Is A Hand Made Saddle Tree Worth The Money?

[Rejoneador]

Folks, I warn you: Do NOT do it!!

Well, in late spring last year I was tempted.

I ride Quarter Horses Western Style since 1971. My late father was a founding member of the German Quarter Horse Association.

Beside good horses we always had good saddles. I still own two made by the late John "Jack" Carroll of McNeal AZ, made after the ideas of Ol' Ed Connell.

In 1996 we imported a new horse from Washington State that needed a new saddle cause he was fairly wider in the withers than our older horses.

I was short of money at that time and quite curious, therefore I built a saddle myself, bases on a cheap Ralide tree.

I was aware of the fact that this kind of tree does not offer too much bearing surface due to short bars. Therefore I made efforts to block and plugs the skirts very well.

About Eastern 1997 I first used that saddle. And did about 3.500 hours (or about 15.000 miles) of riding in rough country on it during 13 or so years. I checked its fit to the horse regularely but the horse never ever complained or showed any signs of incovenience in his back....

When that horse turned 18 last spring I said to myself "He still seems to be in his prime, he merits a real good one..." I admit that I always dreamed of one of these nice Wade saddles.

I contacted a German saddle maker named Detlef Wilhelm. He came out to our place and we discussed all aspects of the project and first of all - of course - the brand, dimensions, shape of the tree. Detlef proposed a Bowden-Ritter tree and had some specimen with him.

He got the order but I obligated him to view the 4 hours of saddle making film turned bey Peter Campbell with Ol' Dale Harwood.

A week later I gave hima call and told him "Don't order that Bowden tree, I want something else, I'll order the tree by myself".

I got in contact with Denise Nikkel - by phone and by email - and 6 weeks later I owned a Rod-Nikkel-Wade-Tree. Detlef the German saddle maker came to fetch the tree and to look after his fit on the horse. We both had to agree that we never ever saw ´such a well made and good fitting tree (It is an entire little story how I got the shape of a horse in Germany over to Alberta).

To make an already long story not too long..... Right after New Years Eve I got my new saddle based on that Rod-Nikkel-Tree....

Detlef Wilhem did a real nice job, the hard seat of the saddle is so well shaped that I feel comfortable with it even after 4-5 hours of rough rding..... BUT, the most important, my horse, my ol' pal of many many miles, feels a lot better with that saddle. For the first hours of riding i did not feel much difference but that was probably due to the fact that we had lots of snow and riding was a little limited. After some longer rides of several hours I can feel pretty much difference in the attitude of the horse to show even a nice head set with an arced back after a long days. And you might imagine that I know this horse to the bone (like he knows me...)

The only possible reason can be a better fit and a larger bearing surface of the new saddle which is of course due to the tree...

So folks, again, do NOT do it.... because every time I ride the new saddle I am getting angry on myself! Why? Well, because I did NOT buy a saddle or at least a tree like that 10 years or so EARLIER.....

To be serious: The Nikkel Tree has cost me about 500 Euro more than a Bowden. And he is worth every single cent of it!

This cannot be proved with an Excel Sheet! But if you know horses they will tell you, clear and loud, in their own lingo...

Best regards from the Old World!

[Rod and Denise Nikkel]

Wow, you had me scared for a minute there! Glad the tree is working out so well for you and your horse. Thank you for the compliments. It was good working with you.

Rod

[Rejoneador]

Please excuse me for scaring you, Rod.

I admit that I probably have a peculiar sense of humor.

Well, I enjoyed working with you as well.

I recall a longer email-discussion with Denise concerning bar length (my horse has a pretty short back), seat length and what you call thigh length.

It took a little time to convince me.

But now sitting in your tree and looking at it on the back of my horse you are proved to be right in all aspects.

The seat length of 15 inches with a 4 and a half inch high cantle is pretty short for a guy like me being 176 cm tall and having about 85 kg of weight.

BUT I am in a perfect upright position having my feet well under me.

In Germany we call that kind of sitting a horse a dressage seat. Somebody ridng Reining or Barrel Racing would probably like a different postion on his horse. These folks like more sitting on the loins and having much horse in front of them...

I do not and my horse as well as myself we both feel very comfortable with this seat position during long hours of trail rinding in very rough country.

My saddle maker made the skirts of the saddle pretty short on my request. The end of the skirts as well as the bars tips give ample of space to my horses loin area.

Even when I got the tree and put it "naked" on the horse's back I was a little concerned at that point. But the finished product proves that you've been right again.

Everybody who ever walked a while with astone in his shoe can imagine that little things can create a lot of pain.

Looks like it is the little details as well that make good saddle tree and a good saddle.

Of course it is much more than only details.

But only one little detail wrong and you can throw the whole thing into the creek (as Ol' Tom Dorrance once said...).

Thank you again for your good work and your dedication to the well being of our silent pardners, Denise and Rod....

Wow, you had me scared for a minute there! Glad the tree is working out so well for you and your horse. Thank you for the compliments. It was good working with you.

Rod

[Rod and Denise Nikkel]

Thank you again for your kind comments. I’m glad we were able to allay your concerns and build you what you wanted and needed for your horse.

This is a really good example of how we build a tree when someone wants to fit “their horse”, and explaining the process may help clear up some confusion. People seem to be worried that if we fit “a” horse that the saddle will not work on any other horses. That isn’t how we do it. Rejoneador was great to work with. He sent us the pictures, back drawings, and information the way we asked. From that information, we knew what body type of horse we were trying to fit. (His horse is in pretty good shape for an 18 year old too!) Turns out that though he may be a wider horse than what is common in Germany, he is pretty typical of a lot of the ranch quarter horse types in western North America. The specs we used for his tree are a very common combination that we build, so his saddle could easily be used by a fair proportion of riders over here too. It sure isn’t a “one horse” saddle! We just want to be clear that we use the back drawings or Dennis Lane system numbers to tell us what body type of horse we are working to fit. When we talk of fitting the shape of the horse, it is a combination of bar spread (hand hole width), bar angle, gullet height, crown on the bottom of the bars, etc. (We try to explain this on our website at www.rodnikkel.com.) It isn’t that we shape the bars to the reverse of the back drawings sent to us. That would not work!

I was also really happy to read Rejoneador’s comments about how, despite some initial misgivings, he trusted our judgment in regard to the fit. We are definitely standing on the shoulders of giants when it comes to the bar design we use. Rod had good instruction and good patterns (similar to a lot of other hand made tree makers) when he started, though we have tweaked a few things along the way, as every tree maker does. The basic design of the bar is what makes it work so well on a horse, giving edge relief and bar tip relief where it is needed, but having good surface area for weight distribution. They work well, even though they may go against some of the “saddle fit rules” that are getting more prominent on the internet these days. (The more I read, the more I become convinced that some of the original makers of these “rules” didn’t know much about saddle trees or even Western saddles in general.) I believe it is getting harder for customers to trust the judgment of the tree and saddle maker now due to all the "information" available on the net now, especially since what most of what the saddle makers on this forum seem to agree on goes against a lot of the “common knowledge” on the horse forums today. Rejnoeador is much more knowledgeable than most horse owners, even very experienced ones, and we sure appreciate him giving us the benefit of the doubt and going with what we suggested. The proof is always in the pudding, and we are very glad (though not surprised) that things are working out so well for you.

[mulefool]

Great story , any chance of posting a pic of the finished saddle? I don't make many saddles anymore, but have used one of Rod and Denise's trees and was sure impressed with the quality and fit. Chris

[Rejoneador]

Sorry folks, it took some time to take the pics.

Here they are:

My old, selfmade saddle I used on this horse for about 18,000 miles during 14 years

The new saddle after about 100 hours of service:

Both saddles - old and new - shown from underneath. Unfortunately the difference in bearing surface is not too well visible. A direct comparison of the naked trees woulf be way better.

And here you see the Wannabe-Buckaroo using that rig, in front of the house we live in (that house was built whenn Louis and Clark crossed the Great the Divide, in 1805)

I still enjoy this saddle very much, and I start to forget about the old one....

Edited May 19, 2011 by Rejoneador

[Rejoneador]

Here you see the brand new saddle in the shop of Detlef Wilhelm, the saddle maker:

And here the tree of Rod and Densie Nikkel:

Edited May 19, 2011 by Rejoneador

[Rod and Denise Nikkel]

Nice looking saddle to start with and it looks even better on a horse with with wear marks on it. Glad you are enjoying the new saddle and using it a lot, since that is what it was built for!