Stephanie,
Glad to know that our information is helpful even for people who don't ride Western saddles. We sure can't speak with authority about English saddles because they are designed totally differently, but we believe the 3Ps still apply - 1) Position the saddle correctly. 2) No Poking - no pressure points. 3) Distribute the Pressure over as wide as surface area as possible,which means the shape of the panels will match the shape of the horse. I've sent you an e-mail as well.

I am an "English" rider, although "English" saddles are made in Germany, France, Switzerland, USA Canada, etc. I have a new horse and he is 7 years old and I think that he has been ridden all his life in a saddle that doesn't really fit. He is now asymmetrical and short strided. He isn't the typical "English" horse type. You understand about types . . . and I am learning. Unfortunately, these "English" (French German, Swiss, Italian, Canadian etc) saddle makers do not have "cowboy" logic. Your explanation of saddle fit and tree building was the best thing I have read so far. I think that the "Western" saddle makers understand what you call rigging and its importance. Do you have any tips for someone who is trying to buy what is called a Dressage saddle? My horse is a Quarter Horse/Friesian cross . . . wide, l-o-n-g back, broad shoulders and high withers. I care about him and want to do the right thing. God bless you and I appreciate your work.

Garry, Good to hear from you again. We still have the specs on those trees. Glad to do business with you again when you start building more saddles.

Not sure if you remember me but I bought trees from you in 96 and 97. ben pretty busy making a living but gonna start doing saddles again so will be contacting you soon ...Thanks for always making the best tree out there. Garry

Thanks for the kind comments everyone, and have a Merry Christmas!

Howdy Rod and Denise. You have an awesome site that is full of very good info. My girl and I enjoy horse camping, and we both have a great love for our animals. I am very interested in the dynamics of saddle fit. I have been doing leather work and stamping since I was young and I would love to build saddles (not the tree's). I think you guys will be my #1 choice when it come to buying a tree. I have a young Percheron & Quarter cross and I'm thinking he needs re-fitted as he is still growing. Hopefully his new saddle will be my first attempt at saddle making. I love the fact that you both love the Lord and aren't shy about showing it :-). May the Lord bless you, and Merry Christmas.. Darrel

Very nice site.Met you guys in Sheridan in 2011.Thanx for sharing so much info and for your unashamed stand for Christ.Hope to use your trees in the future.
God bless-CK Custom Leather,Cheyenne WY

Hi Rod and Denise, I enjoyed checking out your website. Nice to see you are doing well and enjoying it!!

Great web site, lots of good information.

Really excellent site. I have a horse that is very hard to fit..So I am taking the leap. Build saddle #1, and tree #1. I love woodworking and am learning more each day. I'll send pictures when I am done.
God Bless

Glad you all are finding the information useful. That makes the job of putting it all up here worth it!

I'm starting to build my 7th saddle and wished I had seen your site a long time ago! Now I finally realize why I was having some problems with a "factory tree". Thank you so much for all the good info, this should be a book! I will be ordering from you in the future!

Very interesting, in depth site, it's great

Really enjoy a good informative web sight such as yours.
I am going to build my very first saddle and am trying to soak up as much info as possible before I start .
I figure the more I know and the better choices I make the fewer mistakes I will make..
Your web page is a great assett to beginners like myself.

Thanks for the nice comments, everyone. It is good to know that you are enjoying reading and learning from our website. That is our aim in having it up here.

Very nice and informative site. Thank You.- Larry

Rod&Denise
Good looking Trees, and a good site.
Mike in Arizona.

Love your site. I am looking to buy a custom saddle,first one, and your site will help me better
understand what goes into a good saddle.
Thanks
Tommy
Tallahassee, Fl

Yes, Retta, we do make trees for gaited horses using the same principles for fit laid out in our Tree and Saddle Fitting section. Our website works as our catalog. The pages with pictures of the different forks have a Print This Page link top and bottom so you can print them off and take them to your saddle maker. Prices and current wait times are on our Frequently Answered Questions page. Thanks for the compliments.

Site looks great. Jeff

Do you sell gaited horse trees ? I'm having a saddle custom handmade and I want a really high quality saddle tree for it.

Another question is, " Do you have a catalog or brochure that I can show the saddle maker? He wants to find a supplier for his saddle making shop.

Your site looks great and it's easy to use. Keep up the great work.

Hanno,
Glad to hear your tree and saddle are working well for you. Yes, we make mule trees as well and would be happy to make one for you. Just contact us and we can work out the details of what you want.

Dear Denise,
dear Rod,

about 12 hours ago (yesterday night) I stepped off my favorite horse that enjoys a saddle built on the custom tree you made for me.
It is still a little amazing and kind of mystery to me
- how we got all the details of the horse and me from Germany to Alberta
- how this saddle tree performs just two or three triffles better for the horse and way better for me, in comparison to the saddle I had built myself for this horse in 1997, based on a "factory tree". This saddle wasn't bad, I did more than 20.000 miles with it.
Butas we say in Germany "the better is the enemy of the good"

Congratulations to your new website, it is nearly as good as your trees!

By the way: Do you build mule trees? My favorite mule has a fairly good saddle but I am thinking if it should have an excellent one....

Best regards from Ol' Europe!

Amazing site! Your trees are absolutely phenomenal!

Great site! Love your trees and your customer service.

Nice website. The Seminar at Sheridan was very well done thank so much. a lot of good using information that has already served me well with some saddle fit problems.

Nice website. Thanks for the super nice tree. It came in the mail yesterday. Your workmanship is awesome. We love it. Kamloops Saddlery.

Hey guys this site looks awesome. I stopped in at Rod and Denise's a little over 2 weeks ago and spent prob about 2 hours visiting with Rod and Denise and I got a real bag full of info. Keep up the good work guys! Wyndelle Schartner
T&H Custom Gear and Boarding
P.S I tried opening the order form on the site and it came up as a wordpad document, or is it just my computer?

Congratulations on an AWESOME site! All the time and effort paid off- what a nice design! You two definitely put all you have into everything you do.....and we might add, you are an artistic couple! Of course, there never was any doubt in our minds, we have experienced first hand the quality of your work in other areas of your life. We are truly blessed to be called your friends! Have a safe and prosperous trip to Wyoming. God Bless

Love the new website! The information is priceless, and your trees are so fine that I can only hope my saddles will live up to the quality of the trees inside.

Great site!!

A quality website for a fine couple.
Blessings on your launch to the web.

Hi Rod and Denise, the site looks great. Your welcome to stay in Billings with us on your way to Sheridan! We will be showing there this year too. See ya soon.

Very informative site....hopefully alota saddlemakers will see it...Thanks for the effort!

Thanks for keeping us in mine. Sure enjoyed seeing how a tree is made.

Wow! Top notch! Your site really gets to the root of the whole "tree"

Denise and Rod, The new site looks great......almost as great as one of your new trees does on my saddle stand!

Well Done, you two! The site looks wonderful, so easy to use! Enjoy the fruit of all your hard work!

Way to go you guys. All your hard work has paid off. Your site looks great.
God Bless
Geri Budd

Beautiful site. Always one of the best out there, and now even better. See you in Sheridan.

Congrats on putting together a great website. I especially enjoyed "The most important part" and "about us" as I don't know the back end from the front end of a horse. :)

So at one point I was the first to say...." Congratulation! Awsome site! You BOTH know I love your trees and consider you artisans and FRIENDS!!" Let me add that without you two sharing this much information .... Well, I just wouldn't know!!
Alan Bell

I am enjoying your site. Thank you for your efforts in putting it together.
Rob

The site looks great! Easy to navigate with lots of helpful information.

Rod & Denise,
It has been a pleasure doing business with you. Your attentions to detail and your willingness
to please and exceed my expectations was far beyond what I anticipated. Your new site looks wonderful,and I look forward to the next tree. Thank you.

Patrick

Very nice, clean and simple.

Site looks great, congrats!!!