Completed Ranch Saddle

It’s been slow going, but I’ve finally completed another western saddle.

This one was based off of a pattern by Shannon Granger-Peele of Riversong Saddlery. You can purchase the pattern from her Etsy shop here. (If you are brand-new to saddle making, I would highly recommend one of Rio Rondo’s western saddle kits and put that together first)

It was also loosely based off a cutting saddle I came across online. I liked the leather rosettes and saddle strings, and wanted to add them to my saddle.

The tooling was done with a miniature basketweave tool I purchased from ToolPaw on Etsy.

I chose to create the rough-out texture by using a emery board/nail file to gently sand the grain side of the leather. It dulled down the shine of the leather and gave it a soft, suede-like texture.
The pattern included a tooled piece to cover the shoulders, but that didn’t work out for me, so I opted for skiver instead. I think my leather was too thick.

The leather conchos/rosettes were made from both tooling and skiver leather. I carefully cut slots into the smaller, skiver piece, threaded the saddle strings through and attached them with bleed knots. (or is it blood knots?) This piece was glued on top of the larger pieces, which were anchored to the saddle with straight pins.
They were very delicate and tedious to make, but I really like how they look on the saddle. (also, I hope Rio Rondo considers making slotted conchos in the future!)

The saddle got a string cinch. This was another one of those “someday I’ll learn how to do this” projects, as I’ve had the “It’s a Cinch” booklet from Rio Rondo for many, many years now. It was easier than I thought it would be, and I love the end result.
I purchased a bead loom to build it on, and that helped a lot.

Here’s how it looks on a horse:

The rigging is different from previous saddles I’ve made:

I’m pleased with how it came together in the end!