San Fernando Valley Saddlery

[MattW]

I am looking for historical information about San Fernando Valley Saddlery. James Arness's saddle from the Gunsmoke series is a San Fernando Valley Saddlery saddle. Mr. Arness is looking for some information to add to a description of the saddle to be used with a museum display.

All information is welcome as long as it pertains to San Fernando Valley Saddlery.

Thank You in advance for anything you can contribute.

Matt

[barra]

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1775341824/nm0450494

Photo of San Fernando Valley saddlery

Matt. PM Ketchum who is a member on LW. I think he is Cliff Ketchum's son.

Barra

[gtwister09]

Barra,

He is Cliff's son.

Regards,

Ben

[MattW]

fyi from Ketchum

Thanks for writing Matt,,,,,, I ll do my best to help you ,,,, myfather , Cliff Ketchum opened the San Fernando Saddlery in the early50s with Art Hugenberger , off Woodman Ave, in Van Nuys , Calif. I justdrove by the area this year where the saddle shop once stood reflectingon my childhood days there climbing on the saddles ,,, the shop is longgone ,,

They both did many things for the Movie studios in those days ,I m notsure with ones , and later my father bought out his partner .

as i was told by an old timer ,when he was in his teens the saddle shopwas the place to hang out , if you wanted to meet some of Hollywood smovie actors , those where the good old days

Cliff Ketchum apprenticed Saddlemaking at the Porter Saddle Company ,Phoenix Az. while in High Shool , under the watch full eye of LuisRinglero Master Saddlemaker ,,,,

Sometime after WW 2 , pack his bags with his wife and young son andwent to Los Angeles worked for a few saddle shops til the San Fernandovalley saddlery was opened , and sometime during the 50s my fathertrained his horse that was in a few Disney's movies , Darby O'Gill andthe little people and Tonka , then began acting in a few movies ,,,,,,The Young Land , Pork Chop Hill ,,,, made guest appearances on GunSmoke and a few others

A few other Great Saddlemakers worked at the San fernendo ValleySaddlery ,,,, Luis Ringlero . Mervin Ringerlo , Son of Luis . Iremember them , Art Hugenberger , Al Shelton to name a few ,, The waythey made a custom saddle to fit a horse and rider is a lost art thesedays , there are just a hand full of Master Saddlemakers left ,,,, Itsa dieing ART , a rider could ride all day without being saddle sore ,they where the most comfortable saddle made as one movie actor said

Before the San Fernando Valley saddlery closed in 1967 someone said myfather was working on a saddle for the John Wayne ,, How many movieactors had saddles made from the the shop is unknown to me ,, whatfiles my father had where taken by someone after his death in Septemberof 1984 , many of his hand made tools too , sad , but his work lives on,,,, he engcouraged many other s to try there hand at saddle making ,like Don King , Verlane Desgrange , Pedro Pedrini , many other unknownsaddlemakers to me ,,,,, patrick ketchum

[martinez family saddle]

Matt,

Growing up this saddlery was a big part of my life as my father was a master silversmith and went there often. When I was lucky enough to get invited to go, it was nothing but fun sitting on saddles and getting into things. I was one of 10 children and my father, long deceased, is Charlie Martinez was owner of McCabe Silversmiths. My mother sold the business when he died and we then no longer kept up with the Ketchums as she had her hands quite full. I have often wondered about the Ketchums since the last time I can remember being around them was the 60's. It would be good to catch up with them also.

My dad designed silver for some Hollywood stars including Gene Autrey, Dale Robertson and worked on the Musick saddle retrofitting for RoyRogers. He also put together the Forrest Riley parade saddle - these are now in museums. We all were given silver jewelery throughout the years, but I hold dearly the ponytail cuff made in leather with my name tooled in it that no doubt came from Ketchums and my mothers leather belt with dad's silver buckle with her initials.

When doing some research for my family I stumbled across this site and am looking for information of my own which I really don't want to post on this board. It is a question about Mr. Arness' interest in saddles or if he has a museum as our family may have some common interest. If you would please contact me through my email, I would appreciate it:

melinda.cpmfamily@gmail.com

If anyone else reads this that has interest in McCabe silversmithing, please feel free to reply on this post - happy trails!

Melinda

I am looking for historical information about San Fernando Valley Saddlery. James Arness's saddle from the Gunsmoke series is a San Fernando Valley Saddlery saddle. Mr. Arness is looking for some information to add to a description of the saddle to be used with a museum display.

All information is welcome as long as it pertains to San Fernando Valley Saddlery.

Thank You in advance for anything you can contribute.

Matt

[martinez family saddle]

Patrick,

I have just posted to Matt W regarding your fathers saddlery - what a nice thing to find this post! I don't know if I ever met you, I do remember the saddlery like it was yesterday though. The smell of the leather, horses, dust and eucalypist trees all mingle together when I think about it. My father would lay blueprints on the table at night and go over details and then take them to Ketchums for tooling. It was always active there with people coming and going and tossing me up on saddles. I really was too young to understand what they were all talking about or doing, I was just glad to be with my dad having fun.

One thing we regret is that dad died so young, 43, and none of us learned this skill, I was just 12. My oldest brother learned some before he left to go in the brotherhood as a teacher. He wishes he had been able to continue on my dad's art and was planning on trying to take it up in his retirement; unfortunately he died suddenly last year.

As a family we cherish our heritage and most of us rember your dad's saddelry as being part of it. Mom is now 91 and I plan on telling her about this when we visit again; she lives with my sister in LA area. We send our best to all of your family and loved hearing about the Ketchum past.

Melinda

fyi from Ketchum

Thanks for writing Matt,,,,,, I ll do my best to help you ,,,, myfather , Cliff Ketchum opened the San Fernando Saddlery in the early50s with Art Hugenberger , off Woodman Ave, in Van Nuys , Calif. I justdrove by the area this year where the saddle shop once stood reflectingon my childhood days there climbing on the saddles ,,, the shop is longgone ,,

They both did many things for the Movie studios in those days ,I m notsure with ones , and later my father bought out his partner .

as i was told by an old timer ,when he was in his teens the saddle shopwas the place to hang out , if you wanted to meet some of Hollywood smovie actors , those where the good old days

Cliff Ketchum apprenticed Saddlemaking at the Porter Saddle Company ,Phoenix Az. while in High Shool , under the watch full eye of LuisRinglero Master Saddlemaker ,,,,

Sometime after WW 2 , pack his bags with his wife and young son andwent to Los Angeles worked for a few saddle shops til the San Fernandovalley saddlery was opened , and sometime during the 50s my fathertrained his horse that was in a few Disney's movies , Darby O'Gill andthe little people and Tonka , then began acting in a few movies ,,,,,,The Young Land , Pork Chop Hill ,,,, made guest appearances on GunSmoke and a few others

A few other Great Saddlemakers worked at the San fernendo ValleySaddlery ,,,, Luis Ringlero . Mervin Ringerlo , Son of Luis . Iremember them , Art Hugenberger , Al Shelton to name a few ,, The waythey made a custom saddle to fit a horse and rider is a lost art thesedays , there are just a hand full of Master Saddlemakers left ,,,, Itsa dieing ART , a rider could ride all day without being saddle sore ,they where the most comfortable saddle made as one movie actor said

Before the San Fernando Valley saddlery closed in 1967 someone said myfather was working on a saddle for the John Wayne ,, How many movieactors had saddles made from the the shop is unknown to me ,, whatfiles my father had where taken by someone after his death in Septemberof 1984 , many of his hand made tools too , sad , but his work lives on,,,, he engcouraged many other s to try there hand at saddle making ,like Don King , Verlane Desgrange , Pedro Pedrini , many other unknownsaddlemakers to me ,,,,, patrick ketchum

[kitm]

fyi from Ketchum

Thanks for writing Matt,,,,,, I ll do my best to help you ,,,, myfather , Cliff Ketchum opened the San Fernando Saddlery in the early50s with Art Hugenberger , off Woodman Ave, in Van Nuys , Calif. I justdrove by the area this year where the saddle shop once stood reflectingon my childhood days there climbing on the saddles ,,, the shop is longgone ,,

They both did many things for the Movie studios in those days ,I m notsure with ones , and later my father bought out his partner .

as i was told by an old timer ,when he was in his teens the saddle shopwas the place to hang out , if you wanted to meet some of Hollywood smovie actors , those where the good old days

Cliff Ketchum apprenticed Saddlemaking at the Porter Saddle Company ,Phoenix Az. while in High Shool , under the watch full eye of LuisRinglero Master Saddlemaker ,,,,

Sometime after WW 2 , pack his bags with his wife and young son andwent to Los Angeles worked for a few saddle shops til the San Fernandovalley saddlery was opened , and sometime during the 50s my fathertrained his horse that was in a few Disney's movies , Darby O'Gill andthe little people and Tonka , then began acting in a few movies ,,,,,,The Young Land , Pork Chop Hill ,,,, made guest appearances on GunSmoke and a few others

A few other Great Saddlemakers worked at the San fernendo ValleySaddlery ,,,, Luis Ringlero . Mervin Ringerlo , Son of Luis . Iremember them , Art Hugenberger , Al Shelton to name a few ,, The waythey made a custom saddle to fit a horse and rider is a lost art thesedays , there are just a hand full of Master Saddlemakers left ,,,, Itsa dieing ART , a rider could ride all day without being saddle sore ,they where the most comfortable saddle made as one movie actor said

Before the San Fernando Valley saddlery closed in 1967 someone said myfather was working on a saddle for the John Wayne ,, How many movieactors had saddles made from the the shop is unknown to me ,, whatfiles my father had where taken by someone after his death in Septemberof 1984 , many of his hand made tools too , sad , but his work lives on,,,, he engcouraged many other s to try there hand at saddle making ,like Don King , Verlane Desgrange , Pedro Pedrini , many other unknownsaddlemakers to me ,,,,, patrick ketchum

[osageblaze]

I ran across this thread and just had to comment.

I just wanted to say that I do not remember Cliff very well. I was 11 years old at the time. I had started showing western in small shows at my riding club. Started taking lessons from Ronnie Richards. A San Fernando Saddle was the in thing for showers at that time. Even though I have not ridden in many years, I still have my saddle that was purchased in 1957. I can remember going with my dad to pick it up. Recently talked with an old friend I rode with back then. She is a trainer in the AQHA and still remembers Cliff Ketchum and San Fernando Saddlery.

The legends always live on.

Sharon Mackay

[BroncoBill2]

I was searching for some information on the San Fernando Saddlery and ran across these postings.  I thought I would share some memories. During the years 1951 - 1954 (ages 12-15) my friend, C.B. Wesslund and I used to hang out at the saddlery watching the leather artists at work and just being among those great leather smells.  C.B's dad was the Barn Manager at Hudkins Bros. Movie Stables about a mile away on Coldwater Canyon just above Sherman Way.  C. B. and I would ride our favorite Hudkin's horses to the saddlery at least once a week (exercising them was our pay for cleaning the barn and stalls) :-) C.B. was also a stunt double for Jimmy Hawkins in the Annie Oakley T.V. series.  I had the opportunity to do stunt work also, but my folks wouldn't hear of it.  So my stunts were strictly off screen.  I have owned a saddle for about 30 years that I am certain was made by the San Fernando Saddlery.  I'm doing research so that I have the information about the saddle for my family when I finally hit the end of the trail.  Hanging out at the saddlery is one of my fondest childhood memories.  I even think the leather workers enjoyed just having us hang out.  They were great guys, sadly none of whose names I remember.  In my later years I produced bronze statues of Hopalong  Cassidy and Roy Rogers.  My wife and I met Grace Bradley Boyd at that time, and became friends with Roy, Dale, son Dusty, and daughter Cheryl.  A great way to complete the cowboy circle.

-Bill Hamburg, Coupeville, Washington

 

 

[SalopSalop]

As a child, I loved watching Cliff make saddles.