Jeremiah Watt

Saddle & Treemakers Conflab of 2008

According to one of the more intellectual types who attended not only last years event, but also was in attendance for this years gather. We grew by 300%. So with that, we should all be impressed, we managed to grow by exactly half of what the US debt has grown. Not too bad at all for a second year event.
We had a great time, the weather was very cow-operative, the global warming has not kicked in yet this spring in California and we were Blessed with some wonderful 80 degree sunshine. The gather started at 8am sharp, and officially got underway by 9:15 when the last of the late comers arrived. In typical cowboy fashion, we got started at 8am sharp with a pot of coffee, and drank till we thought we had them all.

A view inside the saddle tree shop at Jeremiah's

The first arrival for the morning hailed all the way from “Illinoise”, and walked in to catch Jeremiah busy in the kitchen attempting to get a scone cooked for the impending onrush of visitors. Not the best way to catch Jeremiah maybe, but the truth is the truth, and if I don’t say it………..well, it will all come out later as a dirty rumor.
Folks slowly rolled in, with our guest speakers arriving last. Guess they didn’t take the SHARP thing as being a SHARP thing. Next year we will commence at 8am BLUNT just for my Aussie friends. The coffee and scone seemed to go over pretty well , giving us all a chance to break the ice and get to know each other.
We started the day with a 10 cent tour of the shops. By the way for those who arrived to this blog late, The conflab was held at Jeremiah’s place up Warthan Canyon in central California, Coalinga is the closest small town. Anyways, we done the shop tours, all of them. I joke with folks that we have something in every “chicken coop on the place”, and they seldom believe me till they drive in the yard and see for them selves. We spent the most time, with obvious reason out in the tree shop, talking and discussing tools, makes, and those most pertinent for a small one man shop. I done my best to convince those in attendance that they would be better off in finding a good tree maker to work with and stick with saddle making. Not sure that was the right thing to say…………enough so, that I think we will be adding a day to this event next year. But we will make the details about that extra day known a little later on.

Dennis Lane in the foreground taking a reading of the horses back, while David Morris watches.

From the tree shop, we moved on out to the barn, where we had a few bales of hay set up on Jeremiah’s new stack of tree shop timber. This gave us all the sensation of being in an auditorium. And still others got that sneezing sensation from the hay.
Down too the actual matters of importance. The morning address was started off by Dennis Lane of Quirindi, NSW, Australia. Dennis and his partner, also from Australia is David Morris. Together, these fellows make up the team that invented the “Equine Back Measuring System” that we are discussing in a major way at this Conflab. Dennis talked till about 10:30, at which time he took a breath. We spent our time discussing the value and the application of the fitting cards. The value is that anyone can own the cards, use the cards to measure and for that matter re-measure their horses. All the information can then be shared with a saddle maker and of course a tree maker later on. The only hitch it seems, is that the saddle maker and tree maker need to become aware of the card fit and how it is used. The application, well that is easy if see the cards. They quite simply transmit real data as far as a 3D shape of the horses back, and those readings are taken in key places that all saddle trees touch on the horses back. It really is that simple.
Dennis and David mounted a tag team saddle tree tutorial act, until we broke for a noon meal. Their time was spent explaining to those in attendance the most important places and junctures to look for in equine conformation when using the horse fitting cards.
LUNCH, always my favorite part of any seminar. That and the NAP that follows. My wife, Colleen, as well as my daughter Nevada had made some Chili and Dutch Oven biscuits while we talked at length out in the barn. I could smell the Dutch Oven at work, and was tempted several times to quit the seminar and head in zombie fashion towards that aroma………it’s a good thing I have will power. I do believe that Colleen was the real hit of the gather……….well, maybe her biscuits. But they were appreciated that I do know.

David Morris, cofounder of the Equine Back Measureing System, takes center stage while Dennis stands back for a moment.

When the small talk subsided, and yawns broke out, it was decided we had best get back to the barn, to the discussion, and to that of saddle tree fit. David and Dennis took the floor once again, and tried to make clear all the points that they had been discussing before we broke for noon lunch. As a point of fact, it was a Socratic gathering of folks who intend to achieve a change, the Equine Back Measuring System offers us an avenue of change in that it opens the door to discussion and sharing of our horses back profiles. The two Aussie D’s. done there level best to assure us that this was not a one world government take over plot, but simply a means of talking in real 3D terms about the horses that we are asked to fit. NO tree maker has to change a thing that he is currently doing, he simply needs first become accustomed to the terms and meanings of the Equine Cards, then cross reference his current saddle tree parameters to see which horses are fit by which correlating card profiles. With that simple task done, he can converse with any saddle maker or customer in real #d terms about his/her horse and what it takes to create a fit.
The relaxed atmosphere of the gathering, gave birth too lively debate and discussion centered on the subject of cooking………..no, sorry. We discussed mostly saddle trees, and the varied means of measuring horses. Over the last few years there have been several noble attempts made to enable us to measure the horse, each falls short of fulfilling what the industry is looking for. With a thorough explanation from David & Dennis, in regards to the Equine Back Measuring System, we all came away with a better understanding and a renewed confidence that we finally had a tool in our arsenal that could be incorporated very easily.

Lunch break under the huge Oak that graces the front yard at Jeremiah's

Around 3pm, it was time for Jeremiah to close the discussions down. There were a few items to be discussed and they were left to Jeremiah to bring to the floor. Now to be sure, what I have been doing for the last 5 plus years, in the measuring of horses backs and gathering information has been good for my conformational understanding of the horse. Like the Aussies, I believe the real, or the best benefit is to come in the long term. The benefit over time is the catalog of horse information that will come from this measuring of the equine form, the many ages, breeds, and conditions that will be encountered can some day be housed in everyone’s computer to be drawn upon like a dictionary of fit. Then there is the subject of conformation and who it is that is ultimately responsible for that conformation or the lack of it. What responsibility do we tree makers have in addressing really bad conformation flaws, and can they indeed be corrected by what we do in the saddle tree. Then there is that subject called conditioning, and the role we play in the equine conditioning program, which is nil, yet it plays a huge role in both fit and function of the final saddle that we are asked to build. Jeremiah walked folks thru the process that he uses in the measuring, but readily admits that his method has flaws in that it cannot be sent to a customer and expect to get reliable information. Jeremiahs goal in measuring is to attain angles from the horses back in those areas that the saddle tree makes constant contact. I like my method says Jeremiah, but I will be the first to admit that I will be switching over to the Equine Back Measuring System, because it is so easily understood and used by my customers.

Jeremiah takes a moment to speak about the methods and the reasons behind the measuering he does.

We closed down the discussion in the barn by 5pm, and moved back to the yard and the coffee pot from which the day had started. We sat till nearly 9pm, talking, discussing and at time relegated to a lively debate on merits and methods of one system or another. In the end it was decided, that fun was had by all who took the time to attend. That those who did attend actually all left a little smarter than when they arrived. And after a thorough check of all the out buildings at 10pm, it was also decided that indeed all who attended had actually left.

Here is a group shot of those who attended the Saddle makers & Tree makers gathering for 2008. Be sure to keep an ear to the ground in order to hear the details of what is to come next year.

The following day after the Conflab, was spent in discussion. We discussed what can be and should be done with the next year gather. We already know that more horses are going to be used. We also talked about adding a day, so that more time could be spent in the actual tree shop and make some of the major areas of the saddle tree better understood, areas such as gullet width, gullet height, and just what is a square tree anyways? If you have ideas, and thoughts about this subject by all means let us know. You will notice that the ability to post a comment here has been shut down, due to all those damned rubber underwear salesmen that spam the *@#%$& out of us. So now because of them, you will have to send the email to me directly .
Hey good night, be well and be Blessed
Jeremiah

Jeremiah, caught in the act of doing what some say he does best!

Posted by Jeremiah Watt at 1:08 AM | Permalink

We have confirmation on several fronts, so lets go thru them.
We have corrected the dates of this gathering, and hope you attend and enjoy the day with us.

DATE- June 5th of 2008, as the date for an official Treemaker & Saddle Fitting Day. It will be held here on the ranch. We will have both David Morris and Dennis Lane in attendance for the "Lane Card Fitting System" demonstration.

COST- we have priced this one day clinic at $65.00 per person for the day. You are welcome to bring up to 2 horses for a fitting if you would like. Keep in mind this is a ranch, not a boarding facility. So the ammenitites are just as you would expect on a ranch, and not what you would expect from a boarding facility.

LANE-FITTING CARDS in thier first test version will be available for purchase at the clinic should you be interested. I did talk to Dennis about this facet of the presentation, and he and David assured me that this would be the case..........they approximated the price of a cared pack at $50.00 but depending on several factors that could change a little. So we need to be a little flexible with this option till they get the manufacturing figured out.

WHAT WILL WE DO- The day will be spent listening to David&Dennis reason thier way thru why the card fit system will work better for all of us, no matter which end of the business spectrum you find yourself on. We will be placing the cards on my horses as demos, unless you bring your horse for us. We will also be taking photo's of the horses for cataloging efforts.........and if the horse owner is real pretty................well we will photograph her as well.

LUNCH- like I said, best you bring something, a sack lunch and a few cold drinks. It is about a 20 minute drive down the mountain into Coalinga from here, so running to town for lunch may not be the best option. We will have something going here on the ranch as well, so I doubt any of us will loose to large a percentage of gross body fat for the day.

DIRECTIONS- Here are a few directions to help you find us. The ranch is known locally as the Vandyke Ranch, that is if you get lost and are asking a local for help. The proper address is 47069 Crump Lane, HC1, Box 34 Coalinga, California. The last time I checked the Google map thing had a hard time finding us, but the ranch is situated on Highway 198, we are west of the town of Coalinga 16 miles, which is from Perko's Cafe in town to my mailbox or lane. If by chance you are coming in from my west, you will be coming on Highway 101 iether north or south, and looking for the Highway 198 off ramp. The off ramp is located about 7 miles south of KingCity. Now from that off-ramp to my house is 36 miles, I know, becasue I ride it all the time on my bike.

LOST- call the house 559-935-2172 or my wifes cell 559-355-7948

We do look forward to seeing all of you. Tell your friends, and invite them along. We are not specifying that you be a saddlemaker or tree maker, but want as many of them as we can get so we can place the idea for the cards and maybe the actual cards in your hands in order that we can have the greatest impact. ONe more thing, if you do plan on attending, please let us know ahead of time.

All the best and God Bless from, Jeremiah Watt

Posted by Jeremiah Watt at 7:51 AM | Permalink

2008 Tree Makers & Horse Fitting Gathering.

If you read back a ways on the blog and look for “ Tree Makers Conflab”, you will note that I posted about a small conflab between myself and two Ausssies who are interested in finding a way to fit horses. Well, this is a continuation of the same theme and with the same two fella’s.

I just got the call from David Morris and cohort Dennis Lane, both of whom are from Australia. They are making a return trip to the USA, doing a Tree/Horse Fit seminar in Sheridan Wyoming, and a second will be held here at Jeremiah’s house. The seminar to be held here in California will be sometime from June 4-June8th of 08.

It will be a simple affair, we intend to have as many saddle makers as is possible and fewer customers. Our reason is simple, for the Lane System to have a practical application it needs to start with those of us building and buying saddle trees. And then I believe we will end up with a natural trickle down scenario taking place all of it headed towards the horse owner who in time will also be invited to participate in the process. The seminar will take 1 full day, you can bring a sack lunch, but I am sure Mom will have enough food around to keep you from falling over dead before we are done. Besides that, I have a superb new dutch oven biscuit recipe to subject your in’nerds too!

There will be some small charge in order to offset the cost of “Dog Paddling” to and from Australia. Dennis & David will be bringing packets of the second generation Lane Fit Cards that will be for sale at the seminar. We invite you to bring up too 2 horses with you as specimens to fit
HERES THE INVITE:
TIME – JUNE 4-8TH TO BE DEFINED A LITTLE LATER
COST- NOT MUCH BUT IT WILL BE SOMETHING
HOW LONG- JUST A ONE DAY AFFAIR
STARTS AT 9AM WITH A NOON BREAK AND BACK TO IT TILL 4PM
CAN I BRING A HORSE- YES, BUT TWO IS MAX
WHAT HAPPENS IF I BRING 3…….JEREMIAH IS BAR-B-QUE’ING
WHO IS ATTENDING- WE WANT SADDLE MAKERS, EQUINE VETS, TREE MAKERS, RETAILS SALES STAFF FROM WESTERN STORES.
IF I AM NONE OF THEM CAN I COME…………….WeeeeeLL, I GUESS
HOW TO I SIGN UP……….CALL JEREMIAH 559-935-2172

I am joking here a little bit, but I am serious about the intent to work with Dennis & David on seeing a change made in the entire process of fitting horses. I would like to invite those of you who are interested to give me a call, get signed up and see for your self what is taking place and how it can aid you in fitting and solving saddle fit problems.

We will see you in June at my house, Jeremiah

Posted by Jeremiah Watt at 12:12 PM | Permalink

Just have to say thanks too all of you who let us know that Don King has passed away as we travelled in the UK. NO sadder news could be had, if you had ever the chance to have met Don, I know you would agree that few people have had as large an impact on saddle making in USA as did Don King.

I cannot write a true epitaph to Don that would do him the justice that he deserves, lets hope that someone does and maybe we will read it in the Western Horsemen etc. I can however write about what I know and remember about what Don has done for me, and what I know he has done for the art of saddlemaking.

We have a style of caarving here in USA that is known as the Sheridan Style, it may be the most popular style of western floral carving today. That is the master work of one Don King. While Don ran the King Saddlery in Sheridan, he turned out not only the finest RCA Trophy Saddles that have been made to date, he also turned out a group of younger saddle makers who carried on the style of carving. Today we know of it as Sheridan Style.

There has been a sort of rennassaince on interest in making saddles as well as making the tools that are required to make saddles, and I think Don King is persononally to be thanked for making that so. It was Don's idea to have that first Sheridan Leather Show, it was a place to showcase the tools and supplies required to build saddles. While Don had his own handmade tools at each Show for sale, he also went out of his way to encourage others to build handmade tools as well. Don was never short on supporting the individuals who attended the Show, in his buying of tools from other makers, but he also was free to give advice to other makers when they would ask.

Over the years that Don has sat at the head of the Kings Saddlery, he has made every effort to move the entire spectrum of saddle making forward in a generous way. From trade Shows to a Museum that houses a collection of tools and saddles that rivals anything else that has been collected to date.

As a fellow who is fortunate to have been able to call Don King a friend, as a saddle maker whom has been inspired by Don's kind words and critiques I would like to say thanks Mr.King for all you have done for this western form of Art. The energy and zeal that you brought to this body of artists and crafstmen will be forever missed.

Thankyou Don for all you have done. And my warmest regards to the King Family at this time of deep loss and mourning.

Good Night and God Bless

Posted by Jeremiah Watt at 8:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Tree-makers Conflab of 07

This was a rather impromptu gathering of tree makers whom all share one vision, and that is a more universal language or lexicon amongst we saddle makers as well as an easier to understand fitting program.
It goes without saying that all of us have an opinion, and sometimes a rather strong opinion at that when it comes to fitting and the building of the saddle trees that we take so much pride in. But should our pride take precedence over common sense and a unique approach, cannot answer for you, but I am quite willing to lay mine aside for a day and that is just what we done for 3 days matter of fact.

Jeremiah Watt, Hank Statham in the Stetson, Dennis Lane, and David Morris on far right side.

Now to say that we four as seen in the picture were the only ones involved would be dishonest. In total I think most of the handmade tree makers in USA had a chance to hear this same presentation that I did from my Australian friend Dennis Lane. Dennis, a saddle maker and a tree maker from Quirindi NSW, along with saddle maker and tree maker David Morris also from down under along with the wild cow catcher and Aussie saddler Hank Statham shown here with a Stetson.
Dennis Lane is a long time saddle maker of the Aussie style and added the making of his own saddle trees after taking a class from Dale Harwood. Dale came to Australia some 15 years ago said David, and taught a class to 8 of us in total, it was a rugged affair at best but we learned plenty in the time we had. I have not looked back sine, just kept moving ahead with what I have been doing with my saddle trees. David Morris on the other hand began his career as a Mechanical Engineer, but his love for leather work took him in other directions after he attained his Engineering degree. David left Australia for a nearly two year stint at Cordwainer’s College in England. His time there was spent on the English style saddles of course, the attachment to England was short lived and so was his fascination with the English styles of saddle. I came home to Australia and promptly went to work on learning leather carving and added trees to my routine as well. Its saddle trees that brought Dennis and I together, and we have worked together on several projects now making it a mutually beneficial relationship. And Hank, well he was along by friendship and to keep David and Dennis from taking life and horse measuring to serious. Life has to be fun, and if yours ain’t I would say “ya should’a met ol Hank mate”. My god his stories of cowboying back when were so good, Hank is 68 if I can say that, and he has sure cowboyed around in Australia. Anyways, if you weren’t smilling before you met him, you would be after. Hank your welcome at my table anytime, no invite needed round here.
Dennis and his cohorts had made a 35 day grand sashay around the western USA, and in that time had made stops at as many saddle shops and tree makers as they could. During this trip they also took in the Sheridan Leather Show, at which Dennis done a short horse fitting demonstration as well. I will refrain from mentioning the names of other tree makers for instance whom had Dennis stop in, I don’t have their permission to make mention of it here nor their own opinion of the Lane System.

Some night when ya can't sleep head out and try making this beast.

The way that I worked into it was quite simple, I need plenty of help with the trees and I am the last cowboy coffee pot before the Aussies hit the LA Airport on their way home.
Truthfully, Dennis and I speak several times a year at great length about all things saddle and tree related. Dennis has always been one for uniformity and classification with what and how he approaches the saddle tree, but trying to get the same from a group of single minded tree makers may be another story indeed. First problem, at least as I see it, what the heck are we doing having to listen to some Aussie about how to fit a WESTERN saddle tree. Like many things we find in this world, the whole saddle tree and fit issue did not start with those of us out west, and Dennis just happens to think outside of the box when it comes to fitting horses.
The approach Dennis and David take on this tag team fitting tour is quite non-confrontational, and in doing it in that matter it makes the system easy to hear. I have been fitting, and advocating the fitting of horses for some 12 years now, but have had to say that following Dennis’s approach has merit that I will surely give a try. The Lane System, if I can call it that without attaching a label to it, is quite simply a group pf predetermined contour cards that match horses withers, mid section and loin, in addition there are a group of bar rock templates which Dennis will send out to any who ask. Taking this approach is a customer winning format, because it first of all puts them into the project as Dennis says, in that they actually place the cards on their own horses and send the results to you to record and work from. One huge matter of contention, is that it does not try to give any actual degree indication, this is a matter of “intelligent design or polite omission”, since the degree thing can be the cause of a knife fight if not dealt with carefully.

This was such a pretty tree in person, great job Dennis
Anyways, we simply stand our horse/horses on level ground, and find that lowest point of curve in the horses back which by magic is usually his 14th vertebrae. We begin placing cards over him at this lowest point until we find one that fits him cleanly and record that number designation. From that point we move 8 inches towards his wither and do the same with the cards and recording the proper designation, and once again we work backwards of the lowest point along the spine at 8 inches and find the best fitting card and record the numerical designation on the card. Yes, as simple as that, and we have a total of 3 recordings of the spine and rib cage area on your horse where the saddle tree is expected to fit. Next we take the longer rock patterns that Dennis sends out, and lay these on the rib cage approx 3.5 inches below the center of spine, which approximates the center of the bar as it lays on a horse, each rock template has a witness mark that we use to line up with the 14th vertebrae and then we check to see which rock contour fits the horse best. Once again we record all of that and send that off to the saddle maker if he works with a tree maker using the Lane System, and from that the tree maker knows exactly what angles he has to work with in his own tree shop to meet the profiles of horses sent in.

Front end of that traditional Aussie Stock Saddle

The real beauty is that Dennis is not telling us what angle we have to use, we can use what ever angle suits our approach the best, but we are fitting towards a commonly understood profile in the end, and in that we will attain some uniformity amongst all who give the Lane System a try.
I for one will begin next week with the use of the cards and taking readings by that method in order to begin building a catalog of horses with the cards. Once I have enough horses carded, I can then begin to fine tune the angles I use so that I can match easily the average of the card readings taken. Having this one step added into my fitting program gives me more accurate information from my customers now, and that will be a boon for me as I see it. SO for now at least, I am a convert until I find a flaw with it that I currently do not see.
The tree makers conflab proved to be very interesting for me, as it gave me a better look at how two guys from 3000 miles from the western saddle tree makers of the world, approach things just a little differently. Their thinking outside the proverbial box just may prove to be the wave of the future. While we sat and visited about all things saddle and tree related, we also talked about how to make this a bi-annual event in which more folks could attend and maybe a workshop could be organized. If you have thoughts, by all means let me know and I will pass it on to Dennis.
In case you are wondering about the tree pic’s I am posting here, well they look plum weird to us in USA but there completely normal for an Aussie. The tree with the little ears is Dennis version of a Western Australian Stock saddle, it combines all the attributes of a normal Stockman’s Saddle and pairs them up with normal western saddle tree bars. Those funny looking little ears, will act as do our Buckrolls on our Wade’s etc, except Dennis happens to form his in wood and cover them with leather afterwards. Now the other real slick skeleton looking saddle tree, that will be used for a very traditional Stockman’s Saddle. Both Dennis and David, and Hank for that matter will attest to this sort of version being a huge improvement over the cheesecloth covered English tree things used in the past. To begin with you will see that this one from Dennis is covered in a beautifully done rawhide cover, the bars are a little wider and do not flex like the English counterpart.
I will include Dennis Lanes email address so that you can contact him directly with ideas and maybe you want a set of horse cards , contact Dennis at shmaa@aapt.net.au . I will talk to Dennis in a few days and see if it is alright for me to do a walk thru photo shoot of the use of the cards, and if so, I will post it here.

Good Night and God Bless

Posted by Jeremiah Watt at 11:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Carving, its one of the most fulfilling parts of making the saddles I have ordered. It is one of the areas that the artist within is allowed to reign. At least that’s the way I look at it……….Do I manage to wow the world every time……..Heck no, but I give it an earnest effort.

My customer gave me a little room to be creative, but a limit on the budget I could spend on carving………all he asked for was a little something that wouldn’t turn up at the next branding he went to…..I had a certain amount of coverage to do in a geometric pattern and a certain amount in floral. So take a look below and tell me what you think about the combination and balance of each.

PHOTO BY JEREMIAH: A nice saddle for a valued customer.

I played with leaves a bit before I started, and I really liked this version of a Maple that I came up with as a result, but in the end I decided not to use this leaf in this item. I wanted a leaf that would fill areas a little differently than the Maple. So I came up with what would best be described as something of a Calla Lilly form and used it as a leaf motif.

The whole process of coming up with the Maple and a way that I wanted to stamp it to create a very tight triangular shape, also had me build a special shader that I will be introducing before to long in our little Company called Horse Shoe Brand Tools. I have since used the NEW SHADER on several other experimental pieces and I really like the look it gives the work. Unique and different should be two qualities that we strive for, right?

Next I had to come up with a flower that is not seen everywhere, followed by a method of stamping it that would aid in creating a different look. I started with a form of the Water Lilly, and worked my way thru a few flowers to find a shape I liked and a method of stamping it that I liked the look of. Just in case some of you have wondered, there is no “Office of Fine Flower Carving” that dictates just how a flower is to be shaded or for that matter how it has to look. We are free to experiment……….ain’t that cool!

I tried a few and decided that I was going in the wrong direction. I moved on to what some would call a Daffodil and others may call a Jonquil…………I am not a horticulturalist so I may screw it up as well. I was working on a view that was a little more direct over the top of the flower, and one of my kids commented on how flat the flower appeared to be from that angle. Kids, ya‘gotta love their honesty

I worked on another view that gave us a view of the trumpet portion of the body of the flower and I liked the results much better this time around. These experimental pieces of carving are meant to give us a chance to try various methods of shading, and new tools for flower centers etc. If we pound our flowers out by the same manner each time………….well they begin to look like pounded out flowers. And we are artists, right?

Once we have the flower and the leaf form that we make main use of, we can work on some new buds and leaflet forms that we use as FILLERS. Again there is no body of “Grand-POObah’s” who decide on what flower, bud nor leaf is right and or proper. Yes, I know I could open an Al Stohlman book and grab a leaf or bud, or maybe a pattern pack from Tandy. I am old school, and firmly believe that if you fall prey to that sort of approach that you will take that route more often than not, and it will show in your work. So it is that I sit and struggle at some times, and then others the floral motifs simply fall of the end of my swivel knife so too speak.

When we do it right, there is symmetry and balance in the curves and sweeps of the pattern. There should be a visual interest that leads the eye on a floral journey over the cowhide canvas, a pattern should avoid being stade and didactic in its form. The carver should attain either perfect symmetry or obvious asymmetry. There is always the danger of a carvers attempt at just a “LITTLE ASYMMETRY” as being seen as a mistake rather than that artistic attempt intended.

There are those areas that by nature do not allow any of us to get too carried away, such as a saddle horn which even on a nice Wade horn has it limitations. But consider it this way, which is, from the riders perspective the top of the horn and his view of the top of the fork and front jockey’s which all becomes one plane on which we can encompass a unique pattern.

It isn’t a matter of pass or fail. It really comes down to YOU seeking the real inside. Reach that, and you will attain a much higher level of self satisfaction and in all likelihood a greater degree of financial satisfaction as a result of the unpaid effort you have made at home at your own bench when nobody was watching. Nice work isn’t an accident, it’s the result of hard work. If its your work and you have done it, then be proud of it by all means. If it happens to be somebody else’s work, then be sure to compliment their efforts.

Good Night and God Bless

Posted by Jeremiah Watt at 12:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

-Hello to all of you, tired of that darned bike ride and as ready as I am to get back into the whole discussion of handmade saddles and the skills that surround them. If so, lets head to the tree shop we are working on something relatively new to our shop, but not so new to the tree making world.

-To begin with, I have really been missing the day to day work while I was off bike riding, I am lucky in that I actually enjoy a steady diet of work.............some times I even do it 2 or 3 days a week. We have always been making our own saddle trees, it is a love hate relationship. I love having the ability to address any issue that comes up in the course of making trees fit horses. I love the fact that since we have our own tree shop, we can be creative and do a trial run and live test on the idea's that we come up with fairly easily. All this said and done, I do find the whole process of finding and buying wood to be tedious, same with buying and preparing my own hide etc.

-An accountant would probably tell me to get rid of the tree making aspect and buy them from a supplier. But then accountants by nature are known for having small cajones, and never having as much nerve with their own money as they do with yours.

-We are off on a bit of an experimental route today folks, so strap yourselves in and we will talk about it and see if the comment lines heat up after this is done. If I am not mistaken, it was the Hamley Saddle Company that first came out with the whole notion of a "stirrup bar" on the western saddle tree. This being said it never really caught on very well, nor did it have a lot of repeat customers for it. And I think there are a few reasons for it and against it.

-To explain how it works, it is best to see where and how it sits on the tree I guess. The original hangers were made of bronze, and were attached by rivets to the top side of the tree bar once a recess was cut for the stirrup bar too sit down into. The stirrup bars would be set in place to mirror the angle that a riders feet would normally hang while in the saddle seat. The most prominent reasoning behind the stirrup bar theory was that it would allow much greater freedom of movement for the riders feet. As with most theories they can sound just great and still fall flat on there face. While the stirrup bar did give a rider more foot movement, it came at a cost to the rider and the longevity of the saddle, and here is what our research has shown us so far.

-JEREMIAH WATT SADDLE TREE BARS WITH NEW DEE/BARS IN PLACE
-The original bars attach by two holes thru which rivets are passed, from and enginnering standpoint this is a bit odd, since it sets up an imbalance of pressure between the rivet seat and tension caused by the wieght of the rider in the stirrup which thereby weakens the rivet attachment prematurely................the cure?

-CLOSE UP OF DEE IN POSITION ON BAR
- Simple really flatten the point of attachment and add two more wholes of smaller diameter. The second downfall, was that the original bars had somewhat of a square edge over which the stirrup leathers passed, this squared edge plus the riders wieght would cause the leathers too become cut/worn too quickly for most folks to tolerate........the cure?

-BOTTOM SIDE OF TREE SHOWING TEE NUTS IN PLACE, ALLOWING MORE SURFACE AREA THAT RIVET HEAD
-Make the bar section a larger full round diameter, so that the leathers ran over a smooth concentric circle and would last longer because of it. How do we stop the leathers from being cut by the riders wieght..........the cure?
-Do not offer to put old time stirrup bars in big heavy guys saddles..................pretty simple really. We feel that after about 180 pounds you are outside of the sound wieght range of the whole stirrup bar application.

-As I said in the beggining the whole "stirrup bar" thing has never really caught on very well, and over the years we have done 4 trees with them in. For the folks whom buy them, we do our best to let them know what they may be instore for after they have them installed...........ie: prematurely worn stirrup leathers, and lessened degree of stirrup leather adjustment. But to be honest here I have to say that the folks who have them REALLY LOVE THEM, and we are a custom saddle shop with our own tree shop, we take pride in being a well rounded shop at that.

JEREMIAH FINALIZING THE TRIAL TREE WITH SADDLE DEE'S FOR STIRRUP BARS
-What I have shown you folks tonight is our own version of a new stirrup bar idea that we are doing a trial run with, based on our dislike of the original stirrup bars. Since we build a lot of saddle hardware, and amongst the items that we make is a wide flange stainless saddle dee...........we got looking at how we could cut it down and install it as a stirrup bar. And the more we thought a bout it, the better the idea sounded to us, since we would not have to make a new master/proto-type, but simply use an excisting product. As you can see, the saddle dee is inserted upside down with the upper most portion of the dee cut away. Within the web of each side of the dee, we drilled two holes for the 10/24 thread rod and Tee-nuts to fasten the dee to each side of the bar. This will leave us with a full round rod over which our leathers pass once everything is installed as it will be final.

-Our guess is that after it is all rawhided and dried, this will be much stronger and give a FEW more years of service to the saddle. I don't know, maybe you folks can see something that I am missing if so let me know. I will close here by telling all of you that I do not mention the time honored name of Hamleys with the any intention of ill-will but simply as a historical fact as to the origin of the stirrup bars as I know them.

Posted by Jeremiah Watt at 9:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Over the last several years, my wife Colleen and I as well as both our kids, Pine and Nevada have had the chance to travel overseas and take some time to look around, if I can take a moment here to encourage you to consider it as well then let me say it now.

Photo by: Jeremiah Watt
Title- A waiting carriage, Warsaw Poland

Continue reading "Seeking Inspiration" »

Posted by Jeremiah Watt at 12:39 AM | Permalink