Custom Saddles

Mohair Cinch Cleaning and Care

Posted by Don Gonzales

This Article was written for us by Dana Eklund with Big Sky Mohair Cinches.

Each mohair cinch is hand-tied in Bozeman, Montana, by sisters Dana and Tracy Eklund. 

Big Sky Mohair Cinches was born out of necessity- a horse at the therapeutic riding program where they worked required a 42″ cinch- a tough size to find! Their goal is to create a highly usable piece of tack that is as functional as it is beautiful.

Because a comfortable horse can get the job done.

Like any tack, there will come a time when you need to wash your mohair cinch!

As far as cinch materials go, Mohair is a terrific choice in general due to the natural fibers being highly breathable, slightly elastic, and long wearing. Dirty cinches, of any material, are more likely to trap dirt/heat and cause soring. You can have a really nicely made piece of equipment, but if it’s extremely dirty or not adjusted correctly, soring can happen.

The more you care for your cinch by washing/rinsing it when it needs it, the longer it will last.

Continue reading →

How to Install an Inlaid Seat in a Saddle

Posted by Don Gonzales

Most of the saddles that we build in the shop are what we call “hard seats.” This means that there is not a padded seat in a saddle where the rider sits in the saddle.

Padded seats are common in rope saddles, trail saddles, and barrel saddles. But the clients that we build for, even our ropers, prefer a Hard Seat saddle. These saddles’ main advantage is that there is no padding to break down over time changing the way the saddle sets. A hard seat saddle will ride the same for its lifetime.

With that being said, this does not mean that our clients don’t appreciate fancy additions to their saddles. One of our most popular additions that can be made to one of our custom saddles is an Inlaid Seat.

Our inlaid seats do not contain any padding so the client still gets the benefit of the hard seat while adding some chrome to their saddle. We can do padded seats with many colors of chap leather, exotic leathers, as well as tooling them for a unique personalized look.

This video shows the process we go through installing an inlaid seat on a custom saddle we are building. This particular seat will be tooled with the client’s brand and floral tooling.

Guide to Buying Used Saddles Part 3

Posted by Don Gonzales

This is the last article in our Guide to Buying Used Saddle series, and if you have already gone through the last two articles I hope you found them useful.  In this article, I will go over some key areas to look for when assessing any possible repairs that may need to be performed on a used saddle that you are considering to purchase. Continue reading →

Guide to Buying Used Saddles Part 2

Posted by Don Gonzales

This is the second article of our Guide to Buying Used Saddles, and in this section we will discuss the pricing structure of the different types of used saddles in the market.  As we spoke about in the previous article, the buyer with the most knowledge wins. Continue reading →

Cutting Ears on Custom Saddles

Posted by Don Gonzales

One of the most difficult steps in building custom saddles is fitting the saddle seat and cutting the ears.  In this post I will show you my trick for insuring that every saddle ear you cut will be perfect.  Whether you are a beginner or you are a seasoned veteran, this tip will take the fear out of tackling this step.  There are many different ways to accomplish this, but here is my process. Continue reading →

Saddle Pads and Padding

Posted by Don Gonzales

How many different types and brands of saddle pads or blankets have you bought in the last five years?

These days we have an overwhelming selection of different styles, materials, and promises amongst saddle pads and blankets that it is hard to make a choice.  The most asked question in our shop from customers is what kind of saddle pad they should be using.  This usually gets into a lengthy conversation on my saddle padding philosophy and so we will discuss some of the key areas and hopefully this will help to answer some of you questions on the right padding for your horse. Continue reading →

Spring is Almost Here!!!!

Posted by Don Gonzales

IMG_4805

 

It’s March and we are still dealing with cold weather and many of us across the country are experiencing a fair amount of “winter mix” weather, but the fact is that winter is almost over and sunny days are soon to come.  With that, now is a great time to take a sunday afternoon and go through your tack room.  The majority of folks are fair weather horsemen and haven’t paid much attention to your saddle since before the holidays.

This is the time of year that our repair shop gets pretty busy and, depending on the repair, your normal wait on getting something fixed could be a couple weeks or better.  Now is a great time to go through your saddles and check key areas that may need attention before your right in the middle of the season and your saddle is in the shop. Continue reading →