First Saddle Design

[cowboycolonel]

Hannah,

 

This is going to sound daunting, but it really isn’t.  Just read through the instructions once or twice and then contact me if you need to.

 

Get a 24-inch long flexible curve from your hardware store or a woodworking shop.  They are made to hold the shape you put them in.

 

Put a piece of masking (Blue painters’ tape is great) tape in the center of the flexible curve to mark the center. 

 

Put a Flex-curve on the horse where the center of the fork (fore and aft) should sit.  This should approximate a line upward from her armpit – where the cinch will go.  In reality the tree maker will read this as the center of the fork.  Mark this line with a long piece of tape. Once you have the flex-curve centered on your horse’s back, use BOTH hands and mold the curve to the shape of her withers.

 

Remove the flex-curve being very careful NOT to alter the shape!  Lay it down carefully on a large piece of cardboard or stiff paper.  Be careful not to let it slip, and draw around the inside of the curve after marking the center on the cardboard. 

 

Place the Flex-curve back on the horse 15 inches behind the tape mark, and form it to fit her back just like you did the first one.

 

Remove it and place it on the cardboard and trace around the inside again.

 

Send the cardboard to Bowden and they’ll know what to do.

 

If you have a specific horse in mind for this saddle, it would be good to take a photo of her making certain that the light and shadows show the withers and back (highlights), shadows and form.

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

If you are wanting a dark brown finished saddle, do yourself a big favor and get drum dyed skirting. I use just as much dyed skirting as I do natural some years.  Antiquing the tooling is a whole lot easier than dying the whole saddle.  For years I didn't use dyed skirting on something I knew I was going to tool for the reason that all the tooling cuts would show raw, undyed leather. Once I figured out that I could antique the leather to remedy this after applying a resist, I never dyed a piece of skirting again. Realize that if you use dyed skirting, you will still have to dye the edges, which is a job I hate.  It adds a lot more time to a saddle having to dye every edge, as well as finish them. 

Not to be discouraging, but if you haven't done much tooling, maybe a saddle isn't the place to practice?  Or do some more tooling before you get to that point on your saddle?  If you plan to build more than one (even people who just plan to build one end up building another, and another, etc, etc) I would build the first one plain.  I wanted EVERYTHING in the first saddle I built.  And then I considered resale. . . if I ever wanted to sell it, what would other people want? In the end, the saddle turned out to be a hodgepodge of a lot of different things and not really a great saddle for any one thing.   

I'm going to disagree with the Colonel on the cantle binding. Personally, I HATE rawhide bindings. Rawhide can be a bitch to work; moisture content is VERY finicky, it's difficult to skive. Seems like if it's wet enough to work easily, it wants to shrink too much upon drying and then the stitches are loose.  If you want to save aggravation on this first one, I'd avoid it.  I've heard that a rawhide binding won't last as long and is not as durable as leather.  I'm not totally convinced of that but it IS a pain in the rear to work. I think if you use rawhide that is thin enough to work easily, then durability and longevity is sacrificed.  A short roll is not at all difficult to install.  The leather that the roll cover is cut from needs to be chosen very carefully, and then you skive, skive, skive!  Most people that have trouble with a Cheyenne roll do not skive enough off.  I am not a good teacher and have trouble explaining things, but I would highly recommend getting Cary Schwarz's videos.  There is not enough information in them to build a saddle if you've never built one, but they do contain some very valuable information and they are not expensive. Hearing him explain and watching him install a cantle binding helped me a lot. Cary is a very good teacher, although his voice puts me to sleep:-)  I agree that if at all possible, enlist the help of someone with some experience, even if you have to compensate them.  To do it all over again, I think I would attend a good saddle making school right off.  Not that you learn everything you need to know in one, but it would have saved years of learning by trial and error to have some hands-on instruction. Didn't the Colonel mention something about having to reinvent the wheel?     If funds are tight that is probably not an option and I understand that.  I guess that's when you turn to the forum.  There is so much more information available now than when I built my first saddle.  In all honesty, I'm amazed by some of the first efforts I've seen here.  There are some really nice looking first saddles that folks have built with the books and videos now available.

 

[cowboycolonel]

I came back to discuss the issue of a rawhide binding, but it looks like Sioux beat me to it.  Yes, moisture is important, as is having a uniform thickness. But I really like the look, and durability is an issue especially when you live or ride in areas with a lot of rain/humidity.  If you are in coastal Oregon, stay away from rawhide.  Here on teh central coast of California, I use it because I like it to match the horn binding and I use rawhide there to prevent the rope from burning through the seam when you miss a dally.  What!  I'm the only guy that ever missed a dally? Also it keeps from wrecking the cantle if a calf runs behind you and the rope runs over the cantle edge.  Some folks I know in western Nevada will not have rawhide anywhere because of moisture,  Here's a picture of a Cliff Wade I made for a lady near here.  Rough seat and fenders, but all else tooled.  Remember, if you pay attention to the design space, you do not need to tool the whole area to have it look tasteful.  An oak leaf and pair of acorns at the corner of the fender can look better than having the entire fender tooled.

[HannahT]

That's a beautiful saddle. Unfortunately moisture is a problem here in Kentucky--I've had saddles start to mold just sitting in the tack room. I think you're right about not going wild with the tooling. I think I'll practice on the piece of Tandy skirting I have, and do some round knife practice while I'm at it. Maybe I'll tool a little piece somewhere and leave the rest plain, or more likely with some border stamping. Maybe I could tool a little piece for the top of the horn. Sioux, I may go with W&C drum-dyed skirting, partly because they have such nice colors and partly because I'm usually too lazy to put gloves on when I'm dyeing and end up going to work with brown streaks all over my hands  Colonel, I'm definitely going to get measurements & pictures of all the horses I ride regularly. And I may go with SOME rawhide, atleast, even if I have to keep this thing in the house. I really wish I could pick a saddlemaker's brain in person and watch him work, but not many people do or own custom saddles around here (a Circle Y is about as good as it gets). Who knows--maybe I'll change that someday.

[oltoot]

From using, repairing, making; Rawhide holds up better in all but the most humid climes but it is more demanding to work with. Once you start,you have to carry through to finish which adds a little demand in learning to sew a cantle binding, straight up or Cheyenne roll but maybe you should settle for comfort in completion for your first and try rawhide after you have sewn a cantle binding or 2. 

[HannahT]

This is just what I needed-somebody to tone down my enthusiasm. Otherwise I would've ended up with something half finished sitting in the basement somewhere that I was too overwhelmed to finish. My saddle design is changing, but I'm much more confident about it.

[Big Sioux Saddlery]

I agree with Oltoot, get a couple simple ones under your belt and then try more complicated things on later ones. There are enough snags to run into without looking for them.  A saddle CAN be an overwhelming project, especially if you work a day job and don't get regular time to work on it. I think it took me two years to complete my first one. I was working and had two small children. It was very difficult to find several hours of uninterrupted time to work on it. Again, good luck, we look forward to seeing your progress.

[HannahT]

Thank you, and I really appreciate hearing from you guys. Not everybody is so willing to share knowledge that has taken so long to get.

[rktaylor]

Hannah,

You have already received a lot of good advice. I am not very far ahead of you on the trail. I am putting the finishing touches on my fourth saddle in about three years. So far for me, it has just been a fun hobby and like Big Sioux said it can be tough to find uninterrupted time to work on it. I have a tree waiting to start my fifth. Maybe I'll have it done before summer. For what it's worth, here's my advice for a first timer (in no particular order).

1. Build a slick fork. I put three welted swell covers on my second saddle before I was happy whereas it only took one on the SF Bowman I built first.

2. Buy three sides of good leather. This should be enough and as oltoot once told me, 'Build a scabbard with the leftover material." If you are particular about your work, you will make some mistakes that you want to do over. I had the same thoughts that you had regarding cheaper leather, but a third of your cost will probably be in the tree. Why cover it up with cheap leather.

3. Try to draw as many of your patterns as possible before you start cutting leather. All the folks who make saddles for a living have walls of patterns and that makes it easier to efficiently use a side of leather. I personally like Saddle Maker's Shop Manual by Harry Adams. It has really good instructions for drawing patterns.

4. Build a good ground seat. You can cover it up, but you can't hide it. Study this as much as possible. I personally think shape is infinitely more important than construction method (but remember, I am no expert).

5. Educate yourself as much as possible, but try to follow one set of instructions as best you can. Just as there are many ways to do it wrong there are also many ways to do it right. It's just that some of the different methods may not go together well.

There's going to be a lot of head scratching and staring into space. Take a deep breath and study some more, post pictures and questions here. Responses usually come quick. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning to build saddles and continuing to learn.

Enjoy the ride,

Randy

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

Hannah, I just dropped in to see what is going on here, been off all summer, and saw this thread.  Most of the advice you have gotten from the guys is spot on.  It would have been great to have this forum back when I started but; that was back before dirt was invented   Anyway, if you follow the guys advice you won't go wrong.  Enjoy the ride!

Bob