Author Archives: Don Gonzales

Loaded and ready!!!

Posted by Don Gonzales

After tons of preparation, stacks of leather, and elbow grease…. We are loaded and leaving for Clovis, NM for the All Around Ranch Rodeo Challenge. Our booth is bigger than ever and packed full of some of the best new and used saddles that we have to offer.

After a ten hour drive and lots of coffee we will rest up and awaken refreshed and ready to begin construction on the DG Saddlery booth. When the double mugging begins Thursday afternoon we will be in the booth and ready to begin a four day trade show with some of the best ranch rodeo cowboys in the world and their family and friends.

Come by the booth and have a seat.

Cramped quarters!!!

Posted by Don Gonzales

I’VE HAD IT!!! Spending the day cleaning and getting ready for another great week of slinging leather. The one thing that is for sure is that we are pretty close to needing more space. We are doing our best with the space we have and as with most businesses, if they are lucky, they grow in production and need more space.

Although our workspace is tight and old, we will continue pushing onward and deal with our issues. If anything it adds a sense of great comedy to our day in day our work life. Blessed to have the pile of work that we have and blessed to have the sense of humor to enjoy it all.

After all, what is a saddle shop with out character. Ya, that’s what I call it, character! Those that work for me have become quite capable of dealing with the unconventional working environment, and we all patiently wait for the day when ample workspace will be a reality and coming from such sparse beginnings will keep us humble. The flip side is we could have a big fancy building and nice big retail floor with no work… I prefer our current situation.

Scotty Cobb Spring Gathering 2011

Posted by Don Gonzales

Well I guess it’s that time again to spend the weekend at Scotty Cobb’s ranch cooking for his spring gathering. Jim and I went last year for the first time and had a blast. I was the head cook for the function and since no one died from my cooking we were invited back to handle the food again.

This year John Klam is having The Big Hat Classic which should be a very interesting take on ranch life and team roping. Look out for this all to air on RFDTV in the future.

I will be sure and take photos for our Facebook page so that our customers can have a sneak peak of the event. I just hope I can come up with better fixins then I did last year. Any ideas? Please comment with any help you may have.

George Strait Team Roping

Posted by Don Gonzales

The 2011 George Strait Team Roping Classic is one of rodeo’s biggest event and winning it is an accomplishment that all ropers dream of making.

We want to thank all those that came by our booth at the event and hope to see them at our next event. This was our second year and we plan on making it a yearly tradition. Please visit our website DGSaddlery.comfor more information about our saddles and to stay connected with us on Facebook.

All Around Performance Horse Ranch Rodeo Challenge 2011

Posted by Don Gonzales

The All Around Ranch Rodeo Challenge is scheduled for the first weekend in May this year in Clovis, New Mexico! I feel that this will be the biggest ranch rodeo that the All Around Performance Horse crew has had yet. We are building the Top Horse award again this year and plan to make a big showing with our booth in support of this great event.

We are very excited to be working with the All Around folks again and look forward to seeing all of our New Mexico customers again. Be sure not to miss this event.

For more info about this event visit All Around Ranch Rodeo.

When you get to Clovis be sure and come by the DGSaddlery booth to see the Top Horse saddle and many others that will be for sale.

Broken saddle tree?

Posted by Don Gonzales

So your tree is broke, what do you do with your saddle now? Personally I say throw it away. Most saddles out there are not worth replacing the tree in. You would never pay someone to replace the frame in your pickup after a wreck, saddles are the same.

Replacing the tree in a saddle is labor intensive and after its over you still have the same old saddle. The better option is to get a good used saddle that is in as good a shape and many times you can do this cheaper than replacing the tree.

If the saddle is something that seems impossible to replace then its worth using the broken tree as a model and getting a custom saddle built as close to it as possible. Most custom shops like us have the ability to reproduce even the most specialized trees. If that seems like too much of an investment then its not worth replacing the tree.

Most true custom saddles come with at least a ten year tree warranty if not a lifetime warranty like ours. In this case the saddle from the start is worth the trouble of tree replacement and should be of no cost to you.

When deciding what to do with that saddle with a broken tree, compare what is TRUELY worth to what it will cost to repair. Most of the time it isn’t worth the money… But it may make a great bar stool!

How do I clean my saddle?

Posted by Don Gonzales

Saddles generally get abused and thrown back in the saddle house or trailer till their next use. Many times and for most folks they get oiled little and washed even less. Dirt is a big problem for leather because it draws the oils out and dries the leather if left for extended periods of time. This leads to dryrott and damage that can lead to expensive repairs.

I recommend washing saddles and leather goods with a mild soap like Ivory dish soap or Murphy’s Oil Soap. Scrubbing this in with a soft brush and rinsing with warm water will get the dirt up and away from the leather. Once completely rinsed, set outside and allow to dry fully before conditioning leather with oil or leather conditioner. Not allowing the leather to dry fully can lead to mold growth.

It helps to take the saddle apart as far as you feel comfortable, this will allow you to get to the places that are hard to reach. A lot of saddle repairs are needed for the small, but important, parts that are underneath the main pieces of the saddle(rigging, connectors, stirrup leathers, etc).

Keep your saddle clean and maintained and you can save a lot of money on repairs. If all this sounds like too much work or just not your thing we would be happy to do this for you. We offer a complete Clean, Oil, and Polish in our shop as do many other saddle shops. I recommend this once a year with proper quaterly maintenance depending on use.

DGSaddlery first post!

Posted by Don Gonzales

This is the first post for our new blog here at DG Saddlery. Our plan with this is too post answers to common questions like saddle fitting, padding, leather care and much more. We also hope to use this to keep our great customers notified of things happening at the shop and places we are going.

Please feel free to log in and comment on any of our posting so that we are sure to fully answer any questions that you may have as we move along. We really enjoy hearing from our customers and helping them with issues that come up in the world of horses.

Our hopes are that this will become the main place where everyone can come to better educate themselves about saddles, saddle making, or anything western. Hopefully it will also be fun and interesting.

Be sure to visit our website DGSaddlery to view some of our work or to email us with questions or concerns.

We are really looking forward to this and hope you are as well.