How did you get started

[Butch]

Just wondering how you saddle makers got started; from another saddle maker, books, school, etc...

Any preferences on books/DVD's or schools.

I think it would be great to be able to make my own saddle someday, but I'm no where ready for it yet.

Butch

[Casey Jordan]

Butch,

The best way to learn quick and cut down years of learning time is to go to a school. The best one I know of is Jesse Smith's school. He lives in Pritchett, Colorado and runs the school right there on his place. He used to teach saddle making at a college in Washington. He is a great saddle maker and a real nice guy that knows what he is doing.

Hope this helps.

Casey (minisaddlemaker)

[ArtS]

Butch,

I'm not a 'saddle maker' but I've made a saddle and working on another one. If I live long enough and get busy making them and learning more then maybe - just maybe, I can call myself one before I die.

I learned from a true saddle maker that has been doing it all his life - so far. I don't think any book can beat that. It is good to have a book or two for reference. I think that you will need that when you're sitting in your shop by yourself making one. My favorite two are the Stohlman Encyclopedia set and the 'Saddlemaker's Shop Manual' by Harry G. Adams Jr.

Art

[Russ]

Ditto on that. I have both of the books, plus copious notes I took when I was at a school with a saddlemaker. The Stohlman and Adams works are great reference tools. One thing to keep in mind.....there's as many different ways to make a saddle as there are saddles. It can get confusing when things are done in different order, or for a different reason. Between the Stohlman set, the Adams manual, and my own notes, there's a lot of variation.

I've made a few successfull saddles, but I've screwed up so much that they weren't profitable....except for the experience.

Butch,

I'm not a 'saddle maker' but I've made a saddle and working on another one. If I live long enough and get busy making them and learning more then maybe - just maybe, I can call myself one before I die.

I learned from a true saddle maker that has been doing it all his life - so far. I don't think any book can beat that. It is good to have a book or two for reference. I think that you will need that when you're sitting in your shop by yourself making one. My favorite two are the Stohlman Encyclopedia set and the 'Saddlemaker's Shop Manual' by Harry G. Adams Jr.

Art

[Butch]

Thanks Casey and Art for the information. There is a Saddlemaker that lives down the road from me, but I don't personally know him. Although I would like to ask him if I could see how he goes about making saddles and hopefully he wouldn't mind. I would personally like to build a wade saddle someday, but as I mentioned earlier I'm not sure I'm ready to even start yet. Unfortunately there isn't a saddlemaking school near here that I know of. So just reading about it in the books might be more appropriate for me right now.

Thanks again

[Butch]

Thanks Russ. I think I was in the middle of my previous response when you responded. It looks like it could get kind of spendy if you make some mistakes, but like you said the experience was probably well worth it.

Thanks,

Butch

[rickybobby]

Butch,

About 8 years ago I started doing saddles. I have done leatherwork for 30 years, belts, wallets, holsters, ect, then I bought the Stohlman books and read them page by page. I worked with a friend that went to saddle school on a few saddles and that was good expierience. I have done 4 saddles on my own and am now working in a saddleshop. My tooling ability got me the job, I do all the tooling for the shop and I also do repairs which has been great expierience, I assemble and make alot of the parts for the custom saddles but have not done one complete start to finish at work.

I am doing holsters at home and have started a saddle to sell. My opinion of saddle schools is, To get the most out of them you need some "hands on" trial and error so you can focus on what questions to ask while there. For me I would want to go to see how to be more efficiante at some tasks but concentrate on doing the SEAT. This has been the toughest part to do for me and takes the longest. There must be a better way. I need to see it done and ask questions.

Just some thoughts for you, take care,

Rick Jorgenson

[ArtS]

Ask the saddle maker if he'll teach you for a fee.

Art

[TrooperChuck]

Butch:

A couple years ago I was in the same situation: I really wanted to learn how to make saddles, but I was unsure how to go about it. I bought a few books, which were excellent sources of information, but I realized that books alone weren't going to answer all my questions.

I started asking around if anyone knew of a saddlemaker in the area. (I live in northeast Washington.) Someone told me of an old cowboy named Bill Bacon, who had been making saddles for years, and he offered to take me out to Bill's house and introduce me.

At the time, Bill was 82 years old. His saddle shop was located in a log building that he and his wife built long ago. After being introduced to Bill, I told him I really wanted to learn saddle making and I was willing to pay him for his time. Bill's price??? I had to pay for the materials I used and provide him with FIVE CORDS OF FIREWOOD!

To say that I was pleased with this deal would be a massive understatement!

I spent five months, working about 4 days a week, working with Bill. It was a great experience. He's now mostly retired from saddlemaking, due to health reasons, but he still likes to work on a saddle now and then.

I probably could have taught myself how to make a saddle using the Stohlman encyclopedias and other references. In fact, recently I did make a Stohlman saddle following the books step-by-step, but I am extremely glad that I had a real-life instructor to start with. Bill was able to show me and tell me things that, in my ignorance, I didn't know I needed to know.

So, my short answer (I hope you'll pardon this long-winded version) is that learning from an experienced saddle maker is best. Use the books later, as a reference guide, when you're on your own.

[Lois57T]

Butch:

A couple years ago I was in the same situation: I really wanted to learn how to make saddles, but I was unsure how to go about it. I bought a few books, which were excellent sources of information, but I realized that books alone weren't going to answer all my questions.

I started asking around if anyone knew of a saddlemaker in the area. (I live in northeast Washington.) Someone told me of an old cowboy named Bill Bacon, who had been making saddles for years, and he offered to take me out to Bill's house and introduce me.

At the time, Bill was 82 years old. His saddle shop was located in a log building that he and his wife built long ago. After being introduced to Bill, I told him I really wanted to learn saddle making and I was willing to pay him for his time. Bill's price??? I had to pay for the materials I used and provide him with FIVE CORDS OF FIREWOOD!

To say that I was pleased with this deal would be a massive understatement!

I spent five months, working about 4 days a week, working with Bill. It was a great experience. He's now mostly retired from saddlemaking, due to health reasons, but he still likes to work on a saddle now and then.

I probably could have taught myself how to make a saddle using the Stohlman encyclopedias and other references. In fact, recently I did make a Stohlman saddle following the books step-by-step, but I am extremely glad that I had a real-life instructor to start with. Bill was able to show me and tell me things that, in my ignorance, I didn't know I needed to know.

So, my short answer (I hope you'll pardon this long-winded version) is that learning from an experienced saddle maker is best. Use the books later, as a reference guide, when you're on your own.

Hello;

I am new to this site, actually, I was checking out craigslist lastnight, and ended up talking with a person about a possible trade for a saddle I have on some stock panels, I have decided not to trade my saddle off, as I ended up googling the saddle and was shocked at how much the value of it has gone up. It is a Crates saddle. But, the reason I am talking to you is because I got to thinking about the people I met at that time in my life when I was really into roping and horses, one of them was Bill Bacon, I googled his name, to see if I could find him and what he's up to nowadays. I found your post about his leather work. I also have a saddle I commissioned Bill to build for me. It is the best saddle I own. Bill Bacon made some chinks for me too, but I had a house fire some years back losing everthing. I am going to get back in touch with Bill to have him make me another pair if he still does that sort of work.

Bill is the real deal, he has worked in the woods for a good part of his life, and rodeo'd (sp?) extensively. He also, broke two of my horses, they are such great horses now, he not only broke them to ride, he taught them to trailer properly. I used to visit he and Betty, I loved their house. Thanks, for putting up the info about Bill, he could actually have had a book written about him, he is that interesting.

ThankYou, Lois

[mulefool]

If you could find someone like Bill Bacon that would be willing to teach you'd sure be lucky. I've heard good things about him, but never met him. I learned from Jesse Smith in Spokane back in 1980-82. He was teaching a 2 year course through the community college. Worked on saddles all day for two years and then worked some more when I wasn't sleeping. Even after spending two years on learning, I still came out feeling there was an awful lot more to learn and it seems like there's more to learn every day. As Casey mentioned Jesse is down in CO now, and I would sure recommend him.

I probably get three or four people a year ask me if I would teach them to build saddles. Maybe some day when I'm semi retired that might be kind of fun. But it just seems like the idea of trying to teach while being behind on orders wouldn't work out now. I would guess alot of saddlemakers feel that way. Chris

[AndyKnight]

The best way is to hire a saddlemaker to teach you through at least one saddle. Some of us do that. It will give you a good foundation and save you lots of wrecks in the long run,.