfect everytime. So now maybe we can increase the profits in our saddle shops, even if it is just a little.

Best regards from Jeremiah Watt, Saddlemaker & Designer"

[ArtS]

How much are they? Do they also send a pattern to use for your leather with these inserts so they fit right?

Thanks,

ArtS

[bruce johnson]

Art,

Something like $12.95 per set in low number quantities, $7.00 for the pattern pack. He is going to make a DVD to show how also. I ordered a couple sets Monday, and should have them today. I'll let you know.

[Timbo]

Don't they also sell those in the Victoria's Secret catalog???

Tim

[barra]

Timbo. I was thinking it but tooo afeered to say it.

Barra

[ArtS]

Thanks Bruce. I look forward to seeing your's and finding out how you like them. Perfect timing for the saddle that I'm making.

Art

Art,

Something like $12.95 per set in low number quantities, $7.00 for the pattern pack. He is going to make a DVD to show how also. I ordered a couple sets Monday, and should have them today. I'll let you know.

[Cowboy Crafts Online]

I recieved my buckin roll inserts yesterday. I will try to get a pair made in the next couple of weeks. I think they are going to work out real nice.

Ashley

[steveb]

OK - I give...what are "buck rolls", and what do they do?

steveb

[bruce johnson]

Steve,

Bucking roll are an "add-on" for slick fork saddles. The swells (part of the saddle the horn attaches to) in a swell fork saddle sticks out a little on both sides. It serves a couple funstions. It gives you something to kind of lean into when your are standing up and forward leaning out to rope. Some swell patterns allow you to get your legs underneath them to secure if a horse goes to bucking. I look on them as a sefety valve. If I am loose and going forward and my horse stops short, I want something to stop me before the saddle horn does. Human anatomical considerations apply. Swell fork saddles come in a bunch of different styles, but are all characterized by having these "swells" sticking out to the sides a little. Slick fork saddles don't have this. Originally all saddles were slick fork, being that the swells or forks were really made from the forks of tree branches. At some point someone tied a jacket across the front to inhibit his forward movement. In the later 1800s, a guy developed bucking rolls, little add-on pads that went on each side of the fork. A further development was swell forks - originally reported to be a croquet ball sawed in half and each half screwed into the slick fork - adding swells. Then forks were actually made with a swell pattern and no longer carved from tree forks, and the two camps of though divided into what we have today - the swell fork guys and slick fork fans. It used to be more regional. Swell fork most places. The slick forks kept popularity in the great basin and Northwest and areas influenced by them. Now with guys moving around, horse training clinicians riding slick forks and selling them, it is less defined. Bucking rolls were stuffed with hair, wool clippings, some guys use synthetics, etc. though a flap in the bottom. Anything to pack in there and give shape. It takes a while to pack in there, some packing then mashes down in use and they need more stuffing or they get raggy. If these foam inserts work as expected, you just build your rolls around the foam core and you are done.

To compare, swell forks are more solid, less forgiving when you smack into them. Bucking rolls are softer, but not as solid to lay into. I am attaching a picture of a moderate swell fork saddle, the one with no bucking rolls. The other is a slickfork with rolls, you can see where they attach, and kind of what they do.

[steveb]

hate to admit it Bruce, but i actually get it...scary....

guess its true, Verlane once mentioned to me in an email that if you spend anytime in leather craft and construction

you WILL wind up learning about tack, horses and the technical vagaries of saddle rigging and horsemanship.

its true

steveb (not a horseman, but not totally ing-o-rant about it either..ha!)

[Jordan]

Kinda like codpieces for saddles Sorry couldn't resist. LOL

[steve mason]

I just finished a pair of buck roll with the inserts. They system is the foam inserts, good patterns, very detailed instructions and a DVD which I did not get. The pattern JW sends is a good buck roll pattern to start with, and for someone who has not made buck rolls before, this is worth the money just instructions sheet. I have made buck rolls for close to 20 years and I learned a couple tricks. Then for the finished product, these are quite simply the firmest buck rolls I have ever made. The are a good shape to the roll itself also. I have packed the rolls with shearling and horsehair which I preferred but I have never had a roll that felt as nice and firm as these do. there is a time saving also, the assembly time is about the same, but you don't have to stuff the rolls so there is a good time saver right there. I would have to recommend this system very highly.

I think the only changes I will make to the pattern is a couple small tweaks to make it my own. I think other than the size of the chap body and the size of the hole in the top body you can adapt the pattern to what ever style of buck roll you do. when I get a chance I'll take some photos and post them.

Steve

[mulefool]

Gosh, they look so 'lifelike". Now I'm going to have to think of something else to do with all that left over sheepskin.

[ryan]

When they designed these, they should have made them a different color. Being this color, it's pretty obvious what inspired the idea.

Ryan

[Tspear]

Do any of you bucking roll experienced makers build seamless bucking rolls? Any tips on shaping (stretching) the chap body?

[steveb]

Steve,

Bucking roll are an "add-on" for slick fork saddles. The swells (part of the saddle the horn attaches to) in a swell fork saddle sticks out a little on both sides. It serves a couple funstions. It gives you something to kind of lean into when your are standing up <snip>.

thanks Bruce for the excellent and thoughtful descripton - makes perfect sense - i get its function, but seems to me to be the kind of thing that'd be baked into a saddles design and not an add on...