This is our fourth year to build the trophy saddles for the Big Loop Big Money Tour Finals put on by Philipp Ranch and we are so excited!
Held at the Brazos County Expo Center in Bryan, TX, the weekend includes team ropings from an Open division down to a #8, kids dummy roping competition and Philipp Ranch Production Horse sale! Starting Friday July 19- Sunday July 21st dont miss this great event!
For more information on this event and the production sale visit Philipp Ranch!
Here is a quick run down of what projects are in process within the custom saddle department of our shop (this department consisting of Jim and I, ha ha): we have four customers’ orders from our list, each different and uniquely complex, two ranch saddles for the All Around Performance Horse crew (due in two weeks), and all fourteen of the Big Loop saddles. This is all happening at the same time that the rest of the shop is busy on multiple belts, wallets, scabbards, holsters, saddle repairs and handling customers on a daily basis. The oppurtunity for chaos is so great that it makes for an exciting work week this time of year.
My goal this week was to finish all the ground seats for the Big Loop saddles and get horns started. Some of the saddles
had been started already, some ground seats were done and I wanted to get them all done completely so that Jim could focus on getting the All Around saddles to a point where I could get to tooling fronts or swells (my favorite… not). Starting Monday with that goal in mind, I made progress and got all the ground seats completed by the end of the week. Since this is usually the part that Jim takes care of, I was sure to check with him off and on to insure that I was putting the ground seats in the way he had been doing them. It took me a couple times and a bit of Jim giving me hell, but in the end I got them all in.
Even though Jim and I both build saddles, we each do things a little different and consistency is what we want especially with this project. For the last couple years, our partnership on saddle making has been him building and me tooling/designing all the artwork. He is much faster than me at building and I am much faster than him at tooling, so this arrangement works well. Since these are all rough out, and there is fourteen of them, I have to help him with a lot of the building and keeping up with changes he has made all year is something I have to be mindful of. Even though my name is on the sign and stamp, Jim has the lead on this project… And I think he takes a little pleasure in bossing me around.
As the week went along uneventful and productively, it didn’t start off that great. By Monday afternoon we were met with 85 degree temperatures in the shop. Our air conditioner was froze up and not cooling at all. Thinking back on the last few weeks, we realized that the filters hadn’t been changed and they really needed it. In a shop like ours the dust can get pretty bad due to the sanding from the finisher so we have to change filters every two weeks or so. It wasn’t till Tuesday afternoon late when our AC repair guys got us back up and running… till then we just tried not to drip sweat on the leather.
As we set now: ground seats are done, all the horns are cut out and skived, no major mistakes as of yet, a few shop pranks (involving an air horn) were conducted and the new guys haven’t quit yet. It’s still early with lots left to do…
Well it’s upon us again. Seems like we just finished the Christmas season, and here we are set up at the George Strait Team roping Classic in San Antonio, TX.
This is our third year attending this event and we are looking forward to seeing our friends and making new ones. Like every year in the past, we try to start early and have two or three custom saddles made for this show. Again this year we were only able to bring one. With our growing order list and the demand our saddles have at home, we were only able to escape Brazos county with one.
This is the first time in our three years here that the weather has been bad. It’s currently raining and cold, so the ropers will have to contend with cold fingers if they want a chance at the money, truck and trailer.
Good luck to all the contestants! And to all the spectators, set back and enjoy some of the best team roping action on the planet!
It’s here again! The world’s biggest ranch rodeo featuring some of the countries greatest cowboys and cowgirls competing for $50,000 and prizes from some of the greatest craftsmen and artist our western heritage has to offer. We are talking about the All Around Performance Horse Ranch Rodeo Challenge!
We have worked with All Around Performance Horse since they started this ranch rodeo and this year is no different. This year we are adding the Top Hand award to our saddle build sheet as part of our sponsorship. The Top Horse and Top Hand saddles will be the awards that these athletes will be competing for second only to the cash.
As we begin designing and building these saddles we will update with video and photos so that the competitors and fans of this event can see the great craftsmanship that goes into building a custom Don Gonzales saddle. If you are looking for more up to date information on this event and the creation of these awards along with other projects DGSaddlery is creating daily, visit our website at http://www.dgsaddlery.com/ where you can stay connected through facebook and twitter.
Also be sure to check out our friends at http://www.allaroundranchrodeo.com/ for event dates, their blog, and other great All Around Performance Horse info.
Well it’s that time again… Almost! We are desperately trying to finish our products for our booth at the USTRC Finals in Oklahoma City. We have a little under two weeks and lots to do still.
As with every show we attempt to plan ahead and have a jump on our inventory, but with the orders we already have it always seems to create a crunch. We aren’t complaining! We love that we have a long list of customers that have ordered from us and they have priority.
Have no fear, we will finish and have plenty to look at and purchase at the show this year! We have five saddles that we intend to finish and many small items to help with those Christmas gift ideas.
As always, Jim and I will be prepared to take custom orders on any items or saddles to get you exactly what your looking for. Be sure and come by our booth in barn three and visit. We are really hoping you like our new bigger booth and look forward to seeing all our friends and make new ones as well.
This year will be our third year attending the USTRC Finals in Oklahoma City. We are so excited to see our old friends and make new ones at this event.
This year we have a twenty foot booth in barn 3 and hope to have many new and exciting products for everyone to enjoy. We would like any input from you about what you would like us to make for this show. Anything from belts to saddles or even stuff out of the ordinary. Please contact us with your ideas or suggestions at our website DGSaddlery or call the shop at 979-775-6300.
Our last stop before the finals will be Waco for the regional finals this weekend and we look forward to spending the weekend with everyone.
If we don’t see you in Waco come by our booth in OKC in barn 3 and visit.
We at DG Saddlery would like to thank all those who attended our 3rd annual DG Saddlery Team Roping in Caldwell, TX this past weekend. We had 491 teams for the day and enjoyed spending time with all our friends and making new ones.
Congratulations to George Mueller for winning the high money of the day and a certificate for a custom saddle! We look forward to working with Mr. Mueller designing his new custom Don Gonzales saddle!
We hope everyone enjoyed our roping and for those that didnt get to make it this year, we will have another one next year and we hope to make it bigger and better than is year. Also if you forgot to purchase your DG Saddlery tshirt from the roping we have them available at the shop or you can contact us through the our website DGSaddlery or call us at 979-775-6300.
Thanks again and we hope the rest of your team roping season goes well. Come see us in Waco, TX this weekend!
August 6, 2011 is the scheduled date for our DG Saddlery Roping to be held in Caldwell, TX. This is our third annual and we hope for it to be bigger than last year. As usual we will be giving a custom saddle certificate to the high money winner of the day.
We will also debute a new tshirt design that day and there will also be other events with give away prizes and lots if fun.
This is a one day event that we do every year and we hope that you will come out, rope, and enjoy the day with us. For more info contact us at DGSaddlery.com
After almost a year of ropings, the end is here and all that is left is the Big Loop Big Money Tour Finals.
On the weekend of July 23, 2011 in Bryan, TX, cowboys who have attended at least three Big Loop ropings during the year will compete for custom Don Gonzales saddles and of course lots of cash!
This years event will also include a “Girls Gone Wild” horse sale, sponsor roping, and an all girls roping.
Don Gonzales Saddlery will have our booth set up displaying all 14 custom saddles that will be given away.
We invite everyone to come out to the Brazos Co. Expo Center to enjoy some of the best roping and visit our booth to see 14 of the best saddles that can be won anywhere. And if your not roping at the finals or don’t win won of these great saddles, we would be glad to build one just for you.