Old Dogs And Your New Saddle

Well it's been a long time since my last post. It's funny, I really enjoy telling stories and talking about saddles and giving people my thoughts on different things that relate to horses and their equipment. No, I haven't been sick or out of the country or I haven't retired, somehow I just woke up one morning and I had gotten OLD. I seems like I went to bed being 45 and woke up the next morning and I was 72. I guess what really happened was I got so busy and as I got older I got slower and I ended up working 7 days a week for the last 10-12 years trying to get caught up. Did it work, NO, I'm just about as far behind now as I was 12 years ago. Well enough about my problems, let's talk about old saddle makers and your new saddle.

I always like to start out by telling folks that read my posts that these are just my opinions and I truly believe in what I say but I had an old Cowboy by the name of Fred Talbot tell me 50 years ago when we were pulling a string of mules into the Backcountry that if I was going to learn anything about this life style, horses and their equipment that I should politely listen to everything that someone had to say on the matter and after the conversation was over go through everything they had to say and throw out the things that I was sure were pure BS and to remember the things that might hold water. I've used that Idea my whole life and it has served me well. As a general rule nowadays people want to talk and have someone else do the listening. So there is no shortage of people to listen to and that is where you want to place this post. It is something to read through and pick out the things that might apply or work for you and discard the rest.

OK, there are all kinds of Saddle Makers out there, young, old and in between. There are some really bad ones some really good ones and of course some that fall in the middle. There are quite a few things to think about when your buying your next saddle that you hope will be the love of your life and you will ride it forever. A lot of folks don't have a custom saddle maker in their home town so they're relying on websites and Facebook Pages to find that dream saddle that will make their life complete. Probably 90% of my customers I never meet in person… so why is a person willing to spend $5,000. to $45,000 on a saddle from a someone that they have never met and probably never will. Yes, I said $45,000. Not many, but a few. These are forms of art and will probably never see the back of a horse, just propped up on a custom made saddle rack in an office or trophy home someplace. To me, custom made saddles are only worth it’s weight in gold when it’s put on your horse’s back. What are your thoughts? Bob Bitterroot Saddle Co.