Black Wade Beauty - Made By Ted Estes

This BLACK BEAUTY is built on a Rick Reed bullhide covered tree. If you know saddle trees, then you know Rick’s are somewhat expensive ($550), but second to none. The seat is 16”, and has a 93 degree bar spread. The tree also has a Douglas 98 wade swell with a large duckbill horn.  Go rope whatever your heart desires on this one. I used Wickett & Craig number 1 skirting throughout. In addition, I put on some stainless steel half-covered monels by Trina Weber. The rig has a flat-plate rigging set in the 7/8ths position. I lowered the rigging “slightly” to give the rider even more contact with the horse than my usual. There’s beautiful floral carving on over ¼ of the rig to give the saddle some distinction. I use Jeremiah Watt (Horseshoe Brand) 5053 stainless steel “floral” hardware and conchos, which are as good as any out there. Of course, it’s lined with 1” think bark-tanned woolskin. Wickett and Craig leather, when drum-dyed like this, does have a slight “break-in” period. However, after a few hours of use it becomes very supple. All my saddles are made with Hamley twist-wraps around the fenders and stirrup leathers, which make all the difference on the rider’s knees and ankles. Other options include the Oregon cross-over rope strap, mule hide horn wrap, lined and stitched back billets and girth, pull collar dees on front, etc. Please look over my “non-paid” customer comments on my saddles, and purchase with confidence.  Finally, this rig only weighs about 35 lbs., not bad at all for a full buckaroo saddle!

I guarantee this saddle to be as comfortable and rugged as ANY saddle being made today. If you don’t think so, return it in the same condition for a full refund minus shipping.

$3500. Reduced!  $2700

More photos can be seen in my Photo Page.

All New Estes Saddlery Saddle

THIS IS MY PERSONAL RIDING SADDLE. IT IS FOR SALE. 

This saddle is built on a Bill Bean custom, handmade tree. The tree is a "Dean Oliver" roper swell fork, with a large, old-style Mexican horn.  I used number 1 grade Hermann Oak leather throughout. The tooling pattern is all my own, with a heavy Ray Holes (original) influence. No, it is NOT a typical sheridan -style, and was purposely intended not to be. Personally, I feel sheridan patterns are redundant, predictable, and boring. Nature is none of the above. Nature is very unpredictable, and anything but boring, so, I try to create a pattern with that in mind. It is a work-in-progress, without a plateau ever to reach. There's plenty of flow throughout the pattern, without knowing necessarily what's next. You be the judge. I used a 7/8ths flat plate rigging with Horseshoe Brand stainless steel hardware. As always, the thickest, bark-tanned woolskins are used for lining. Everything is tooled that can be, even the blevins covers. The rig has a 16 inch seat. My ground seats are my own creations, with ideas from Dale Harwood, Steve Mecum, and Bill Gomer. Yes, I use seat tins, and so do these other top makers. You can't "see" the difference in my ground seats, but a rider sure as heck can "feel" the difference. A very close contact is achieved, even with a plate rigging. This is one comfortable riding saddle, that's built to stand up to years and years of rugged service, just as all my rigs are. Most potential customers tend to think that the best buckaroo saddles are all made out west. As you can see, that's changing rapidly.

A steal at $4250 for the entire set (saddle, headstall and reins, and breastcollar)!

SOLD! 

More photos can be seen in my Photo Page.

This saddle is on a modified association 16” tree by master tree maker Rick Reed, who now resides in Montana. The number 1 heavy leather is Hermann Oak throughout. The more I use this leather, the more I personally prefer it to others. This saddle, as stated, is brand new, but already feels broken in. The FULL copper rose tooling is my own pattern/design- nothing taken from a magazine, with a beautiful dark brown antique finish. The saddle tree has 94 degree bars, with a slightly scooped out gullet, and will fit the majority of horses out there very well. Please don’t be taken in by this one-tree for one-horse mentality. You may notice that the woolskin is the “white” variety, as opposed to the golden skins I typically use to line my saddles. This was used just to break up the pace so-to-speak. It’s still a top quality bark-tanned woolskin. Solid brass hardware, including the lined Weber/Nettles monel stirrups. This saddle is a beauty, VERY comfortable, and you will not be disappointed. Just take a moment to see what people are saying about my saddles, including the professional horse trainer Bruce Slusher on my "Photo Gallery" page.

~ 16" Seat ~
~ This saddle is built for heavy work, but is only around 30lbs! You will not need to be a weightlifter to hoist it up on a horse!

~ SOLD!~

Please email or call if you like this one and want to reserve one for yourself!

Hamley & Company Saddle

Here’s one of the BEST finds out there today in terms of western saddlery. This is a genuine HAMLEY & COMPANY, full-floral carved western saddle. But it gets  better than that. This Hamley was made by the legendary saddle maker DUFF SEVERE while he was still with the company. Duff was a WWII hero who fought and survived at Pearl Harbor before embarking on his saddle making endeavors. Wait, it gets better still, if you can believe it. The original bill-of-sale and Hamley certificate come with the saddle providing full authenticity- no invalid claims here- none. The condition of this saddle is GREAT in all regards. It’s ready to use, or place in your living room- your choice. There are so many “extras” concerning this saddle it’s hard to mention them all. The seat is 15 ½” making all the more rare. It’s actually 16” if you measure from the base of the horn, but due to the slight forward pitch of the horn, I’ll be safe and call it a 15 ½”.  The comfort is amazing. EVERYTHING possible is full tooled even down to the rope strap, back girth and billets, cantle binding, original off-billet, and the flat-plate rigging set in the 3/4ths position- ALL ORIGINAL and in fantastic shape. I’ve owned/seen saddles by virtually all the true contemporary greats, and now that I’ve seen, studied, and ridden in this rig made by Duff Severe, I can see why Duff’s the only saddle maker to have his work recognized by the Smithsonian Institute. Duff is accredited by the Smithsonian, and rightfully so, for having turned saddle making from a craft into an art. The construction, tooling, and overall craftsmanship on this saddle are light years ahead of much of what is being called “custom-made” or “hand-made” today. That’s in part, I’m sure, because a saddle maker does not have to be licensed, certified, or anything like that in order to claim their work to be “custom”.  However, this Hamley is as tight of a built saddle as can possibly be made. The ONLY thing not original on the saddle is the front far saddle string. I replaced it with a Hermann Oak latigo string (dyed to match, by the way)  through the skirts because the original string was gone. If anybody out there knows of anything better I could have done, please contact me. Besides that, again, everything else is original and in great shape. Even the stirrup hobbles are original and in great shape. Somebody really took care of this one and didn’t use it much at all. The duckbill horn cap, carved, of course, is a whopping 5” across. It’s built on a Hamley roper tree. The bar spread would be very much comparable to a modern 93 degree bar spread. It fits the broader-backed horse great! Also, the stirrup leathers have the old lace-up style adjustments, still with the original adjustment strings. Luckily, the saddle has not been into the hands of some knuckle-head who might have placed Blevins on it, hurting the originality of this beautiful rig. Now, the leather is in great shape throughout. There is some minor, very minor, surface checking on the back billets and perhaps a small amount of surface checking on the fenders. NOTHING but cosmetic, and I’m only stating it so as to be fully honest. One other thing worth mentioning. One of the rivets atop the fender on the far side had come undone, requiring me to replace it and perform a VERY small stitch across the top. I inquired from several saddle makers as to the best method to handle this situation, and went with their advice. See the photo, the surgery was extremely minor to say the least, and in an area that’s typically never seen anyway.  But it does explain why I don’t skive the top of the back of the fender when I’m making a saddle. Again, this is only mentioned out of sheer honesty. The fleece is thick throughout on the skirts- great shape. This is a John Wayne type saddle in every sense. I don’t know why anybody would purchase that John Wayne “production” model out there for 9K when you could have this one for half that price. This saddle is an investment. The value will only go up from here.   If you purchase the saddle and don’t like it, I’ll refund the full price minus shipping. If you don’t buy it, GREAT! That’s means I keep it!

$4500

Hereford Tex-Tan Saddle

This saddle is a full floral carved Hereford Tex-Tan. The saddle is in excellent used condition with the following specifications: 6” gullet, 14” swells, 24 ½” skirts, 2 ½” cantle height, in-skirt 2-way rigging, and it has a 15” padded seat. The leather is in great condition, and as you can see, this one has very few miles on it. It will make you an excellent trail/pleasure or show saddle, as it actually has the show saddle package. Also, it’s a very light weight saddle, even with a bullhide wrapped tree.

Only around 28lbs! $650 asking price! A very nice Hereford!