What Are The Elements Of Saddle Making That Are Tough To Learn On Your Own?

[Russ]

You're going to learn very little in 3-5 weeks, unless you already have some experience and know what to look for. Sometimes it's a very small thing, like holding a hand tool a certain way, that can make a huge difference. As far as the 1-week workshop, I can't imagine anybody making a decent saddle in a week. Be careful.

With all due respect Ruark, I still ride in my first saddle that I made in a week. I shoot in it, rope in it, trail ride in it. I suggest you be careful with your first posts.

[Ruark]

With all due respect Ruark, I still ride in my first saddle that I made in a week. I shoot in it, rope in it, trail ride in it. I suggest you be careful with your first posts.

Didn't mean to offend anyone, Russ. Like everybody else here, I have my own viewpoint, based on what I was taught and what I learned. I didn't say it wasn't possible to make a saddle in a week, I just said "be careful." We all come from different backgrounds. Myself, I learned from 3rd and 4th generation rural West Texas saddlemakers, who made almost entirely super heavy duty, full-double-rigged working ranch saddles, made to be used outside, all day, every day, year round, in every imaginable situation, from riding fence all week to jerking bulls. We always took 4 to 6 weeks to make a saddle, depending on things like tooling and lacing, which of course took more time. That's making 2 or maybe 3 saddles at a time, where you work on one for a day or two while the other sits letting glues dry, etc.

Many, many times I heard comments like, "some guys say they can make a saddle in a week, but I don't know what they'd be good for, except sittin' on a horse and looking pretty." Of course, that's a little over the top, but that's what I grew up hearing.

Again, this is just my background, and I'm not saying anybody else is right or wrong, and I intended no offense to anybody. But I'll say again, if I were a green beginner and some guy was going to take a bunch of my money and show me how to make a saddle in a week, I would.... well... "be careful."

Ruark

Edited June 14, 2014 by Ruark

[Russ]

That's fair enough Ruark. Perhaps I was too quick and too harsh in my response. I know that I have a full 70 hours (7 ten hour days) on my saddles where I was being instructed. And that includes some doubling up, where my instructor would work some to show me a technique and then I would follow his example. Since I wanted to learn the ins and outs of building saddles, I skipped any tooling and extravagant lacing. Now that I live next door, literally, to my teacher, I'm spending more time on "pretty" and it does take longer...but 4-6 weeks on a saddle would pretty much put us out of business. Maybe we should actually be talking about hours put into a saddle rather than time from squaring the tree to sending it out the door.

Again, my apologies, Ruark, I hope no hard feelings.

Russ

Didn't mean to offend anyone, Russ. Like everybody else here, I have my own viewpoint, based on what I was taught and what I learned. I didn't say it wasn't possible to make a saddle in a week, I just said "be careful." We all come from different backgrounds. Myself, I learned from 3rd and 4th generation rural West Texas saddlemakers, who made almost entirely super heavy duty, full-double-rigged working ranch saddles, made to be used outside, all day, every day, year round, in every imaginable situation, from riding fence all week to jerking bulls. We always took 4 to 6 weeks to make a saddle, depending on things like tooling and lacing, which of course took more time. That's making 2 or maybe 3 saddles at a time, where you work on one for a day or two while the other sits letting glues dry, etc.

Many, many times I heard comments like, "some guys say they can make a saddle in a week, but I don't know what they'd be good for, except sittin' on a horse and looking pretty." Of course, that's a little over the top, but that's what I grew up hearing.

Again, this is just my background, and I'm not saying anybody else is right or wrong, and I intended no offense to anybody. But I'll say again, if I were a green beginner and some guy was going to take a bunch of my money and show me how to make a saddle in a week, I would.... well... "be careful."

Ruark