New Wade Rough Out Saddle

[steve mason]

I agree with Darcy, I will not use the 550 rings with riders with short inseams, a couple other things to consider with short inseams is the depth of your seat jockey, you don't want the bottom of the jockey sitting right under the knee joint,another thing is the drop on your fenders, for shorter fender also shorten up the drop on the fender.

Steve

Hi Justin,

I never use 550 rings so I can't comment on them but I agree with Steve that about 6 1/4"s below the bar is about right for a 777 plate. You also have to keep in mind a couple of things... the height of your rider may require you to raise that height if they are short in height. You should also consider the tree you are using; some maker's trees have bars with more depth on the front pads than others and quite noticeably so. Some tree styles also have deeper bars than others, ie. a Wade. The saddle in the photo below has a 5053 plate set at about 6 1/4"s. The picture also illustrates what I mentioned in my above post of a symmetrical seat jockey that covers the opening in your flat plate rigging... the leading edge of the seat jockey covers the stitch line on the flat plate by about 3/16th's of an inch.

Darcy

[HanginH]

Thanks Darcy and Steve,

I see what you mean with the symetrical seat on your saddle Darcy and I think that by raising my rigging will definetly help me achieve a better line because I won't have to the seat jockey drop so much to try and cover the rigging hole. Also Darcy I noticed on your saddle that your rigging is put in with what look like brass rivets and I was just curious where you get them from because I have never seen them before.

I also notice that with the skirts on your saddle Darcy that they appear to be some where in the that 5-6 inch range from the bottom of your bars and I was just wondering if you ever build them smaller than that or would that be a standard size on your wade saddles. The reason I am asking is I am currently working on a wade saddle for a gal and she would like it as light as possible with small round skirts. I know that you don't want them to small but I am just not a hundred percent sure on what is considered to small. I have looked at my father in laws saddle made by Deryk Pitts and his skirts do seem a bit smaller than mine but thought that I should ask in case there is a prefernce or not.

Thanks again for all the info guys i hope that my lines on my saddles get half as good as either of yours and I would be one happy camper.

Have a good one!

[D.A. Kabatoff]

Justin,

the angle of the photo may be a bit deceiving as my skirts typically are about 4-4 1/2"s deep below the rear bar edge. The rear dees I use are 3"s from top to bottom so I'm guessing the saddle in the photo was probably just over 4"s deep. As far as how small you can make the skirts, I've made them as small as two inches below the rear bar on a single rigged saddle... It plays havoc with the overall lines of the saddle but if the aesthetics aren't too important and you have a good fitting tree, smaller skirts aren't too much of a problem. Deryk Pitts is a very good saddlemaker so if you have access to one of his saddles that have proportions you like, I'd certainly use it to take measurements from.

If you are trying to make a lightweight saddle, there are a few tricks you can combine. First, like you mentioned, you can minimize the size of your patterns. You can also use lighterweight leather such as the light and medium weight hides... Ken at Caledon Leather in Calgary usually has them in stock. You can also use narrower, half stirrup leathers and the narrowest tread stirrups that your customer finds accesptable. You might also consider an inskirt rig as well. The picture of the saddle below is one I made for a gal from the United Kingdom who wanted the lightest saddle I could make. Fully mounted that saddle weighed about 24lbs. It started with a lightweight tree, light and medium hides, fenders that were 7"s wide, an inskirt rigging, half stirrup leathers, and 2 1/2" stirrups. The customer was also only a few inches over 5 feet so trying to keep the blevins off the rigging was a challenge. The depth of the skirts was probably about 3 1/2 - 3 3/4"s deep.

The brass rivets came from Weaver's Leather in the U.S. I usually use copper but had a request for them on a saddle.

Darcy

[AdamTill]

If you are trying to make a lightweight saddle, there are a few tricks you can combine. First, like you mentioned, you can minimize the size of your patterns. You can also use lighterweight leather such as the light and medium weight hides... Ken at Caledon Leather in Calgary usually has them in stock.

Hi Darcy,

Very nice rig, I sure hope your customer was impressed.

I plan to get leather for a lightweight saddle from Ken at Caledon, especially since he's local. When you mention light or medium weight, what does that translate into in terms of weight in oz or thickness in mm? How light are you comfortable getting without a special order?

Curious where the narrower stirrups came from as well, if you don't mind.

Thanks much,

Adam

PS - nice saddle there as well, Justin - hope mine come out half as nice!

[D.A. Kabatoff]

Adam,

I'm not sure what Hermann Oak's exact specs are for light and medium weight leather but they are probably something like 11-13oz for light and 12-14oz for heavy. I definitly wouldn't go lighter than the lightweight leather that Caledon sells and if the saddle will be used regularly, I'd use a combination of light and medium weight or all medium weight. Keep in mind each saddle parts function and that will dictate if you should use the light or medium weight leather. Cantle backs, gullet covers, horn caps and wraps, skirt plugs, rear jockeys, cantle binding can all be taken from the light hide. The seat, skirts, groundseat, and stirrup leathers should come from the heavier hide. If the saddle is being used for roping, the fork cover should come from the heavier hide, if it's just a riding saddle, the lighter hide might be acceptable. You may be able to take the fenders from the butt of the lighter hide if it's a firm, heavy butt and your fender pattern isn't too big.

The 2 1/2" stirrups are referring to the tread width, so any stirrup maker can make them that width; those stirrups happened to come from Trina Weber. If you want the gap that the stirrup bolts occupy to be narrower (ie 2 1/2") take the spacer off the bolt and use a hacksaw to cut the spacer to what ever width your stirrup leathers will be.

Darcy

[AdamTill]

Thanks Darcy, much obliged.

On the width issue, I had thought that you had custom stirrups done for a 2.5" width. If it's just a matter of reducing the spacer, that's not a big deal.

Thanks again,

Adam