Saddle Stand

for display and storage of a working western saddle

©2005 by Charles A. Plesums, Austin, Texas, USA

The Assignment

I was asked to build a stand for a saddle, to display the saddle in a home, or possibly in a steak-house restaurant. This was a working western saddle. Not a 7 pound racing saddle, nor merely a riding saddle with a decorative horn, but a heavy duty working saddle. With the rubber wrapped horn, so the roper can just spin the rope around the horn, and it will hold the calf without a knot. With the pocket for the fence pliers... it is unthinkable to not fix a broken fence when out riding.

There are lots of grandkids (and great grandkids) that might visit the home, and will undoubtedly sit on the saddle at some point. And if it is moved to the restaurant, there will undoubtedly, at some time or other, be wild cattle roaming that have to be roped by the nearest kid. Therefore this stand needs to be sturdy enough to not just hold a heavy saddle, but also a vigorous cowpoke.

Having me build a saddle stand is ironic... I only ride well broken horses. The last time I rode a (retired) working horse, I couldn't find the neutral gear...every time I tried to stop, the horse was sure I wanted to tighten the rope on the calf, so shifted into reverse. So as the least experienced cowboy in Texas, I had to do some research.

The Resuls

The final saddle stand was built from "rustic" walnut with lots of sap wood. We also considered pecan (up north, it would be hickory, but this is Texas) and oak. One of the requirements was that there be a place for the ranch's cattle brand on the front of the stand (a real brand - no longer used, but officially registered - not just artwork).

Underneath the saddle was a fairly straightforward structure, but it took over 11 board feet of hardwood. This structure is relatively lightweight but quite sturdy (I rode it - over 200 pounds of bucking cowboy - with no wobble). Other designs are available if desired.

Commercially available stands from the King Ranch Saddle Shop are very nice, but were rejected because of excess decoration (thus no room for the owner's brand).

A lighter pine stand was considered and rejected, because of the cowpokes that might ride it in the restaurant. The kind folks at "The Carpenter's Shop" in Pennsylvania who made and sold this line of equine products have stopped production (their son moved to a ranch in Texas), but gave me permission to use their picture.

Saddle stand like the one at the top $225

Construction Details

One reference on the internet suggested that the proper size was a 16 gallon barrel split in half (about 16 inches across) and mounted 30 inches high (Thanks, Steve Clardy, of Edwards MO). However, I don't have any spare 16 gallon barrels lying around.

The fact that stands are available for purchase, without sizes like shoes, suggest that a wide range of saddles that fit different horses would be able to use the same size saddle stand.

A reference book on saddles suggests a height of 36 inches above the floor, but shows an example 33 inches high. The book points out that stirrups cannot be allowed to touch the floor, or the fenders may be permanently bent. This one was 33 inches without the spine (see below)

That saddle reference book shows two examples, both 12 inches wide. Only one of their examples shows length, which was 27 inches (the supporting frame is 24 inches long).

The width of commercial stands ranges from 15 to 20 inches. The base on this stand is 13 inches, and the overall width is just over 15 inches.
The height above the floor ranges from 30 to 37 inches
The recommended length ranges from 27-29 inches. This one looked too long at 29 inches (I had the saddle to try on it) so I trimmed it to a little over 26 inches.

Shape: About half the examples have the saddle rest on two flat boards, at about a 30 degree angle from horizontal, with a gap between them (Two 8 inch boards at an angle, with a space between them, will approach the 16 inch width of the barrel, or the width of the commercial stands.) The other half of the examples have a semi-circle, like that half-barrel. Since saddles have two halves that straddle the horse's backbone, without rubbing on the backbone, it seems like the flat boards would be just fine - these were about 8 by 26 inches.

Backbone? The saddle stand started without a backbone. Fine for storage, but the saddle wasn't as stable as I would like, especially if it was ever mounted. Several pictures had a small board down the center. A little extra support under the horn made sense. And I saw a couple that had a hook at the back, like a tail, where the bridle could be hung. So this one also got a tail. Overall the flat part of the backbone was 1 1/2 inches high and 18 inches long. Then it sloped up an additional 3 inches over a 5 inch length, and the "head", about 4 1/2 inches high, was another 5 inches long. The tail added another four inches length.

Saddle Storage Trivia

If you do not have a saddle stand, the alternate methods of storage (according to the saddle reference book) are

Hung from a rope. Put a heavy rope with a loop on the end under the front of the saddle (gullet), under the fork, through the hole behind the horn, and place the loop around the horn.
If it must be placed on the ground, set it on the nose (with the horn touching the ground, seat up as if the rider had fallen on his face - see the picture at the right.
If neither of the above work, place it on it's side, rider seat down (in this position it seems almost upside down).

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