Stirrup Leathers: Full or Half?

The stirrup leathers are long straps that attach the stirrups to the saddle tree.
Traditionally stirrup leathers have always been “full,” meaning the straps went from the tree all the way down to the stirrups. It is another layer of leather under the fender.
This style makes for the strongest and most durable construction. It will limit [...]

Breast Collar or Crupper?

This is one of those questions that has popped up in our mail several times, so we thought we’d address it here in our blog.
It’s important to get this right because these two saddle accessories are designed to prevent the opposite problem.
The crupper is a strap attached to the back of the saddle that goes [...]

Rigging or Rig?

You may have heard folks use these two terms and wondered what the difference was, or maybe if there was any difference at all. Here’s the straight scoop.
Rigging is an umbrella term that encompasses a saddle’s rigging system – the cinch or cinches, the manner in which they are attached to the saddle (i.e. in-skirt, [...]

The Three Most Important Saddle Parts

Can you name the three most important parts of the western saddle? If each of these three parts are correctly designed then you’ll have a solid saddle. Get just one wrong and the saddle can never be “right.”
The answer? The saddle tree, the seat, and the rigging. While every western saddle part has a role [...]

Saddle Tree: Rocker, Twist & Flare

Veterinarian, Joyce Harman’s newest saddle fit book, The Western Horse’s Pain-Free Back and Saddle-Fit Book, is chock full of great information on western saddle fit and western saddles. I’ll be sharing some nuggets from the book on the Saddle Blog, but this is really a book you should have in your library.
The first nugget [...]

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