Saddles

Much as with building anything…a house…fine furniture…a GREAT horse…the most important work is what we don’t see…THE FOUNDATION!!!!!

The same is true for a custom saddle…the tree and the ground seat are the FOUNDATION for a GREAT custom saddle.

We build all of our saddles on trees from The Steele Saddle Tree Company. We encourage you to take a look at their website. Steele has been in business since 1858 and is into its fifth generation of saddle tree builders. They make a wide variety of saddle trees and I am sure we can meet your needs with this wide selection. Like Three Hearts builds saddles though, they build trees to order, so once we make a decision on design the tree will require some time, two to four weeks, to make. In our opinion it is worth the wait. In addition to exclusively utilizing Steele Saddle trees we also use their “Fit to Be Seen” fit system. This system allows us to ship you a saddle tree bar form (with a small deposit) and instructions and with a couple of photos from you and about a half hour of your time we can fit any horse successfully with a custom tree.

In addition to the tree the most important part is the work that is put into the ground seat. Our ground seats are each made from at least four separate pieces of saddle shirting that are laid and hand sculpted to form the perfect platform upon which to form the actual seat for your saddle. Most “production” saddles have “padded” seats. The reason for the use of padded seats is that there is no ground seat. The padding covers the “sheet metal” strainer. Look at the “working cowboys”, who spend all day in their saddles for days and weeks at the time and you will find that the majority ride custom “hard seat” saddles, which all have a hand laid “ground seat”. A good “foundation” no matter the product, means quality and durability.

Having said all that the “basic” saddle from Three Hearts Saddlery, includes:

    • Steele Saddle Tree Company Basic Tree (Fiberglass covered or Flex Fit)
    • Rough or Smooth Out Grade A leather from US Hides (Either Hermann Oak, Wickett and Craig, or Siegel of California)
    • Hand Laid Ground Seat
    • Border Stamping
    • Flat Plate Rigging
    • Oregon Twisted Stirrups
    • Leather Plate Covered Metal Bound Wood Stirrups with Border stamping
    • Stainless or Brass Rigging
    • 8 Saddle Strings
    • Hand Tooled Leather Rosettes
    • All Stainless Steel Nails and Screws
    • Standard Cantle Binding

All of the above features are available in our “Basic” Saddle for the base price of $2,150.00 plus shipping and any applicable taxes. We will require a 50% deposit before ordering materials and completion of our contract. Once materials are ordered the cost of materials is NONREFUNDABLE.  

The “art” of saddle making has been with us for centuries, in so very many forms. I am not sure if there are any “new” ideas in this necessary item of gear for the relationship between horse and man. There are only the “interpretations” of the individual saddle maker. The saddles shown on this page are representative of the interpretations of the “art” of saddle making as we have created them here at Three Hearts Saddlery.

Some items of note…we like contrasts…contrasting textures, colors and materials, all designed to bring out the “natural” beauty of the leather. We like natural leather…the scars, grains and character of the hides bring an extra element, making each saddle we handcraft unique and individual.

Please understand when we build a custom saddle for you it will be your interpretation and taste that directs us in the building process…so expect, there to be a “process” as we mentioned earlier…and we hope that when you receive your saddle it is as you dreamed it would be, but that you also have gained some new friends here at Three Hearts Saddlery.

Here are a few of the saddles we have handcrafted, to give you a “starting point”: 

Basic
This saddle is representative of the “Basic" saddle here at Three Hearts. It is built on a rawhide covered Wade Style tree of top quality Domestic Leather. It has deluxe border tooling in what we call a “Flaming Pyramid” pattern with hand tooled leather conchos.

 

Deluxe
This saddle is more representative of our “Deluxe” saddle. It is built on a rawhide covered Wade style tree in the half breed style of top quality Domestic Leather. As you can see it is a very striking two tone design utilizing drum dyed black rough out in contrast with the natural oiled smooth out tooled accent leather. This saddle has exposed tooled stirrup leathers with stirrup overlays to match. It is decorated with all polished stainless steel nails and conchos to include an inlaid concho in the horn cap.

 

Happy Medium
The saddle is more of a “happy medium” between the first and second saddles. Built on a “Steele Saddletree Company” wade wood post style tree, in a half breed style of top quality Domestic Leather. It is adorned with all stainless steel hardware. The use of the contrasting rough and smooth out makes for a truly beautiful saddle that is also very durable and comfortable.

 
A Fork
The saddle is built on a rawhide covered “A Fork” style tree of lighter top quality Domestic Leather. This is a “ladies style” saddle and in its design we were striving for weight reduction. All of our saddles can be “slightly on the heavy side” as all quality custom western saddle tend to be. Although designed to be “light” we do not compromise our quality standards, quality domestic hides, flat plate rigging and all stainless hardware, as with all of our saddles.

 
Bowman Roper

This saddle is built on a Bowman roper style tree from top quality Domestic Leather. There is extensive ornamentation on this saddle to include stainless nails and hardware. Contrasting latigo trim and strings are used to accentuate the beauty of the oiled natural leather.