We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

That is what we were told when we started up the business.  And it is true.  We know of at least one tree maker who is currently having respiratory problems probably as a result of wood dust.  Being a natural substance, you would think that it would be OK.  Nope.  Super fine dust of any kind will affect your lungs.  And some types of wood dust are toxic while others are carcinogenic.  Fortunately, what we work with doesn’t fall into either of those categories (except maybe some fancy wood for exposed horns or other parts of trees), but the dust is still dangerous with long term exposure.  So…

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

We want to wish all our customers and everyone else who reads this a very Merry Christmas!  And it is worth celebrating.  Not because of presents, or lights, or decorations, though those are all great.  Not even because of family and friends and good times spent together, those those are very important too. No, Christmas is worth celebrating because of Jesus, Whose birth we are remembering.  

And His birthday really wouldn't be worth celebrating except for the reason He came - His death.  That may sound totally backwards.  For the rest of us, death is the end of life.  But the whole reason Jesus, Who was truly God, also became truly man was specifically to die.  But His death wasn't the end of His life, because He was resurrected three days later.  In case you think I am mixing up Christmas and Easter, I'm not.  Both are part of the same life, and one without the other is meaningless.  The birth of Christ without the death of Christ is just another human birth.  The death of Christ without the birth of Christ makes His sacrifice useless because He wouldn't really be human.  

And so it is through His birth, His life and His death that we have the opportunity to be right with God.  And really, that is far more important than horses, trees, saddles, or anything else we could post on here.  If you are interested in learning more, please read The Most Important Part and check out the links there.  Or contact us and we would love to talk to you about our Lord.  He really is, not just the reason for the season, but the reason for our lives.

Merry Christmas!

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

When we talked about the front leg, we said there was no defined pivot point because the whole leg is attached by muscle, so the shoulder blade moves around a bit against the chest.  The hind leg is different because it is attached solidly – leg to pelvis at the hip joint, and pelvis to spine at the sacroiliac joint.

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

Our band saw is BIG.  It stands 8 ½ feet high and has a 32 inch throat.  When we built the shop, Rod modified the rafters to make a box tall enough that we could raise the band saw up to vertical.  Most tree makers have a large band saw, at least 28”.  This is because we need the height for the jigs used to make the fork and cantle cuts on the bars.  The saw is originally designed to have large blades and to cut big logs into lumber.

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

When you read about saddle fit, you find numbers quoted as to how much pressure is acceptable under a saddle and how much is too much, and those numbers will vary dramatically.  Why?  I figured we should know by now how much pressure will cause damage to underlying tissues, so I went looking for answers.  Turns out there are no solid answers and really, this isn’t even the right question.

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

We make our own deer hide lace from hides off deer harvested by local hunters, including Rod.  (Venison tastes good!)  Hunting season for deer closed the end of November, so this is the time of year he makes up the rawhide for the lace.

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

Today was another day of rawhiding for Rod.  Here he is almost finished rawhiding this Wade tree that will be heading to southern Alberta when it is dry.  I figured in this post I would show you some of the “tools of the trade” Rod uses when he rawhides trees.

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

In the first post about the bones of the hind limb, I talked about some interesting lumps at the top of the femur.  Now let’s look at the bottom of the femur.  This is a front view of the left femur and tibia, so we are looking at the front of the stifle joint.  The outside of the horse is to our right and the connection to the pelvis is to our left.

We are no longer building saddle trees, but we have two videos about how Western saddles fit horses available on our westernsaddlefit.com website.

We recently received this broken tree to duplicate so the customer can put the old leather back on again.  Although there are some markings on it, there is nothing to directly identify the maker.  We are curious if anyone who has worked on these older saddle trees knows who built this one.