Spanish Mustang Tree

[AZThunderPony]

I know... I know... we dont make "breed" specific trees. Oh but we do! We have trees that fit QH type horses and trees that fit Arab type horses, even trees that fit mule type mules. I need a tree to fit a Spanish Mustang type horse.

So with that said and with in mind all the discussions we have had on this subject. I am looking for a project minded tree maker and saddle maker.

I am going to have my tree made and my saddle made. I want to find a tree maker and a saddle maker who will work together to produce my saddle and a couple other prototype saddles made from equimolds or the Dennis Lane fitting system or both that I can have on hand to sell to SM folks who have close to matching horses.

What kind of a financial outlay will I be looking at? I may find someone to sponsor a project. But I need a honest business minded saddle maker and tree maker to work with whom I can count on.

Is anyone up to the task?

Thanks, Susan Catt, Arizona

[Blake]

Hello Susan

It is a pretty simple and straight forward process.

Use the Dennis Lane card system and order your tree from one of the makers on this list or from Dennis himself.

Pick out the saddle maker of your choice depending on the attributes that you are looking for.

Agree on a price and delivery. Plunk down your money, send him the tree and wait.

If you don't feel comfortable measuring the horse yourself then you can make arrangements with someone that is qualified and knows the system.

I haven't found the ( fill in your own blank here )Mustang to be hard or difficult to fit or different in any extreme way .

Just keep in mind that you get what you pay for. ( Garbage In.....Garbage Out ). A saddle maker that makes his living at the bench will treat it as any order and will produce it on a schedule and with great care as that represents his pay check.

A well made custom tree will not be cheap and if you are asking the saddle maker to work with you in a new design where you may be changing things to get it fine tuned then you may/will have to pay extra. The first one will be the most expensive settling on the design and after that you will need to negotiate with the same maker or someone else to manufacture the saddle for you at a price that you can retail.

Blake

[AZThunderPony]

Hello Susan

It is a pretty simple and straight forward process.

Use the Dennis Lane card system and order your tree from one of the makers on this list or from Dennis himself.

Pick out the saddle maker of your choice depending on the attributes that you are looking for.

Agree on a price and delivery. Plunk down your money, send him the tree and wait.

If you don't feel comfortable measuring the horse yourself then you can make arrangements with someone that is qualified and knows the system.

I haven't found the ( fill in your own blank here )Mustang to be hard or difficult to fit or different in any extreme way .

Just keep in mind that you get what you pay for. ( Garbage In.....Garbage Out ). A saddle maker that makes his living at the bench will treat it as any order and will produce it on a schedule and with great care as that represents his pay check.

A well made custom tree will not be cheap and if you are asking the saddle maker to work with you in a new design where you may be changing things to get it fine tuned then you may/will have to pay extra. The first one will be the most expensive settling on the design and after that you will need to negotiate with the same maker or someone else to manufacture the saddle for you at a price that you can retail.

Blake

Thanks Blake, I am with you on this. Been at this project for nearly a year now, just lost all of my posts on here with the crash. So just getting back to reminding folks. Would like someone to step up with some positive energy toward getting the job done. lol My preferred tree maker has contacted me today, so maybe something will begin. We'll see. I am looking to have my personal saddle made, yes, but I am also looking for a larger project two produce some custom prototype saddles for my breed.

Oh and I have been a Spanish Mustang breeder for over 16 years and a BLM trainer and clinician for many more years than that. There is a huge difference in the backs. The BLM being a type of horse (Not a breed) and made up of breeds of modern horses that typical modern trees actually fit reasonably well. The Spanish Mustang is a "Breed" with pedigrees and has spanish characteristics, and I'm sorry to say no one makes a tree specifically for spanish traits. GRINNING BIG here. I had to throw that in. Always educating about my breed! hehe

S

[Blake]

Hi Susan

There is sure nothing wrong with a little education.

I have made saddles for the Spanish Mustang along with the Keiger and of course the little Florida Cracker horse which has its roots with the Spanish Mustang.

You are correct that no one has made a tree especially addressed to the Spanish Mustang but that doesn't mean that they don't exist under different titles. The fit its self is not difficult but how the saddle is finished as far as rigging, skirts, etc does have a bearing.

May I ask Who you are using for your trees? Can you be a bit specific about what you will expect from your saddle design and how it will normally be used?

Kind Regards

Blake

[AZThunderPony]

Hi Susan

There is sure nothing wrong with a little education.

I have made saddles for the Spanish Mustang along with the Keiger and of course the little Florida Cracker horse which has its roots with the Spanish Mustang.

You are correct that no one has made a tree especially addressed to the Spanish Mustang but that doesn't mean that they don't exist under different titles. The fit its self is not difficult but how the saddle is finished as far as rigging, skirts, etc does have a bearing.

May I ask Who you are using for your trees? Can you be a bit specific about what you will expect from your saddle design and how it will normally be used?

Kind Regards

Blake

Rod and Denise Nikkels would be my tree makers of choice. You are right on about the rigging with SM's. Placement is everything with them even though I know most everyone here disagrees with me. I would love for everyone here to ride a Purebred SMR SM of any strain with any saddle of their choice and tell me what they think afterward. Rigging is very important with this breed, after of course the tree itself. My personal saddle is for trail and light showing and gaiting. Other SM owners want to endurance ride, most will be pleasure saddles. But of course because our horses have a Spanish origin a lot of folks want Spanish/Mexican/On the Border styling (Santa Fe, Tejas etc). Some of the Dakota's folks like the Wade saddles. California and east coast folks like endurance and McClellan style saddles. No one is roping or cutting with their horses.

Blake I will PM you if you like and go into this further. Let me know.

S

[Blake]

Sounds good.

Pm me off list and we can exchange E-mail addresses

Blake

[Alan Bell]

Susan, I've had a Wade saddle on my horses for years with no problems. Been raising and training them for about the same amount of time and have ridden some of similar breeding to what you've had. We also did an experiment and had Roeliff mount a horse using different saddles without cinching them on and he could easily mount on a Wade saddle built on a Warren Wright tree. The saddle sat in place and just "fit". Right now both Roeliff and Quinn are riding the saddles I built for them on a Warren Wright trees and they love them and I did not special order the trees to fit Spanish Mustangs and as a matter of fact Quinn trains TB race horses and on occasion puts the saddle I built on them too. Last I talked to them they were starting 20 colts both using the saddles I made for them along with a couple of Steve Mecum saddles. No sore backs, no white spots, no slipping, no overtight cinching. and as the occasion arises we rope with our Wades and still no problems. I have had problems with factory saddles fitting my horses but i suspect those saddles would not fit ANY horse well regardless of breed just because it is made with inferior material from the tree up! Before I built the saddles I put the bare tree on several of my horses and it fit them all fairly well. I'd imagine that just getting a tree from a custom builder would eliminate 90% of the problems you've had in the past with saddle fit. I'm sure if you get a tree from Rod and Denise things will go a lot better. I hope to be getting trees from the soon, too.

Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

We refused to be what they wanted us to be; We are what we are, that's the way it's going to be!

Bob Marley - Vampire

[AZThunderPony]

Sounds good.

Pm me off list and we can exchange E-mail addresses

Blake

Will do.

Do you have any pictures of the saddles you made for the SM's or Cracker, or Kiger??? All of those horse breeds/types are built differently from each other. But similarly enough to make this interesting.

S

[AZThunderPony]

Susan, I've had a Wade saddle on my horses for years with no problems. Been raising and training them for about the same amount of time and have ridden some of similar breeding to what you've had. We also did an experiment and had Roeliff mount a horse using different saddles without cinching them on and he could easily mount on a Wade saddle built on a Warren Wright tree. The saddle sat in place and just "fit". Right now both Roeliff and Quinn are riding the saddles I built for them on a Warren Wright trees and they love them and I did not special order the trees to fit Spanish Mustangs and as a matter of fact Quinn trains TB race horses and on occasion puts the saddle I built on them too. Last I talked to them they were starting 20 colts both using the saddles I made for them along with a couple of Steve Mecum saddles. No sore backs, no white spots, no slipping, no overtight cinching. and as the occasion arises we rope with our Wades and still no problems. I have had problems with factory saddles fitting my horses but i suspect those saddles would not fit ANY horse well regardless of breed just because it is made with inferior material from the tree up! Before I built the saddles I put the bare tree on several of my horses and it fit them all fairly well. I'd imagine that just getting a tree from a custom builder would eliminate 90% of the problems you've had in the past with saddle fit. I'm sure if you get a tree from Rod and Denise things will go a lot better. I hope to be getting trees from the soon, too.

Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

Bob Marley - Vampire

Hey Alan, good to see you! Yes I know you used a wade tree. You know for some SM's it does work. Ed Covey had some good QH bar trees that worked on his broader SM's. What I can tell you is that I have been trying saddles with all kinds of trees in them on my SM's (and you know which ones) for 16 years and have yet to find a saddle to fit. Now I can list numerous SM owners and you will recognise most of them who are having the same problem. Even with Wade trees. So that leave us to having a tree made (in general most of this breed will need a tree made). Most of us do not have Romero bred horses either. that could be the difference. I have three saddles sittinig in my living room right now and all three are useless to me. I have a horse in percision gait training and I need a saddle that fits her.

Yes I am very excited and honored to work with the Nikkels and have a Nikkels tree in my saddle. So are you making any new saddles of late?

S

Edited February 18, 2008 by AZThunderPony

[Alan Bell]

Hey Susan, good to see you too! I'm doing some braiding and making some spur straps and belts and such while waiting for some trees. I hope to be ordering some trees from Rod and Denise very soon! Did Terry Moore make you a saddle?

Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

Long time we no have no nice time! Do ya, do ya, do ya think about that?

Bob Marley - Nice Time

[AZThunderPony]

Hey Susan, good to see you too! I'm doing some braiding and making some spur straps and belts and such while waiting for some trees. I hope to be ordering some trees from Rod and Denise very soon! Did Terry Moore make you a saddle?

Vaya Con Dios, Alan Bell

Bob Marley - Nice Time

Someday Alan, Im going to buy a bridle and other fun stuff from you. I Love your work!!! I am looking at another saddle maker. You still have my email? PM me.

S

Edited February 19, 2008 by AZThunderPony