A special saddle tree for a special lady
We are no longer building saddle trees. We have two saddle fit videos available on our westernsaddlefit.com website. Western 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.)
I shipped this tree yesterday. It is going to a saddle maker here in Alberta who will build the saddle for a woman who had her right leg amputated above the knee. This woman still rides and is comfortable in her original saddle in the arena. But when she rides outside she isn't as secure in the saddle as she would like to be if her horse jumps or spooks at all.
So she and the saddle maker, a regular customer of ours, worked out what they figured she would need. We built a 14" wide Old Moose fork with the backsweep and leg cut that these forks normally have, but we modified the shape of the leg cut a little to fit the changes he is going to make on the saddle. It also has a 4" high Hamley or #6 horn with a 2" cap so it is easy to grab if she ever needs it. The cantle is 5" tall and 13" wide, which is a common order for this customer but also gives lots of support and security for this special situation. We wish the saddle maker and the final customer all the best and are looking forward to seeing pictures of the finished saddle.