For those of us who love western saddles, they're much more than just pieces of equipment. They're works of art.
The Saddle Gallery was created to showcase the wide variety of styles and craftsmanship of this western art form and to share the saddle stories of our visitors. We invite you to submit photos of your saddles and your story for inclusion in the Gallery. We're counting on you to fill the gallery.
You can see the latest entries to the Gallery below. But to explore the entire gallery, visit the following Gallery sections:
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VINTAGE SADDLE FROM UNKNOWN MAKER
Amanda from Oregon
Amanda bought this interesting old saddle together with a vintage Tex Tan for $50. She doesn't know a thing about this saddle, but it's obviously had a long working life with a lot of miles. It doesn't show up in this photo, but the saddle came with a burlap cinch. Ouch.
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VINTAGE SADDLE FROM GREAT WEST SADDLERY Co.
John from Ontario, Canada
This beauty is from Great West Saddlery Co., a saddlery based in Calgary, Canada that had it's beginnings in the late 1800's and ceased operations in 1931. Shows you what quality means to the life of a saddle. This saddle looks like it's still a great ride today. (I'd replace those obviously non-original saddle strings with strings that more closely match the saddle.)
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VINTAGE SADDLE FROM MILES CITY SADDLERY
Dave from North Dakota
This vintage working saddle is a real beauty. Dave has retired it to a place of honor on a custom-made cedar log stand in his living room, but it looks to me like it has many more miles left in it. Miles City (Montana) Saddlery began operation in 1909 and is still in operation today.
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CLAIR MULLIN CUSTOM BUCKAROO SADDLE
Clair from Oregon
This is the latest saddle from custom saddle maker, Clair Mullin of Oregon. Clair makes a very handsome saddle. The saddle is a 3B visalia saddle, 100% rough out, with 5/8 plate rigging, bucking rolls and 1" stainless bound oxbow stirrup. Clair says she made this saddle for a buckaroo in Eastern Oregon. I'm sure that's one happy buckaroo.
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HILASON MULTI PURPOSE SADDLE
Jim from Texas
From Hilason's treeless saddle line, this is a multi purpose saddle that can be used for trail, pleasure and barrel racing. Jim says it's comfortable for both horse and rider.
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KARL WICHERN CUSTOM SADDLE
Karl from Nebraska
Karl made this nice starter saddle during a saddlemaking course put on by Tandy Leather and taught by Dick Orent. (Check out the Saddle Library for Dick's book Saddle Doctor's Repair Manual For Western Saddles.) Karl is enjoying learning the craft of saddlemaking and is planning on taking more courses.
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ROPING SADDLE FROM JOHN BUSCH CUSTOM SADDLERY
Denny from Illinois
Denny bought this fancy saddle from a friend who could no longer ride. The saddle was made in 1981 by John Busch Custom Saddlery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The saddle has matching tooled saddlebags, breast collar, headstall and reins.
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WILLEM MUIJS CUSTOM SADDLE
Willem from the Netherlands & Kansas
This handsome Slick Fork (aka A Fork) saddle was made by hand by Willem Muijs. It has semi QH bars, 3-way rigging, a 16 inch inlaid, padded seat and is fully hand tooled and carved. Willem has been a saddle maker for 35 years, first apprenticing in Canada.
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VINTAGE TED FLOWERS PARADE SADDLE
Gerry from Ireland
Ted Flowers saddles are always special, but this one is extra special. What a beauty. And doesn't that horse seem to know he's wearing something special? Gerry tells us that the saddle arrived in Ireland 12 years ago and is now on display at Five Oaks Ranch in Ballyshannon.
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1957 TEX TAN HEREFORD RANCH SADDLE
Harry from Florida
Herefords seem to last forever ... and just get better with age. Harry nabbed this gem off of ebay for $350 and put another $125 in materials into it. But lets be clear about the quality here - this saddle cost almost $1000 new in 1957. Keep that in mind when you're shopping for saddles today. You have to pay to get quality.
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CLAIR MULLIN CUSTOM WADE SADDLE
Clair from Oregon
This handsome custom Wade saddle has 7/8 flat plate rigging, stainless steel stirrups and hardware, rawhide horn and cantle bindings, bucking rolls, and a basket stamp and floral carve combination for decoration. Clair (ClairSaddleShop.com) made it for a woman who does a lot of ranch riding. There's nothing like the comfort of a Wade for long miles in the saddle.
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VINTAGE BIG HORN YOUTH SADDLE
Aine from Ireland
Aine picked this little beauty up at a flea market in Illinois for a song and brought it home to Ireland. It's definitely been around the block a bit, but it's a nice example of of a vintage youth saddle.
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CLEBURNE REINING SADDLE
Stefano from Italy
This is a custom reining saddle by Darryl Slinkard of Cleburne Saddle Shop. Cleburne saddles are well known about top reining competitors
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BARREL RACING SADDLE FROM ALAMO SADDLERY
Kathleen from California
Kathleen found this used barrel saddle too good of a bargain to pass up and added it to her aleady sizable saddle collection. What's one more, afterall.
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VINTAGE SADDLE OF FRENCH ARTIST
Michael from France
This beauty is an early 1900 saddle owned by french artist, actor, and director, Joe Hamman. Joe was a friend of William "Bill" Cody and took part in his famous Wild West Shows.
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VINTAGE NOLTE OLSON SADDLE
Shawna from California
Shawna found this antique saddle gem at a recent flea market. It's from Nolte-Olson, which was a popular saddle brand in the the mid 1900's.
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TED FLOWERS PARADE SADDLES
Saddlemaker Dusty Johnson from Colorado
Ted Flowers created gorgeous parade saddles in his SPOT SHOP located in Alexandria, Indiana. All production ceased in the mid-70's with his death. These saddles are all currently deteriorating due to age. Dusty has fully restored 103 saddles (so far!). These rigs are a true American icon of the golden age of Hollywood. See more at: www.pvsaddleshop.com Dusty is the author of some of the best books on western saddles Saddle Savvy: A Guide to the Western Saddle and Saddlemaking: Construction and Repair Techniques.
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