((PKG)) SADDLE MAKER
((Banner: Back in the Saddle))
((Reporter/Camera: Philip Alexiou))
((Adapted by: Zdenko Novacki))
((Map: Jackson Hole, Wyoming))
((Keith Valley, Keith Valley Saddlery))
After my father died in 1971, my uncle, who spent all his childhood in Wolf Point, Montana, introduced me to the work of Charlie Russell. He had this book and he gave it to me, but this is the old, one of the earlier books of Charlie Russell and you can see it’s pretty wore out. I really wore it out as a kid.
((Keith Valley, Keith Valley Saddlery))
And just the western art kept my interest in the cowboy life.
Back in like 1994, when I made my first saddle, and I was working horses and had ordered a saddle from a gentleman. It was just in my mind. It was just taking him too long. So, I just made the deal with him that if he gives me the supplies, we’d call it good and then I would build it myself. So, that’s how I got started.
((NATS))
It’s estimated that there’s around 84 pieces of leather to create a complete saddle. The majority of my business is anywhere from California to Florida. It’s amazing to see how some marketing that you think is going to work really well, not worth anything. And then like Facebook comes along and you are like ah, that can’t work and it’s phenomenal. Some of the saddle makers were so secretive of their trade, that when they knew someone was coming into their shop, before anybody could come in, they would throw a cover over their project, so nothing could be seen of what they were doing.
This particular style, you can see the shape of the seat looks like a shovel. So that’s what they call a shovel back and it’s high. This style is a little more traditional. It’s quite a bit wider. We’ll start with a handmade tree, a wood base, and then rawhide finished. One of the goals I have in putting a seat in a saddle is to cradle the pin bones and help support the center of the rider. The true horseman wants to feel as much as he can of the horse to where they know where every foot is hitting. And they want to have control of the feet and in controlling the feet, the center of gravity is very important for the rider, so they can cue with their knees or their legs in the most subtle ways to control those feet in motion. This comes in pretty handy when you are riding green horses and you need to have a handle behind your seat. That’ll hold you in position pretty nice. So, this is number 62 for me. I will have to say most of the owners of the saddles I have built, they’ve turned into really good friends. They really appreciate the work.
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