how many in the group are saddle makers?

[gary]

Thanks everyone.

Because of your informed and helpful replies, I'm changing my ideas drastically.

Verlane has also given me some excellent advice and help.

Thanks again

Gary

[$$hobby]

I would love to learn to make saddles.

But i do alot of tack repair/mods for people. mostly halters, bridles, reins and whatever comes in the tack shop.

[Cowboy Crafts Online]

I am new to the site and I am a saddle maker. I have worked 7 years on my own and 3 as an apprentice. I would say to anyone thinking its going to be a great easy life to not try it. It takes lots of hard work and you make little money to start, until you get a reputation then it gets easier. You have to love what you do or I dont think youll last long, there are better jobs out there that you can make more money.

[David Genadek]

You can make a living if you dig in and get good. By a living I mean you should be able to net between 40 and 50 thousand a year if your good and you price your products right. That isn't a six figure income but it puts you in the same ball park as a school teacher. If you combine your operation with retail you can do much much better.

I was just at a horse expo and ran into a few other saddle makers and everyone was whining a bit about the dollars. Right now there is more opportunity in this industry than there ever has been. We have more horses in the US than any time in history. The manufactureing side of things is facing ageing leadership with no trained middle management to take up the slack which means the quaility of the production side of things will be falling off further over the next ten years. Right now there doesn't seem to be enough capacity to meet demand and the guys that are getting the business are haveing trouble finding help so that is really limiting their growth but the demand seems to be strong. As a group we need to charge an appropraite amount for our work now is a really good time to push that limit.

David Genadek

[johnnyreb]

Hello all I just joined this group and came across the saddlemarker discussion. I have made McCellan saddles, but with only six pieces of leather for the 1859 model it's a simple build. As a civil war reenactor with 12 years exp. I have made my own halters, bridles, and saddlebags. But I also do not consider myself a saddlemarker, although a buddy in the unit calls me the company saddler.

[mulefool]

I just found this group, too. Lots of interesting discussions going on. I hope to learn some things. I have built saddles and related gear full time for nearly 25 years. Maybe about 10 years ago I started to focus primarily on pack equipment along with lots of chaps, chinks, accessories, and cut back to just a few custom saddles a year. I've always felt there's alot more to learn, particularly about trees and fitting. I'm also interested in discussing ground seats, leather versus metal strainers, construction, etc. My favorite customers are outfitters or trainers that ride alot of different horses or mules and we're fitting type. I don't do the orders to micro fit one particular horse, but I've done it in the past. Mostly it worked out, but in general I've come to think it's asking for trouble in a lot of ways. Looking back I know I have made some mistakes over the years. The ones I know about I've fixed. I went to Rod and Denise's website. There's sure a wealth of information there and as soon as I have a chance I'm going to sit down and really study on it. Looking forward to learning some things and maybe even contribute some.

[steve mason]

Howdy;

I am new to the forum, I am a custom saddle maker and have been so since 1989, I have been very lucky to have worked with some very talented saddle makers through the years, I started with a year long apprentice at King's Saddlery in Sheridan, working 6 months in the repair shop and then 6 months working with John King. Since then I have been mentored by an excellent saddle maker by the name of Matt Eberle, then I had the opportunity of a lifetime, I worked for Dale harwood for a couple years, myself and John Visser made saddles for Ray Hunt under Dale. This was a learning experience that advanced my saddle making ability more than I could have imagined. Since that time I have been building saddles and cowboy gear in my own shop. I build mostly for working cowboys, which is exactly who I want to build for. One of the things I like best about building saddles is knowing that I can never attain perfection, I can always do better on the next one. I hope this site will help me in my quest for knowledge, and maybe I could help someone else in the process.

ps; I have started an online blog, it shows a brief outline of the process I use to build a saddle, if you go back in the blog archives you will see the build of a couple saddles from start to finish.

http://www.saddleblog.blogspot.com/

[Go2Tex]

OK, I confess. I make saddles. Guess that makes me a saddlemaker of sorts. I started in 2002 so I'm still just breaking into the field compared to many of the members here. After reading some of the threads, I'm amazed at how much knowledge is here and I have a feeling I'm going to take away a lot more than I give.

Thanks for letting me sit in and learn from you all.

[waddy]

Hi all,

I found this wonderful forum a while ago. I have been building saddles full time for only two years. Spent nearly 36 years in the saddle on the family ranch, got side tracked in aviation for about 20, and decided to do something I've always wanted to do, plus getting back to my roots. I know a little something from the user's end, now I'm learning how to treat the horse and rider right. This looks like the place to be.

[Gary Winckler]

Hi Everyone

I'm a little curious as to how many in the group are saddle makers or are serious about becoming one.

Also where are you located?

Thanks

Blake

I have just discovered this site in the past 5 days. Great stuff you are all discussing. I have been making saddles for about 11 years. It has really been just an elaborate hobby for me really. I took 4 years to build my first 2 saddles with help from a man working at a local saddle shop who primarily did repair work. The last 5 years I have made on average about 6-8 saddles a year with about 90% of those being custom orders. Makers such as Jeremiah Watt, Monte Beckman, and Dave Genadek have been very helpful to me along the way.