The western saddle of today evolved from the Spanish vaquero's saddle used in Mexico. Saddles from the early 19th century in the southwest United States are often referred to as Spanish and strongly resemble today's western saddles.
Instructions
Determine the correct tree for your saddle, based on the withers and back of the horse. The tree is the foundation of the saddle, so named because the tree is most commonly made of wood. Quarter Horse Bar or Semi-Quarter Horse Bar are the most common. Quarter Horse Bars are designed to fit narrower western horses. Semi-Quarter Horse Bars have a wider angle than Quarter Horse Bars and fit most of today's western horses. Full Quarter Horse Bars are even wider to fit Arabian stock or wider-bodied horses. Halflinger and Draft Horse Bars are considered specialty bars for those particular breeds. The type of tree and bars will help determine the pommel style: rounded, wide or Frank Bell.
Decide on the proper gullet width. The gullet is the part of the saddle that fits over the horse's withers. If the saddle is too narrow or too wide, it will not sit properly.
Select a color for your saddle. The most common are black, brown, dark chocolate, chestnut, natural and roughout.
Choose between a contoured, square or rounded square skirt shape.
Decide whether to have a smooth leather seat, suede leather seat or sheepskin seat for your saddle.
Pick a seat color to complement the color of your saddle.
Determine the style of seat you will need: half-seat, patch, plain, slick, regular, stitchdown, plush or rumble seat. Also decide whether or not to use padding in your seat.
Select a cantle design: Cheyenne Roll, Extended Cheyenne Roll, rawhide, binding or straight.
Make your choice of pleasure/trail, barrel, high dally post, modified pelican, old style high dally or cutting saddle horn. Decide if you'd like a leather, rubber or rawhide horn wrap.
Select fender length based on the length of the rider's leg. Standard lengths are 27 1/2 to 32 1/2 inches. Also decide if regular or wide width fenders are needed.
Determine the yoke rigging to use: 3/4 dropped yoke, adjustable yoke, full dropped yoke or 7/8 dropped yoke.
Choose your tooling design. The most popular designs are basket weave, geometric, floral, Fleur de lis, barbed wire and Southwest.
Finalize your design by deciding on extra features you want to include, such as underlays, conchos, stirrups, stirrup straps, billets, D rings, latigo strings, tapaderos, saddle bags, water bottle holders or knife pockets.
Additional Tack
Select a headstall style for your bridle. There are four common types: one-ear, two-ear, browband and bosal hanger. The one-ear and two-ear headstalls are the most commonly seen in the western show ring today. Decide if you'd like to have the same tool pattern on your bridle as on your saddle. Be sure to get proper head measurements while designing your bridle.
Choose matching reins for your bridle. There are three types of western reins: split (used with snaffle and curb bits), romel (used with curb bits) and mecate (used with a bosal). Split reins are the most common, but all leather reins can be tooled to match the saddle and bridle.
Select a bit for your bridle. Most horses in western classes are shown with either a curb bit or a snaffle bit. The proper bit should be selected based on your horse's mouth size and training needs.
Choose the curb strap for your bridle. Curb straps are normally made of all leather, but can be a combination of leather and chain or simply chain. If using leather or a combination, the leather can also be tooled to match your saddle and bridle.