Saddle Tooling Coverage

A carving and stamping design can cover any portion of a saddle. When ordering a saddle from a custom saddle maker you'll be able to choose the tooling coverage you want. The more coverage, the higher the price.

Saddles can be border stamped, full tooled, or partially tooled. Saddle makers have developed a method for describing partially tooled options that can be a bit confusing. The names incorporate both the percentage of the surface area to be covered and the specifc saddle parts involved. The names are 7/8 Breed, 3/4 Breed, 5/8 Breed, 1/2 Breed, and 1/4 Breed.

The easiest way to understand tooling coveage options is with the illustration below. (Illustration courtesy of National Ropers Supply.) The dark brown areas on each saddle indicate the area to be tooled. Non-tooled areas can either be smooth leather or rough out.