Saddle Tree seminars at Sheridan this year

[Rod and Denise Nikkel]

It's confirmed! We will be presenting a couple of seminars at the Rocky Mountain Leather Trade Show at Sheridan on Thursday May 19th. The topic is Saddle Trees from a Tree Maker's Perspective. We will be talking about the top side in the morning session, including measurements, what you can measure and what you can't but is still important, what some measurements actually mean and don't mean, what factors affect the way different parts of a tree end up looking and why - basically information to help you get the look you want and the fit for the rider you need. The afternoon session will be on the bottom side - factors that affect fit for the horse, why and how, what to look at on a horse to decide what to order, what you are looking for when you put a tree on a horse to check fit, troubleshooting saddle fit problems. This will be a first for us and we are quite excited about having this opportunity. We know what we are planning on saying, but if you have feedback or suggestions on what you would be interested in learning about at such a seminar, please let us know. We're interesting in hearing from you. Details on costs to follow.

By the way, please note that the days for this show have changed. It has been a Friday through Sunday show. This year it is changing to Thursday through Saturday. The reception at King's is on Wednesday and the party at Sheridan Leather Outfitters is on Thursday this year.

[Rod and Denise Nikkel]

The website now has the Sheridan Workshops up so you can sign up for any of them here: http://www.leathercraftersjournal.com/SheridanWorkshops2011.html

And they have the trade show booklet up here: http://www.leathercraftersjournal.com/files/SW11BookletPageOrder.pdf It is a 9.5 Mb download so if you are still on dial up you will have a long wait to get it.

While what we discussed with LCSJ was always two half day seminars, looks like they have combined us into one full day seminar. The write up in the booklet is also missing a couple of key ingredients we plan to talk about in the seminars, namely the rider and the horse. Here is our version of what we will be teaching.

Understanding Saddle Trees – the top side

Course Description: Rod and Denise Nikkel will explain the measurements taken on a saddle tree, what those measurements do (and don’t) mean, and what you can’t measure that is still important in how a tree looks and functions. Understanding how the different parts of the tree relate to each other will help you get the look you want and the size for the rider that you need when you order a tree.

Understanding Saddle Trees – the bottom side

Course Description: Rod and Denise Nikkel will explain all the different factors that a tree maker can modify to change the tree fit, and when, why and how you would want them to change for different fits. You will learn what you want to evaluate on the horse and how what you see relates to how the tree fits.

As we said before, if you have any comments or suggestions for what you would like to see us talk about, please feel free to PM us and let us know.

[rgerbitz]

I will be unable to attend but would love to see a video of the talk you are giving.

Rob

[lazyy]

The website now has the Sheridan Workshops up so you can sign up for any of them here: http://www.leathercr...kshops2011.html

And they have the trade show booklet up here: http://www.leathercr...etPageOrder.pdf It is a 9.5 Mb download so if you are still on dial up you will have a long wait to get it.

While what we discussed with LCSJ was always two half day seminars, looks like they have combined us into one full day seminar. The write up in the booklet is also missing a couple of key ingredients we plan to talk about in the seminars, namely the rider and the horse. Here is our version of what we will be teaching.

Understanding Saddle Trees – the top side

Course Description: Rod and Denise Nikkel will explain the measurements taken on a saddle tree, what those measurements do (and don't) mean, and what you can't measure that is still important in how a tree looks and functions. Understanding how the different parts of the tree relate to each other will help you get the look you want and the size for the rider that you need when you order a tree.

Understanding Saddle Trees – the bottom side

Course Description: Rod and Denise Nikkel will explain all the different factors that a tree maker can modify to change the tree fit, and when, why and how you would want them to change for different fits. You will learn what you want to evaluate on the horse and how what you see relates to how the tree fits.

As we said before, if you have any comments or suggestions for what you would like to see us talk about, please feel free to PM us and let us know.

Rod, I wanted to attend your class but opted for Pete Gorrel and Bob Klenda Friday. Please dont take any offense, I`m sure yours will be full of valuable info. I would also be interested in a video of the class. I just want to take advantage of those 2 guys knowledge while their still out and about doing shows.

I hope to run into you at the show and talk to you about building trees to Dennis Lane E.P.S. values.

Steve Yezek Lazy Y leather

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

Perhaps some day I will be able to make one of these shows, but; for now I simply cannot. I would, however; also be interested in a video of both sessions. Perhaps there is an enterprising leatherworker out there that would undertake putting a video together that would then be for sale? With your sanctioning of course, I am sure that would be a popular product.

Bob

[Rod and Denise Nikkel]

Steve, we have a booth at the trade show in the east terrace by the restaurant so we won't be hard to find. Stop by and we can chat. We won't be at the booth Thursday, since that is when we are giving our seminars, but we'll be there all day Friday and Saturday.

What I really wanted to call the sessions was "Saddle Trees from a Tree Maker's Perspective" – the top side and the bottom side - but I figured it was too long a title for the booklet so it is called "Understanding Saddle Trees" - the last entry on the sign up page on the website. What we offer that hasn't been offered before is the tree maker's perspective. Saddle trees seem to be this black hole of the unknown to many saddle makers. There is little to no information out there about trees from those of us who build them. We will talk a lot more about trees than just fitting horses, but as far as that section of our talk goes, this is the main difference between Pete's and our presentation. I have been to Pete's talk, and he does a very professional job of teaching useful information from a saddle maker's perspective (of course!) – you get what you get and you have to figure out how to work with it. So once you get it, how do you evaluate how well it works? We come at it from a different perspective – looking at the different components in the tree that we can change and how we change them to make it work for different situations - different uses, different riders, different horse types. When saddle makers understand more about how trees go together (I'm talking the effect of angles and measurements on how it works, not what screws or glue gets used!) then they can evaluate trees in a different way – by the components involved. In all this, we will not be promoting our own trees (honest), but discussing the concepts behind how trees work that apply to all trees. While we can't tell saddle makers specifically how to order from different makers to get what they want, we can give them the things they need to measure to figure out some of how that tree maker does things, or give them ideas of things to discuss with their tree maker that they might not have thought of before (but the tree maker probably has). This is what we want to explain, and what Pete's talk doesn't give because he isn't a tree maker and so he can't understand it from the tree maker's side. While some of what we talk about is the same subject, what the people will learn from each talk should complement each other because we come at it from two angles – the maker's end and the user's end. Since our talk will be on Thursday and Pete's is Friday morning, the people who come to our talk will be able to get that much more out of Pete's. So if you can take both, that would be ideal. If you can only take one - I guess you gotta choose!

As far as videoing the sessions goes, we were planning on doing that for our own evaluation purposes. I guess we will see if anything more can come in the way of a video once we see how the talks go. The idea is something that is simmering in our brains at the moment, but we're not quite ready to run with it - yet. These seminars will be really valuable to us as we see what kinds of questions come up. Then we can tweak things as needed to make a video that much more valuable to saddle makers. Of course, if everyone just wants a video but nobody comes to the seminar...

[lazyy]

Rod, Now I`m kickin myself! Actually I`ve read articles by you and read everything on your website, so I knew you`d have plenty to offer. I havent been making saddles as long as a lot of guys , but I`ve got an unquenchable thirst for new and old info. I`ll deffinatly catch up with you and pick your brain. I`m sure you`ll be doing more seminars at future shows, so I`ll hook into your knowledge base sooner or later.

Steve

[Rod and Denise Nikkel]

Steve,

No reason to kick yourself. Pete Gorrell and Bob Klenda are both getting up there in years and it is good to learn from experienced makers while they are still teaching. This year is a first for us teaching at the show so in some ways it is an experiment for us both. We'll see how it goes this year before there are any decisions made about future seminars. Right now we are just looking forward to having the opportunity this time.

[Rod and Denise Nikkel]

I checked with Dot Reis. Looks like there are more than enough people to make it a go, but there is still room left for more. We're looking forward to it. Should be fun and lots of good discussion.

[jbird]

I am Trying Like crazy. Rod Denise You're The Best! Thanks For putting Out Such Outstanding product.

[Rod and Denise Nikkel]

Josh,

Thanks for the kind words. We would love to get a chance to meet you in person if you were able to make the Sheridan show.

[Jed]

I was fortunate to have participated in this class.

Rod and Denise both did an outstanding job of communicating the many factors associated to tree construction and how each factor impacts both the horse and the rider.

To hear this explained from the tree maker's perspective was both enlightening and refreshing.

The other participants added greatly to the presentation with there questions, insight and experience.

One of the best learning experiences I have had in a while.

My thanks to both Rod and Denise for the time spent to develop and present this class and for giving up a full day they could spent manning their booth.

Joe

[GrampaJoel]

Jed,

Lucky you!

I am pea green with envy.

Joel

[Rod and Denise Nikkel]

Joe,

We're glad you enjoyed the seminar and found it helpful. We sure enjoyed doing it. We had a great group of people there, and their diverse experiences were good for seeing things from different viewpoints. I guess that is what these classes are all about and I am glad we had the opportunity to do one.

[2palominos1bay]

Hi Denise - I missed your session in Sheridan: can you speculate when a similar opportunity might arise next? thx!

Edited September 19, 2011 by 2palominos1bay

[Rod and Denise Nikkel]

If we were asked to do another one, we would sure consider it, but there is nothing booked at the moment. We sure enjoyed doing the seminar.

Edited September 19, 2011 by Rod and Denise Nikkel