bruce johnson Report post Posted June 8, 2011 This is a cowboying saddle I just finished up. It is built on a 16" tree. The guy is pretty stocky but short legged. It was nice to take an order from a guy who came in knowing what he needed for the most part. He doesn't do well with Nevada twist leathers and the dropped ring rigging, so we went with 2-1/2" leathers and regular Blevins configuration. I cut the fender leg a little shorter to accomodate that also. He wanted a shorter sweet spot in the seat and quicker rise than what he was riding, so I got that benefit of that before working the ground seat too. Pretty minimal stamping with the swells and then small corners. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Denise Report post Posted June 8, 2011 Nice to see another saddle from you, Bruce. I like the explanation of why you did what you did too. Anything that helps us all learn is good. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jwwright Report post Posted June 8, 2011 Looks good Bruce. I just finshed one myself with the same type of request from the customer regarding the seat. He said he likes to feel the cantle on his backside all the time, so same thing......I put a shorter sweet spot in it, further back. JW Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldtimer Report post Posted June 8, 2011 (edited) Looks good Bruce. I just finshed one myself with the same type of request from the customer regarding the seat. He said he likes to feel the cantle on his backside all the time, so same thing......I put a shorter sweet spot in it, further back. JW Please explain, What is a "sweet spot" ? Bruce , That´s a good looking piece of work! / Knut Edited June 8, 2011 by oldtimer Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bruce johnson Report post Posted June 8, 2011 Knut, Thanks for the compliment. I think the hardest saddles to make look mechanically good are the plain ones. The sweet spot is probably called different things by different people. I guess I call it the place where you settle into when you are relaxed and seated. On a normal saddle I would have made a tad more "slide" in the cantle dish maybe although this tree has a good transition already. I also would have started the rise about 1-2" more forward of this one. I had the advantage on this order of seeing his other saddle and the seat geometry. I could see what I needed to do with this one to make it work better for him. If this works out like we anticipate, we can do some some tweaking on his other saddle. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Billy H Report post Posted June 8, 2011 Hi Bruce, I like the looks of your customers saddle. You did a nice job! If you don't mind, I have a question on your customers age. Was he a older cowboy? Reason I ask is I have found that alot of folks in their upper 60's and beyond prefer this kind of seat. I know my Dad would not have a saddle built any other way. Now adays seems folks want to be more centered in the saddle. I don't really know if there is a right or wrong. About a year ago, I went on a qwest to try and figure what was the perfect Ground seat. I came home more confused than when I left. Billy Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
