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

Although the vertebrae of the different sections of the spine may look a lot different, they all have the same basic design.  There is the body.  There is the vertebral arch above that, and then there are the stickie-outie-thingies, for which the proper term is “processes”.

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

If people are concerned about bar length, one of the things we often ask for is the shoulder to hip measurement on their horse(s).  It can be tough to tell size and length in a picture, so getting this measurement gives us a good, general idea on how long the horse’s back is.  This isn’t going to be a precise number.  A 27.85324959843" horse does not exist.  The measurement changes as the horse moves of course, but when we use this measurement as a general comparison between horses, it is useful.

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

Wade Wade Wade Wade Wade Waaaaade
Wade Wade Wade Wade Wade Waa-aaaaade
Wade Wade Wade Wade Wade
Wade… Wade Wade Wade
Wade… Wade Wade Wade
Wade… Wade… Wade…
etc.

OK, so sometimes being in the shop too long can lead to "interesting" behavior - and songs.  But in looking through the orders coming up, I found something that was unusual.  They are all Wades!  Now, we do have some “holes” for customers who have ordered but haven't completed their specs yet so we may build something different in the middle of these.  But for now, we have quite the string of Wades coming up.

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 built a few kids’ trees over the years (primarily for saddle maker’s kids, interestingly enough), and quite a few half sized trees for display saddles, but this is the smallest riding tree we have built to date.  Again, this is going to a saddle maker’s family.  They are also a ranching family and grandma wants a saddle for the grandkids, who are still pretty little, but who will grow and will use the saddle on the ranch.  They ordered the Wade in the picture too.  It has a 15 ½” seat length, so you get a perspective of size here.

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

It's home made!!!  Yes, Rod had another fun day this week making rawhide.  Tomorrow, we return to normal, non-gross programming...

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

As most people know, the spine is made up of a string of bones called vertebrae.  Just for the record, the singular is vertebra.  The plural can be either vertebrae or vertebras, but I prefer vertebrae.  It sounds classier...  As I said in the last post on anatomy, you really can’t put them together wrong because they just don’t fit, which goes to show that they are all a little bit different.  They all follow basically the same plan in their design, but there is a lot of variation in that plan, especially between the five different sections of the spine.

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

A while back we posted a picture of a special tree for a special lady.  This rider had her right leg amputated above the knee after a car accident.  You might think that would limit the riding she could do.  Not if there is a will to do more!!  She team ropes, which is OK since the horses turn left and she still has that leg.  But she is looking to get into barrel racing, which of course means fast turns in both directions, so that takes a bit more planning to accomplish safely.  And she will be able to do this with the modification of her equipment compared to a normal saddle.

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

Once we were finished putting together the front leg and the hind leg, we set them aside and it was on to the spine.  We set up all the vertebrae in order so we had a general idea of the final length.  Then we got a 3/8” round steel rod which fit nicely through the vertebral foramen (the holes in the vertebrae where the spinal cord goes).

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

That is what we were told when we started up the business.  And it is true.  We know of at least one tree maker who is currently having respiratory problems probably as a result of wood dust.  Being a natural substance, you would think that it would be OK.  Nope.  Super fine dust of any kind will affect your lungs.  And some types of wood dust are toxic while others are carcinogenic.  Fortunately, what we work with doesn’t fall into either of those categories (except maybe some fancy wood for exposed horns or other parts of trees), but the dust is still dangerous with long term exposure.  So…