How to Fix a Western Saddle

Western saddles are expensive investments and can cost anywhere between several hundred dollars and several thousand dollars. When your western saddle begins to break or show wear, you may want to repair it rather than replace it. Some repairs can be made fairly easily and inexpensively, while others are impractical enough to make it more worthwhile to purchase a different saddle. Fixing western saddles involves a significant amount of experience working with leather. If you are not experienced working with leather, you may need to take the saddle to a professional leather repair shop.

Things You'll Need

  • Saddle stand
  • Saddle cleaner
  • Saddle conditioner
  • Saddle repair kit
  • Replacement parts
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Instructions

    • 1

      Clean the saddle thoroughly with leather cleaner and then condition it with leather conditioner. Place it on a saddle rack for examination.

    • 2

      Locate the damaged area of the saddle. Look for stitching problems, dry rot, loose buckles, screws and tears in the leather. Areas most prone to problems include the stirrup leathers, dee rings, pommel, horn and seat.

    • 3

      Make minor repairs. Tighten or replace loose screws, old latigo and worn or rusty buckles. Conchos can also be repaired or reattached fairly easily with a saddle repair kit.

    • 4

      Replace old stirrup leathers by removing fenders from current leathers, pulling leathers off the saddle, putting new leathers on the saddle and attaching the fenders to new leathers. New stirrups can simply be slipped onto the bottom of the leathers.

    • 5

      Take the saddle to a saddle repair shop for major repairs, because they often require specialized and expensive equipment to perform properly. Loose or torn stitching needs to be sewn back together and dry-rotted pieces of leather will need to be completely removed and replaced in order to keep the saddle safely usable.