Good customers are good friends too... Thank you! Peter Mayer ordered his first tree from us in March, 1997, almost twenty years ago, and has been a good friend and customer ever since. He builds very nice saddles… and… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/trinket/
Still building, for another couple of months. And doing some fun things with them too... We had a question a few days ago from an old customer. He was wondering if we were still building trees as he knew we were shutting things down. The answer - yes, we are… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/are-you-still-building-trees/
The thing about real hand made, custom trees is that we are always doing something different and while we have been at this for twenty years now, there are still firsts... this is the first one going down south to the area where "we don’t like those big horns”… Three and a quarter inch Jarrah wood exposed horn cap on a 14” Arizona… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/there-are-still-firsts/
Family, friends and professors - wood, trees and rawhide - it's all here... Subscribe to RSS Feed We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/visiting-visitors-and-what-weve-been-doing-between/
Pictures we put up in response to the challenge to post 5 pictures of our work for 5 days in a row on Facebook. Subscribe to RSS Feed There’s been a 5 for 5 challenge going around Facebook lately asking people to post five pictures of their work a day for five days in a row. We were… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/five-five-challenge/
Here's a tree we just shipped out with a polished exposed bronze horn. Very nice!! Subscribe to RSS Feed We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/just-because-its-puurrrddyyy/
It is fun to do something different now and then, and this tree had some challenges that made it interesting to build. Subscribe to RSS Feed We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/pony-express-reproduction-tree/
Not all charro trees are created the same... Subscribe to RSS Feed Last week I posted this picture without an explanation of what type of fork this was. From the back, it may be hard to tell, though the horn could… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/another-charro-tree/
One of Rod's first Western Stock (Australian) saddle trees. Subscribe to RSS Feed We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/mickey-mouse/
Comparing some measurements between a tree for a larger rider and a small child. Interesting the variety we can build in one week... Subscribe to RSS Feed We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/a-study-in-contrasts/
Regular summer stuff and another first in Rod's tree making... Subscribe to RSS Feed We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/what-s-new-at-the-nikkel-s/
Pictures of a Meana style tree, and unusual fork on an endurance tree, and a tree built by copying pictures of and old saddle. Subscribe to RSS Feed Here’s some pictures of some of the more unusual trees we have shipped out over the past few weeks amidst all the “normal” trees we have been… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/some-more-saddle-trees/
Pictures and description of the finished charro saddle we built a while back. Subscribe to RSS Feed This saddle is built on a wooden rawhide covered tree made by Rod Nikkel. The saddle seat is 16” long, the cantle is 5” high and 13” wide. The… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/charro-saddle/
Pictures of the exposed wood horn cap trees finished. Subscribe to RSS Feed Well, it took longer than normal for these trees to get out the door due to our time away, but I thought maybe you would like to see pictures of… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/the-twins-are-on-their-way/
A couple of identical fancy trees! Well, almost identical... Subscribe to RSS Feed See!!! We have twin trees in the shop right now. Aren't they CUTE!!! (Well, everyone says that about newborn human twins. Why not about… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/twins/
Got some better pictures of the fully exposed Jarrah wood horn today, so I thought I would share them. Subscribe to RSS Feed (It still looks better in real life though...) We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/some-more-pictures/
Fully exposed Jarrah wood horn. When you start out with God's handiwork as a base, it is pretty easy to make something look good... Subscribe to RSS Feed We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/havent-made-one-like-this-in-a-long-time/
Another normal day in the shop, and this is what the camera found to photograph... Subscribe to RSS Feed Just another normal work day around here, so I took the camera to the shop to see what I could see. So, here's Rod rawhiding another Wade… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/just-some-shots-around-the-shop/
Whenever we do a trade show, there is a certain tree or style of tree we bring that always attracts the most attention, and which one or style it is can vary... Subscribe to RSS Feed It is always interesting to see the differences in the styles of trees ordered from different parts of the country, and different countries for… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/saddle-trees-and-gravitational-pull/
When deciding about ordering cantle specs, you usually don't have to think about cantle width when figuring out dish. But when a cantle is really narrow, it is a consideration. Subscribe to RSS Feed On our page about cantles in the Understanding Tree Measurements section, I discuss dish, how it is measured (as demonstrated in the picture… https://www.rodnikkel.com/content/saddle-tree-blog-from-shop-and-desk/of-cantle-width-and-dish/
