Blog.jpg

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

Why conchos should have nothing to do with positioning your saddle

Posted by RodandDenise on December 23, 2021

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

Here's why "set the center of the front concho at the back of the shoulder blade" is really, really bad advice! We've seen this come up on the internet at times and thought we should explain, from our point of view, why it is just wrong.


Well Beyond the Basics video is done!

Posted by RodandDenise on May 8, 2021

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

Well, after long last (far longer that we anticipated when we started filming the summer of 2015!) our six hour long video series Western Saddle Fit - Well Beyond the Basics, is finally finished!!  

2021 May Well Beyond the Basics.jpg

It is available by streaming on Vimeo on Demand. (Due to cost of production and anticipated sales, we do not have this one available on DVD.) We have it set so when you buy it, you can watch it as many times as you want, not just once. Priced to be affordable, it is produced so it is understandable by anyone, though professional saddle makers, trainers, and other equine professionals (even veterinarians) will benefit from it. 

And if six hours is too much for you, we still have our 67 minute Western Saddle Fit - the Basics available either on DVD or streaming on Vimeo on Demand. We really should have called this one Much More Than Just Basics as it really does contain more solid information about Western saddle fit than you can get almost anywhere these days. This one is geared more for the rider, though saddle makers, etc. will also gain from the information in it.

Enjoy watching and learning! 


Proper Position of a Western Saddle Video

Posted by RodandDenise on July 8, 2020

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

We have a new video out!!  It actually is one of the sections from our Western Saddle Fit - Well Beyond the Basics video that we are still plugging away at getting finalized. (It is now out and available on Vimeo on Demand.) But the biggest issue we see in saddle fit is simply that the saddle is put in the wrong place - usually over the top of the shoulder blades. And that is a BIG problem!!


Video for the Dennis Lane Equine Back Profiling System

Posted by RodandDenise on May 4, 2020

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

Hello again!!  For any die-hards who still check here, we wanted to let you know that we have a new video out on the Dennis Lane Equine Back Profiling System. It shows you what the system consists of, how to use it properly, and we also discuss how it helps in other ways because it is an objective standard that doesn't change over time. Enjoy!!

 


Western Saddle Fit - The Basics is for sale!!

Posted by RodandDenise on March 28, 2017

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

2017 March 28 1 Western Saddle Fit home page.jpg

Our new website, where our Western Saddle Fit videos are for sale, is called westernsaddlefit.com and as of NOW it is up and running! Whoo hoo!!! We’re thrilled as it has been pretty much a two year process to get this far.


Already, but not yet...

Posted by RodandDenise on March 15, 2017

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

2017 March 14 1 Big yellow truck.jpg

Today was an exciting day!! A big yellow truck drove up to our house…


"THE VIDEO" - It's coming, it's coming...

Posted by RodandDenise on January 28, 2017

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

2017 Jan 28 1 working on the western saddle fit video.jpg

We keep mentioning the video we are producing on Western Saddle Fit. Many of you may remember last May when a major forest fire ended up burning a fair proportion of the city of Fort McMurray in north-eastern Alberta. It was nicknamed “The Beast”. Well, this video project has morphed into a monster named “THE VIDEO”, well deserving of all caps and a deep voice, if not ominous music...


The "Trinket"

Posted by RodandDenise on January 13, 2017

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

2017 Jan 8 1.jpg

Rod got all fancied up for a Christmas banquet this year. He even waxed his mustache for the first time in years! And it was the first time he was able to wear “the trinket” one of our good customers had sent us.


An Academic Study on Dennis Lane’s Equine Back Profiling System

Posted by RodandDenise on December 12, 2016

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

2016 Dec 11 1 The three Aussies.jpg

In 2007, the Australian tree and saddle maker Dennis Lane first showed paper copies of his Equine Back Profiling System to a few saddle makers, including Jeremiah Watt who posted about it on a blog he wrote for the Western Folklife Center (now no longer available, unfortunately). Over the next couple of years, Dennis, with the help of his friend, saddle and tree maker as well as engineer David A. Morris, worked on getting the system into an easily usable, easily transportable, easily saleable format – the plastic cards which you have seen on our website before. (If you are not familiar with Dennis’s system, I suggest you go to his website and click the EBPS link so you know what we are talking about here -and order a set!) Here are the three musketeers from when they came way up north to visit us on their 2008 trip over the ocean – from left to right, Hank Statham, Dennis Lane and David A Morris.


Introducing Greg Cymbaluk

Posted by RodandDenise on December 5, 2016

We are no longer building saddle trees. We have two saddle fit videos available on our westernsaddlefit.com websiteWestern Saddle Fit - The Basics, aimed at riders, is available either on DVD or streaming on Vimeo while the six hour series Well Beyond the Basics, aimed more for professionals but understandable by anyone, is available by streaming on Vimeo. (We left this website up because we have had many requests to keep the information available.)

2016 Dec 5 1 Greg Cymbaluk saddle trees.jpg

Last January, Greg made the long trek four miles down Alder Ridge Road to take our tree making course. We have known Greg since Rod first took him out hunting when he was twelve, and we have enjoyed watching him grow and learn in many ways over the years.