Western saddle

They are the "cowboy" saddles familiar to movie viewers, rodeo fans, and those who have gone on trail rides at guest ranches.

This saddle was designed to provide security and comfort to the rider when spending long hours on a horse, traveling over rugged terrain.

This style of saddle allowed vaqueros to control cattle by use of a rope around the neck of the animal, tied or dallied (wrapped without a knot) around the horn.

For a beginning rider, the western saddle may give the impression of providing a more secure seat.

The modern western saddle begins with a "tree" that defines the shape of the bars, the seat, the swells, horn, and cantle.

A high-quality tree is at the heart of a good saddle, particularly those used for sports such as steer roping, where the equipment must withstand considerable force.

For decoration, metal conchos, lacing, and small plates, usually silver or a silver-like substitute, are added.

Some are general-purpose models while others emphasize either greater freedom for the horse or greater security for the rider, as may be necessary for specialized work in the various Western horse sports such as cutting, reining, barrel racing, team roping, equitation and western pleasure.

Factors such as width of the swells, height of the cantle, depth of the seat, placement of the stirrups and type of rigging all influence the uses of a given design.

The tree also influences the shape of the pommel and cantle on the seat on the saddle, though the seat can be altered to fit a rider by adding padding and other materials to a far greater degree than the fit of the saddle tree's bars on a horse.

The bars form the primary loading surface of the saddle as it site on the horse's back.

While leather is preferred for latigos, nylon web is sometimes used, particularly on cheaper saddles, though it is prone to slip when knotted and the holes may tear more easily.

This is the strongest attachment method, but a disadvantage is that it creates bulk under the legs and inhibits the free swing of the stirrups.

This type has leather layers that are riveted around a metal plate and attached directly to the tree of the saddle.

The advantage of having an in-skirt rigging is that it provides the least amount of bulk under the leg compared to the other styles of attachment.

A "built-on" rigging attaches the plate to the surface of the skirt, a weak placement of low quality.

[2] Historic saddles of the 19th century had rigging rings made of forged iron round stock, which would rust if it was exposed to the horse's sweat.

The iron oxide would degrade and rot the leather that it came in contact with, which caused the rigging straps that were held by the rings to break.

In order to correct this problem, saddle makers covered the metal rings in 4-5 ounces of medium thickness belly leather.

Goodnight developed this sidesaddle because there was a need to produce a woman's saddle for daily riding and work on the range.