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New Saddles Saddles are made completly by hand using traditional techniques using either wooden/rawhide or ralide trees - the foundation of any saddle is the tree - this is what provides the comfort for both horse and rider We provide two ranges of new saddles - CUSTOM and BESPOKE - the primary difference between the two is the specification and design of the all important tree For CUSTOM saddles we will select the most suitable tree from the manufacturers range which best fits the horse and rider - this "fit" will be determined from vital statistics from both horse and rider along with photographs of the horse The tree will be a RALIDE which is a very durable single piece unit moulded from an advanced polyethyle material With RALIDE trees one has to accept the limitations of the manufacturers design, sizes etc but this type of tree is more than adequate for the casual rider and significantly cheaper than the rawhide covered wooden tree used in our bespoke saddles Examples of Ralide Trees With our BESPOKE saddles we use a RAWHIDE tree - the foundation of the saddle remains the tree but we take much more time and effort in specifying and fitting the tree than with our custom saddles The component parts of a Rawhide tree and a finished tree BESPOKE RAWHIDE saddle trees are manufactured specifically for the horse and rider - Celtic Western Saddles will visit the customer and take measurements of both horse and rider along with templates from the horse to ensure the tree fits like a "glove" - by using RAWHIDE covered wooden trees each of the individual components will be made to specification - another visit will also be arranged once the tree has been manufactured for a final "fitting" session The process of procuring and fitting a bespoke tree can take up to three months as the measurements are sent to a specialist tree manufacturer Once the "foundation" for the saddle has been established then our CUSTOM and BESPOKE saddles are manufactured using only the highest quality leather and the best of hardware which will be hand made to provide durability, safety and a saddle which will be the envy of others The customer has an almost infinite choice with our CUSTOM and BESPOKE saddles - virtually any component part of the saddle can be made and crafted to the customers specification. Detailed saddle specification sheets are drawn up before any work starts on making the saddle The "Saddle Components" section of the web site shows a typical western saddle and any of these twenty three parts of the saddle can be made to the size, shape, style, colour etc of the customers choice ranging from the plain to ornate as shown in the examples below For both CUSTOM and BESPOKE saddles the choice ranges from pure plain leather to the intensely ornate As stated above the choices for the customer are virtually infinite but we list below some of the many options available : skirt patterns - medium, round, square rigging patterns - full double, 3/4 double, 3/4, in skirt fender pattern - wide or narrow stirrup pattern - visalia, roper, leather bound hand tooling design - classic western, celtic, initials, own design, logo etc hand stitching style - plain, coloured, recessed, buckstitch seat pattern - plain, padded colour - of your choice Additionally tooling designs can be extended to figure or pictorial carvings on skirts, swells, fenders etc of any picture or image you select to make your saddle unique Purchasing a new saddle should not be taken lightly and Celtic Western Saddles welcome enquiries from potential customer s at the earliest stage in the decision making process - just give us a call and have a chat - we are delighted to help