Saddle Trees

I did not know!!
that is fascinating. I’ve always been impressed with a saddle, but now… WOW.

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

nice saddle tree Tom, in fact beautiful, ggreat as Tony the tiger says. The saddle itself is beautiful. do you do all that checking by hand? or what is that called. mike

-- Mike. Profisher50@yahoo.com

Hello Tom
Great posting. Never thought about the saddle making process and I find it facinating. The end product is beautifull. How many hours do you estimated are in that saddle ?
Regards
DAN

-- a legend in my own mind ...

WOW. Tom that is something. (Like the quote about the bad saddle).

-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.

Mike, this saddle is full hand carved and lined with glove leather. Carving leather is quite a process. You could check Tandy’s website. The silver is by a local artisan, George Elsner.

Dan, This saddle took about 120 hours. A plain saddle figures about 48 hours. That’s work time not elapsed time.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

That is a work of art!

So, Tom, did you do the leather work on this!

-- Tom, Surfside Beach, SC - Romans 8:28

What an interesting process. I didn’t know of all the processes that went into the making a saddle. The end result is very nice.

-- Max "Desperado", Salt Lake City, UT

Yes, Tom. it is a product of Thos. Angle Saddlery. I am a one man shop.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Hay! Tom
Thanks for the time you have taken to explain the process. 1st tree a cutter and 2nd a roper ?
You truly are a master of and unequaled in your field and it has be a pleasure seeing your work.

God bless the family

-- Gene, a Christian in Virginia

No Gene, The first tree is a Dee Pickett Roper, used by team ropers. The second is my own Jordan Valley Wade. The type preferred by real cowboys in this area and a lot of clinicians.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Tom,

God has really gifted you with some amazing talent, and you have used it well. It’s great to learn a little about saddle making from a master saddler!

-- Tom, Surfside Beach, SC - Romans 8:28

Very cool Tom. Amazing the work that goes into a Saddle.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

The sheer amount of work that we don’t even think about… even after an hour in the saddle…. WOW. I’m impressed.

-- The opposite of war isn't peace. It's creation. -- Wood T's: http://www.printfection.com/snbcreative

Do we still have saddle makers in the U.S. and Canada Tom?
I mean “tree Makers”

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Bob,
Almost all western saddle trees are made in the US. There are about 6 regular makers and probably 8 or nine custom makers. The 6 big shops employee 5 – 10 employees and the custom makers are usually one man shops. The custom boys try to achieve fine wood working results. Not that the regular trees aren’t “custom”.they are made to the saddle maker’s spec’s. My regular trees cost about $250 and the custom trees will go about $450. I personally don’t think the customs are that much better. They look better but I doubt the dimensions are as exact. My concern is always with the horse. The waiting period now for a tree is from 3-4 months. A custom tree will be 6-10 months. There are some tree makers in Australia as well. I don’t know any tree shops in Canada although there are some saddlemakers there who build their own trees. Years ago it was very common for saddlemakers to build their own trees. There are many tree makers in Mexico. There are also two type of trees which use man made material, LaPorte and Ralide as well as some that use fiberglass. The fiberglass trees don’t flex correctly as does wood and rawhide.

Just to make sure it is understood; saddle making and tree making are seperate disiplines.

My base price saddle( plain jane) is $2750. The saddle shown is priced at $5530

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Tom

Thanks for the tour. It’s interesting how a saddle is made. In the telephone business. There is the Yellow pages and their is the Business to Business Yellow Pages. They have two different types of customers. We see a saddle and say isn’t that nice, but we don’t see what’s underneath unless the saddle maker did something wrong or the vermin get to it.

We stand in aw of your talents. and skills.

You say that tree has a 3 to 10 month ordering period. What is the ordering period on a saddle?

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

Karson,
That depends on the saddle maker. I’m probably only about 6 months out where Dale Harwood in Idaho Falls has the rest of his life booked. Dale’s in his 70’s and is world famous. most of us range from a year to 18 months. There are always a few made up ahead and the factory saddles can be bought off the rack in stores. You can buy a saddle for less than my bill of materials cost if that’s what you will settle for. It’s Volkswagens, Chevies, and Cadilacs.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Great stuff Thom.
I am almost naive when it come to saddles and horses.
I had a 4 dog team as a kid but never had a horse.
It very interesting what you do and how much you have learned over the years. I hope you are making notes because we are rapidly loosing our old skill to technology.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Tom,

This is very interesting. I was raised on a small working ranch in Utah. We had cows, horses, all manner of stock and equipment. We had a handful of horses and just as many saddles. Looking back as a kid I shamefully admit I never had a clue how saddles were made. In my world the saddles just “existed”, out there on a saddle rack in the shed. I guess I assumed ”The Good Saddle Fairy” just left a new saddle under the pillows of good little boys and girls. I never really thought much about the engineering, art, and talent that goes into making a saddle. Thanks for posting.

Climber, Many people don’t know and it isn’t anyone’s fault. Where did you grow up in Utah?

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Tom,

I was raised in Vernal, up until I entered the military, and then out of the military and off to school. That was maybe 25 years or so ago. My dad’s in his late 60’s and still lives in Vernal, still raises cows, still rides, pushes the cows up on the mountain for summer pasture, back down to the valley in the fall. My siblings and I have pretty much scattered across the western US. Sometimes the grandkids get back to ride part of the cattle drive with their grandpa.

I look back and remember how much I hated pushing cows up and back from the mountain. Now my sister takes her kids back to the ranch for vacation pushing cows. Funny how time and distance changes your point of view.

Brad

We didn’t help with the drive this year but we were out last spring helping “prep” the calves for their summer on the mountain. Anyone who’s ever been on a ranch knows what I’m talking about.

Here’s the oldest young lady in my life putting in an ear tag. This was her first time doing anything like this. For a city girl she’s pretty tough.

Here’s the other young lady in my life. She doesn’t look as happy with the whole proceedings. Although in the end she ended up getting right in the middle of it and doing her part.

All of my boys were out in the middle from the start, cutting, herding, shots, tags, ah, the fond memories of life on the ranch :). I’m not sure what these city kids ended up thinking about this whole thing.

This whole thread has got me reminiscing about the good old days :))

Tom, sorry to sidetrack your thread with my mindless ramblings :)

Brad,
You didn’t side track it at all. Glad we brought back some memories.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

I’ll side track it—memories on the farm. I loved going to the barn with my uncle to feed the pigs and shovel out the stalls. I didn’t like loading the pigs onto the truck. I didn’t like the squealing and the kicking.

-- "Functional WoodArt" by Debbie, Canada (http://www.execulink.com/~yohan)

Hi Tom -

Thanks for the write-up. You may recall our off-line discussion regarding saddles and saddle makers. I appreciate and own a fair number of good saddles. And I know that a good saddle starts with a good tree. Your saddle appear to be right at the top of the craft. I understand what goes into a good saddle and I know that even the most beautiful leather work can’t make up for an ill-fitting tree. But “understanding” if a hundred miles away from actually “doing”. Maybe someday, a good saddle maker, like yourself, will let me peak over their shoulder and let me watch the process from start to finish. or actually teach me the basics. It would be worth taking a month of from my job for the opportunity.

Someday, if you need someone to sweep out your shop, get you coffee, sharpen your tools, etc., I could be your man.

-- Bob

Give me a call,Bob, we’ll make arrangements.

-- Thos. Angle, Owyhee Design, Oregon

Don’t temp me Tom. I might just take you up on it.

-- Bob

Tom,

Let me make sure I have this right, saddles grow on trees? LOL

In our previous discussions I realized it was a process to make a custom saddle, but until this post I had no idea just how involved it really is.

Great post, and thank you for it!

Lee

-- by Lee A. Jesberger http://www.prowoodworkingtips.com http://www.ezee-feed.com

Nice story about the way one makes a good saddle. Beautiful workmanship shown here!

-- Carpe Lignum - Seize The Wood,