Ugly Photo of the Month

OK, so we're a little behind of Ugly Photo of the Month. We didn't want to gross you out with the sheer volume of grainy, sub-par photos that are out there. This month's nominee goes to a Billy Cook. Now Billy Cook saddles pretty much set the bar for saddle making. They're as top quality as you can get, drooled over by horse owners round the world, imitated by saddlemakers everywhere. Billy Cook makes saddles and they sell themselves, simple as that. But when you're shopping online, you want the best photographs possible, right? Unfortunately, Billy Cook's catalogs usually have a pretty low resolution; his product pictures don't do his products justice. But, as you can guess, many saddle shops don't go the extra mile. They just cut and paste pictures from the catalog. Here's the picture from the catalog of the 10-1777 Trail Saddle, which many shops online are using: Hmmm....Here's our photo: Which saddle would you rather buy? Which shop would you buy it from: the cut-and-pasters, or the get-professional-photo-shoots-so-the-products-look-real---ers? When you order a saddle from us, you're actually getting what you see online. How comforting. Lest we pat ourselves on the backs too much, we'll note that sometimes we too are guilty of cutting and pasting in our giddy excitement to get new products up. But then those products are first in line to get a photo shoot.

Big Horn Saddles are still being made!

I can’t tell you how many times customers have called us and said that they heard Big Horn saddles are no longer being made (it happened twice while I was writing this blog!). Well I’m here to tell you that this just is not true. We have known all along that they were being made, but recently we were privileged to visit Big Horn and see the production happening with our own eyes, hear the sound of the cutters cutting leather, smell the hides in air, and feel some of those saddles that so many people are looking for.

Some of the rumors about Big Horn come from the fact that in November of 2008, Big Horn was purchased by American Saddlery, another saddle manufacturer just down the street from Big Horn. American brought over some of Big Horn’s best people to ensure that the quality continued in the Big Horn products. During the transition of moving operations into the American Saddlery facility, there was of course some slowing of production. There are still sometimes delays in getting saddles, but during our visit, we saw enough saddles in production and inventory to make any saddle-seeker smile.

The people at Big Horn were very welcoming and several of them took Chuck and I (Charlie) on a very thorough plant tour. In addition to the many Big Horn saddles that have been around for years, Jack Hughes (president/owner) & Mike Stocker (previous owner of Big Horn) were excited to show us the relatively new Sil-Cush line of saddles. These saddles are built on a Steele Equi-Fit Flex tree. We got a hands-on demonstration of the raw tree showing just how it flexes. Big Horn lines the tree bars with Sil-Cush breathable silicon foam which molds to the horse’s shape as the back and shoulder muscles move. And the Memory Foam Extra Soft Seat just makes you want to stay in the saddle.

The Big Horn team with Chuck

Jack, George, Mike, Bonnie, Andy and Chuck


Chuck checks out a Big Horn Endurance saddle
















Thanks to everyone at Big Horn for making our visit informative and enjoyable!

Here’s a true story...
A customer recently called us and said she is still trying to get her money back from a particular online store that will remain nameless (I just wonder why someone would purchase from someone that has to put "Honest" in their name). She had bought and paid for a Big Horn saddle over 6 weeks ago via Paypal, but still didn’t have her saddle. She wanted to cancel her order and get the saddle from us since we had it in stock, but she was told that once you get past 6 weeks, you can't get your money back. She went ahead and purchased the saddle from us. We only hope she was able to get her money back.


So what’s the bottom line with Big Horn?
1. Big Horn is still making quality saddles.
2. Deliveries dates aren't always what Big Horn plans but you WILL get your quality saddle.
3. Buy from HorseSaddleShop.com where we keep LOTS of Big Horn saddles in stock so we can ship when you order.

HorseSaddleShop.com Visits Dakota

HorseSaddleShop.com Visits Dakota

Jamie, Ben and Chuck

We (Chuck Klockow, owner and Charlie Hueni, customer service) recently had the privilege of visiting several of the manufacturers who make the great saddles we sell. After a full day of driving south, our first stop bright and early was Dakota Saddlery in Ider, AL. Upon entering the building, one thing stands out – low inventory. There were only a few finished saddles waiting to be shipped! But don’t worry, nothing’s broken at Dakota. In fact, it’s all going as planned by owner Ben Inman and Jamie Millard who work along with their wives Diane and Denise (sisters). You see, Dakota doesn’t build a saddle until they have an order for it, which allows them to save on inventory costs and sell their saddles at extremely reasonable prices. Ben told us that another saddle manufacturer recommended that he increase his prices, but Ben assured him that he is very content with the way things are going.
There are lots of reasons we like Dakota. Two of them are quality and service. Ben and Jamie showed us around the shop where we had the opportunity to see saddles in all stages of production. It was a thrill to see the hand craftsmanship that was going on by the skilled work force at Dakota. We also looked over their raw materials which include US hides and high quality synthetic fleece. Because of their quality, we stock a large number of Dakota saddles. We want to have them available so that when we get an order, we can ship it the same day. Our customers love that! Dakota also has great service. If there’s something you want customized about your saddle, they are happy to do it. And while some manufacturers charge a “penalty” for making a change, Dakota’s prices for customization are very low. In fact, they don’t charge anything for some changes including choosing the color of your saddle and seat. So you have a great opportunity to get a customized saddle at a very affordable price.
We have enjoyed a great relationship with Dakota which includes working together on custom saddle designs sold only by HorseSaddleShop.com – like the very popular Flex Trail Saddle model 2212. Spending time with the people at Dakota made me realize why they have such great quality and service. It’s because that’s the kind of people they are, and it just comes through in the product. Unfortunately, due to our tight schedule, we were forced to decline Ben’s generous invitations to take us out for some southern cooking. We'll be sure to save time for that in schedure for our next visit!

Diane and Denise take a quick break for a picture

Ron Gore cutting a piece for a cantle

Denise gives us a demonstration of hand tooling.

We're still amazed at her speed. (RIP Mr. Chunn)

Crates visits Horse Saddle Shop

Horse Saddle Shop was privileged recently to welcome Dan and Elise Crates from the Crates Leather Company in Chattanooga, TN. We enjoyed several hours of good ole shootin the breeze and covered topics from family to the history of saddles. It’s great to listen to Dan talk about his to commitment to quality because we consistently see it backed up in the products he puts out. Mr. Crates knows there are a lot of ways you can cut cost on a saddle, but he repeatedly emphasized that a few bucks of savings isn’t worth the price of lower quality. We were also privileged to see a prototype of a new Crates saddle soon to be unveiled and honored to give our input. That’s all we can say for now, but stay tuned because we’re excited about this upcoming event. Above are a couple pictures of Dan (left) and Dale (right) looking over the extensive inventory at Horse Saddle Shop and reviewing a Crates saddle. What a wealth of knowledge is represented in these pictures!

Cincinatti chooses Tucker Equitation Endurance saddles

While taking an overnight trip to Cincinatti with my family, we were able to catch a Cincinatti Reds baseball game. We’re actually Cubs fans but we always enjoy going to a major league game and seeing a park we haven’t seen before - the Great American Ballpark certainly lives up to its name. After the game while walking the streets to get to our van, it was my pleasure to meet three of Cincinatti’s mounted police. The department recently purchased sixteen Tucker Equitation Endurance saddles, and they are were very pleased with them. It was their first saddle purchase in eighteen years and based on the quality of Tucker saddles, I’m sure they will be enjoying these saddles for many years to come. Congratulations to Cincinatti for choosing a great saddle. If you know any mounted police, please put in a good word for HorseSaddleShop.com!

We also visited the Creation Museum just southwest of Cincinatti. What a great monument to our all-wise and all-powerful God who has so generously created this beautiful world for us to enjoy Him in. It was very impressive, and so refreshing to see the truth of creation on display in a museum. I would recommend it anyone.

Introducing...HorseSaddleShop VIDEOS!

We're pleased to be able to bring you in depth saddle reviews by our experts down at the shop. Hopefully our video library will rapidly expand in the coming months. For our first series, we chose to review our top ten bestselling saddles---the models that hardly stay in the shop. Check out our first video here, where Charlie reviews the Billy Cook Arbuckle Wade Ranch saddle:

Make Your Own Fly Trap: Death to the Pests!

I, Stephanie, have a personal vendetta against flies. I can't stand the way they sound. I can't stand the way they look---all hairy and buggish. I can't stand the way they relentlessly bother our equine friends. Which is why I'm delighted to bring you a cheap, quick death trap for these abominable pests. Hang a few in your barn and your fly population will swiftly decrease. Now if you have a tender heart toward insects, there are fly traps you can make where the flies are humanely trapped, not killed. Then I suppose you'd drive them to the nearest state park and set them free to frollick among the lilies. Me, I'm all for disposing of as many as possible.

To make your own fly trap, all you'll need is the following:

Empty 2 liter bottle, heavy scissors or knife, duct tape, 24inch long piece of twine or rope

For the bait: Dish soap, water (I used freshly filtered. See? I'm providing the best for their last moments upon the earth. Now excuse me while I pat myself on the back.) You'll also need vinegar, sugar, and a banana. Mine came out of the freezer. What? Doesn't everyone have half a dozen black bananas in their freezer? You can also just use a chunk of raw meat, but....ew.

To begin, take the label off your bottle and using scissors or a knife, cut the top of the bottle right were the top of the lable was.

Now stir in 1/2--1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup vinegar, a couple drops of dish soap, one banana peel (you can throw the fruit in if you're feeling generous. Me? I'm making banana bread.) Add two cups of warm water and give it a good stir.

Take the top of the bottle that you cut off, place it spout down over the bait, line up the edges, and duct tape the layers together. Use your scissors to poke two holes on opposite sides of the bottle, then take your twine and tie knots to secure. Your finished trap should look like this:


Hang your traps in the barn and dispose of them when you deem them full. Your horses will thank you. And until flies are on the endangered species list and I develop a conscience about killing them, I will too.
Anyone have more tips on fly control?