Birth Of A Saddle
Part1
I'm making a saddle for Kelly Wilson of NE. He and his team mate Don Baker came down to Amarillo last Nov, and won the Team Roping Championship at the WRCA Rodeo. (Working Ranch Cowboy Assocation). With the winnings they both ordered Saddles made by me. I just got through with Don's Saddle and you can see it on the Saddle Page. But on Kelly's I thought I'd do something different. I'm going to takes pictures of the saddle as I build it. Then I will post them here as I go along. In the next two to three weeks you will see a saddle being born. So keep coming back and see how it is coming along.
First you start with a saddletree:
Kelly picked a TM Saddle Tree. It is made of pine and covered with three layers of fiber glass. Now one layer of glass is rated at 30,000 psi, so you can see why we give our trees a lifetime warranty.
Now you tack leather under the tree and draw the outline of the skirts:
After that you take the leather off, cut the
skirts out and tool them.
Now you put the Horn wrap around the horn, and Kelly wants a rawhide rim on the
cap..
Now we put on the front riggings. These
are full doubles
Next comes the first layer of leather that
goes into the groundseat
You shape this to what the customer wants.
Now you add the second layer and shape it.
