Construction

We make our own rawhide from hides we get from the closest slaughterhouse. These hides are generally from bulls, or occasionally large cows. If you request a lighter hide, or a lighter weight tree, we use the cow hide. We dehair and flesh it, and then put it on the tree wet. The hide is not split. It is laced with deer hide lace that we make here. Stainless steel ring nails (5/8”) are used to tack the hide in place. The tree is dried for at least two weeks on a flat surface, with nails reset and seams pounded once or twice a day as needed to lay flat.

Once dry, the tree gets two more coats of marine varnish before we send it out to you. This varnish has a matte finish that does not need to be scuffed for leather glues to bond well.

Signs of poor saddle fit:

Trouble with saddle fit can show up in numerous ways. Some horses just react badly to being saddled or being ridden with a particular saddle. This can be a problem with the saddle, a problem with the work the horse is asked to do in that saddle, or a problem with the attitude of the horse. Problems this subtle can be difficult to work out. However, most troubles show themselves more obviously via:
        dry spots,
        sore spots,
        white hair,
        contact on the top of the withers,
        an unstable saddle (moves side to side),
        a saddle that rides to one side consistently or
        a saddle that interferes with shoulder movement.

Ideally, there is equal pressure on the horse’s back from the whole bar surface. In actuality, though, there is a rigid tree on a flexible, mobile back. If you have a bare tree on a horse’s back and watch the horse at a walk, you will notice that as they move parts of their back move up and put more pressure on the tree and parts drop down and have less or no contact with the tree at that stage of the stride. There is a constantly changing amount of pressure on different parts of the tree with every movement of the horse. The only place that appears to have consistent pressure is in the area of the wither pocket. With a rider’s weight, the amount of pressure is obviously increased, but the same principle applies. The wither pocket area will have more consistent pressure, while the amount of pressure under the rest of the tree will vary with the horse’s movement. This is why problems often show up first or most severely in the wither pocket area.

As pressure on an area increases, there is a progression from a dry spot, through tissue soreness to open sores. White hairs can appear anywhere along this spectrum over time. A dry spot indicates that there is more pressure in that area than in the area that is sweated up. It most likely occurs because there is enough pressure in that area to prevent the sweat glands from releasing their contents normally, and the pressure probably also affects circulation to a certain extent. Over time, white hair may develop as the melanocytes (cells that produce pigment) quit producing pigment in the hair follicle as a result of pressure or heat. That these two things may or may not be a problem is a hotly debated question. Neither is ideal but in practice, if you put a saddle on a horse’s back, you will have some quantity of pressure on that back.

The question is, “How much pressure is too much?” The answer comes in another question: “Is the horse sore?” Soreness is a result of unrelieved, excess pressure. Excess pressure can affect the circulation which decreases the amount of oxygen brought to the area, as well as decreasing the removal of waste products from the cells there. Soreness can be seen as swelling in the area a few minutes to a couple of hours after the saddle has been removed and normal circulation is restored. Damaged tissue will allow excess fluid to accumulate in and around the cells, which causes swelling. Heat in the area is another sign of inflammation as a result of tissue damage. Pain, shown by the horse responding negatively to you touching or putting pressure on the area, will also occur. If the pressure has been severe enough over a long enough time span, the tissue can be so damaged that it leaks fluid or even dies in patches, leading to open sores.

Open sores can also be caused by rubbing or irritation. Dirt next to the horse or a wrinkle in the saddle blanket can rub the skin raw or even make an open sore. This can also lead to white hairs forming as the sores heal. These two causes of open sores (excess pressure versus something rubbing) need to be distinguished.

A saddle that contacts the top of the withers can cause serious and even life threatening problems. This may be seen when saddling, but should be checked by feel not only when first mounted, but a few minutes later when the padding has compressed. There should always be at minimum room for one finger under the gullet.

A saddle that fits well will conform to the curves and hollows in a horse’s back, making it very stable when it is in the correct position. A saddle that moves from side to side, or one that consistently goes to one side, has a shape that does not correspond to the shape of that horse’s back. A saddle that interferes with the movement of the horse, especially in the shoulder area, also needs to be re-evaluated

Fitting the Horse

When the rider is in contact with the saddle, what he feels is primarily the result of the work of the saddle maker. What the horse feels is primarily the result of the work of the tree maker. The way the bars fit on a horse when the tree is bare is pretty much what the horse will feel when the saddle is finished. So getting the correct fit is the job of the tree maker, based on the information given by the saddle maker and the customer. This information article aims to explain what factors affect the fit for the horse, resulting in better communication between us and the saddle maker, and better service to both our customers and their horses.

Ideally, every inch of bar surface should contact the horse’s back at all times with an even pressure. In practice, this is impossible, since we are dealing with a rigid system on a flexible, mobile back. The shape of the horse’s back changes as he walks, trots, lopes or gallops, and how he uses his body and muscles in each of these gaits. Even the resting shape of one horse’s back will vary depending on his weight, if he is in working shape or ‘soft’, his age, etc. So when we are trying to fit a horse, we must realize that we are aiming at the best compromise for any situation. This means that we are generally trying to fit a ‘type’ or ‘style’ of horse. Does your customer ride narrow thoroughbred types, halter class quarter horse types, horses that are in working shape or horses that are primarily pasture ornaments? If they ride both narrow thoroughbreds and barrel shaped quarter horses, they will have a problem doing it with one saddle. Most people, however, stay with a general type of horse, and fitting that type is the aim of the tree maker. Please note: there is absolutely no standardization between makers as to what quarter horse, full quarter horse, semi-quarter horse, or any other term means as far as trees go. It is better to use measurements to describe a tree precisely, since all of the factors involved in the fit can be changed independently of each other.

We have two common bar patterns we use, and one variation that can be applied to either of them if necessary. We have a “regular” and a “Wade” bar, but the bottom of both types is shaped identically so they fit the same. Any fork with a stock thickness of 4 ½” or more gets Wade bars unless regular bars are requested. Stock thicknesses of 4 ¼” or less get regular bars. The Wade bar has an extra ½” in front of the fork cut to deal with larger stock thicknesses. If requested, we can cut it back to “regular” length to accommodate bulgy shoulders. The Wade pattern is also about ¼” wider (deeper) than the regular pattern except in the center where the rider’s leg goes. If the bars are set at the correct angle and width for the horse, the Wade bars will go down the horse’s side ¼” further than the regular bars and the bar tip will sit ½” further forward. Other than that the bars will fit the same on the horse’s back. All our bars have full stirrup grooves.

The variation we offer is to make a flatter “cup”, or amount of roundness, on the bottom of the bars for horses whose wither pocket is flat or bulged out. This wither conformation is often associated with very rounded muscles over the loin area as well. On Flat Cup bars, the shape flatter in the wither area than our normal bars, but still has some roundness to it, while it is totally flat over the loin. We can make Flat Cup bars on either a regular or Wade bar.

The areas to consider when fitting a tree to a horse are:
        A) the width the bars are spread apart (hand hole width)
        B) the angle of the bars relative to each other
        C) the amount of gullet clearance (hand hole height and gullet height)
        D) the length of the bar, including
            1) total length
            2) length of the front bar tip
        E) the shape of the bottom of the bar, including
            1) cup
            2) twist
            3) rock.

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Information provided by: Rod Nikkel - http://www3.telus.net/nikkelsaddletrees