Tag: plantation

Thank you Fred & Eric

I realized today that I take my Steele Saddle comfort & safety for granted and I shouldn’t.  I shared my story with other riders on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/HorseTrailsAcrossAmerica) and even though I called to thank you today.  I felt that I should share it on the website.

I started with an Aussie saddle from China that was great 20+ years ago then went to buy a new one from Australia as I liked it so well but it made my horse walk on her tip toes, a different fit and not well worn like the one I had.  That is when I got my first Steele Trail Saddle 17+ years ago.  I found a leather worker in Hopkinsville Kentucky who used their trees for his saddles back when there were a few of the trees out there via their other division.  I knew what I needed based on how I liked the Australian saddle safety features and had him build one for me. The actual Platinum model is made after my original saddle design and is new to the trail series line. I told them they needed to add the girlie tooling, sewn leather seat, large Plantation Saddle based fenders, and a short horn – just enough to hang my horn bags off of but not enough to catch the front of my shirt when I am riding up an aggressive hill. Saved my butt literally when we had our trail emergency.  One of our riders was thrown in a creek bed in Little Lusk – Shawnee National Forrest 5/24/14 knocked unconscious and had to be life flighted out.  We did not realize that in the Wilderness Areas they do not evacuate you via motorized vehicles and were waiting at the campground for us to make it out.  I came out of the woods ponying her horse at a dead run on my walking horse to get our truck as the helicopter was still a mile away and did not know we had come out of the woods into the fields behind Little Lusk.  We waited more than 5 hours for rescue then had to get her up and take the chance of further injury to walk her out.  shawnee

A rabbit jumped out and my mare is solid but jumped 3 feet to the left, I thought it was a hiccup in my stride and didn’t really notice the difference. Stayed in the pocket the whole time.  My husband made me aware of how aggressive the jump was.  Called Eric & Fred today to thank them. I do their website and marketing and take their saddles for granted as I am used to riding them. It is when you really think about what comfort and safety you have that you realize they make phenomenal saddles and are grateful for it. Really grateful. You’ll love the Platinum.

Western Plantation for J. Cousins

This is a new western plantation Steel trail saddle  without a horn we built for J. Cousins out of Dardanelle AR this month.  It features our chocolate leather with black leather seat and extra rings – strings.

1,000 thanks to Steele Saddle,

Here’s some excitement coming up. Fred and Eric so kindly agreed to make a plantation saddle adapted to my special riding needs – I’m a para equestrian, and literally ride by the seat of my pants – i.e. very little leg use, means I’ve developed a truck and seat that use a lot of ti chi kinda balance.
That can be so enhanced by the deep seat and contour of the cantle and by some cool additions to my pommel on the plantation model – it will have metal hand grabs on either side, because however great of a horse, and balanced of a seat I might have, there’s always the unexpected ! LOL – and on steep or rough terrain, knowing I have sturdy grips at 3 O’Clock and 9 O’Clock on the pommel means I can push my butt firmly in the seat and go into wilderness, I couldn’t other wise see.
Fred’s even making the skirts after the beautiful shapes of Ladies’s astride saddles of days gone by. Can’t wait to have it and pictures are forthcoming. The design is something that might appeal to able bodied (but middle aged) endurance riders who want to ensure their seat on rugged stretches – or one of these para saddles would be a fabulous gift to any therapeutic riding programs you support.
1000 thanks to the Steele Saddle for making this happen for me. It means the world ! Kathy

 

New Platinum Trail Saddle

Special Edition Platinum Trail Saddle “with no” Horn Saddle by Steele with our new front without a horn for those trail riders who prefer a clean bold look.  This saddle is customized with a sewn seat, hand tooled leather seats and fenders, and beautiful western conchos and includes extra rings and strings “plus” our Steele Saddle Lightweight Cedar Tree which reduces your saddle weight to 17-23 pounds.  This custom saddle is available in several colors and is beautiful with two options for hand tooling:  Western Longhorn and Ladies Floral Model.  We offer this Platinum Plantation Saddle with no horn:  ORDER ONE NOW

Steele Trail Saddles come with a 100% unconditional lifetime warranty on our tree including our lightweight cedar tree which reduces the saddle to 17-23 pounds in weight.