Western Trail Rider

08/16/2024

Finally got back to doing a little leather work. I am just about finished with a pair of pommel bags for my good friend Derek Habel. My new mechanical stitcher saved me a lot of time and effort. Although I enjoy hand stitching, it’s tedious and time consuming.

06/30/2024

Ha! I finally pulled the trigger on a Tipmann Boss manual leather stitcher! I have been wanting one for about 12 years now and I finally got one. While I actually enjoy hand stitching and find it rather relaxing, this gadget will cut my stitching time on a pair of saddle skirts down from about 8 hours to about 15 minutes! I will be able to use it for stitching saddle skirts, rifle scabbards, handgun holsters, pommel bags, knife sheaths, chaps and chinks, and a host of other things. It should allow me to complete more projects in a much shorter time frame. I have had to turn away a number of requests, simply because I didn't have the time or energy to get the stitching done. This stitcher should help immensely. It's not the thing a professional leather shop would have, but for a hobbiest/amateur like myself, it's going to be a real game changer!

I will mount it on a 11X14 board, which I will clamp to my work bench when in use and then store it in an out of the way corner on my cabinet top the rest of the time. Just the thing I need for my cramped workshop.

I'm pretty excited to get it set up and stitching!

06/30/2024

My daughter Amy and I took a very pleasant ride on Friday up in Diamond Fork Canyon, above Spanish Fork, Utah. It's always pleasant for me to take my kids and grandkids out for a ride. I have two trustworthy and capable horses and I can trust them with my loved ones and friends even in the most difficult terrain and sketchiest of trails. Amy and I enjoyed our ride.

We rode 9.1 miles up a trail of which I don't know the name. The trailhead is located north of the Monk Hollow parking lot, across Diamond Fork road. It is foot or horse traffic only, as currently the gate is locked and off-road vehicles are prohibited. Nice ride.

05/13/2024

So, now I'm back to working on my pony saddle, which I started and set aside several years ago. The tree is from the saddle I learned to ride on over 55 years ago. I started it for my grandkids, but they might be too big to ride it by the time I'm done!

05/05/2024

I just uploaded my blog post on the saddle I just completed....then sold. It's a long, detailed one, so grab a DP and take a look.

Somewhere around 15 years ago, I decided I would like to learn to make saddles. I began to acquire tools of the trade and bought a number of books on the subject, including the full three-volume set, The Stohlman Encylopedia of Saddle Making, which I have found to be a wonderful resource. I started....

05/02/2024

Well, that was quick!

I sold my saddle today. A lucky young man will receive it as a birthday gift from his dad for his 16th birthday! His horse is a little broader in the shoulders and has less prominent withers. The saddle fits her well.

Happy birthday Parley!

So, I guess I'll be ordering a tree and some leather to make a saddle for myself...with my horse in mind this time.

04/30/2024

Well, some good news and some bad news.

I made the necessary adjustments to my saddle today and am very pleased with it. I went out to give it a try on my horse. It doesn't fit my horse. Dangit!

There's not enough clearance between Chief's withers and the gullet. Everything else fits well, just not enough gullet height. Chief is pretty narrow in the shoulders and Trooper is even narrower, so I need a saddle with a couple more inches of gullet height and/or a little narrower between the saddle bars. It sits a little low on his withers, which makes it sit a little high in the back. Oh well. I knew that was a possibility, since this saddle was originally intended for a different horse.

The saddle sits well and feels good. It weighs in at 32 lbs (without cinch), which is close to 10 pounds less than my Utahn stock saddle and somewhat less than my Hamley ranch saddle. I was quite pleased with that, as I was aiming for a light, but heavy-duty saddle. I think I hit that mark pretty well.

So, with all that said, I will advertise the saddle for sale. If any of you are interested, let me know. It will go up on KSL Classifieds this weekend.

To restate the details, this is a saddle of my own design and make, patterned after stock saddles of around the 1880s. It is a half-seat with Sam Stagg rigging set at the 7/8 position, rigged for a rear cinch, round skirts. Leather covered cinch rings, brass conchos, latigo saddle strings, D-rings for breast strap attachment, a D-ring behind the cantle for crupper attachment, D-rings on each side to hang a rifle scabbard, 2" brass rings on the front conchos for gear attachment or to carry an axe. Leather is #1 Herman Oak, oak tanned leather. The tree is a 16" Timberline Wade, made by Timberline Saddle Trees, Vernal, Utah (it is their trademark saddle tree), with a 4" wood post horn and 5" cantle. The cantle has a 2" relief around the top of the cantle, so it doesn't hit you in the back as you canter along. The seat length measures 17" to the top of the cantle binding, but sits like a 16", due to the relief I mentioned. Real wool fleece on the hand-stitched skirts. The stirrups are rawhide covered wood stirrups.

04/28/2024

Well, I have put in some hours on my saddle this weekend. I still have a couple small adjustments to make before I can try it out, but it's pretty much finished.

It is my own design, borrowing from the stock saddles of the late 1800s, with the Sam Stagg rigging and the half-seat, but the tree is a more modern style Timberline Wade, made by Timberline Saddle Trees, Vernal, Utah. It has a 16" seat length, a 5" cantle height, and a 4" wood post horn. I had them make it with bars for a gaited horse. I actually started the saddle for a friend of mine, but it turned out to be too small for him, so it's mine now. I'm looking forward to breaking it in next week.

I added a few accessories for my own convenience and taste. I installed 1" D-rings for attaching a breast strap, which can be seen just showing from under the front jockies, as well as two more (one on each side) showing just behind the rear cinch rings under the rear jockies, which is useful for hanging a rifle scabbard. I also added the 2" brass rings to the front conchos, which I often use for carrying an axe or hanging other gear from on my pack trips. I made my own saddle strings and leather conchos. The skirts and cantle binding are hand-stitched.

I'm going to have to make an adjustment to the front rigging, as it partially covers the front concho with the brass ring. Also, the position of the front cinch ring interferes with the movement of the stirrups. I think can move the front jockeys from under the rigging to over the rigging. That should free up the front concho rings and the stirrup movement at the same time. We'll see. I'll get to that on Monday.

Meanwhile, I sure like the way it looks. I was going to apply another coat of dark brown stain to the stirrup leathers to bring them closer to the color of the rest of the saddle, but I began to like the color variation more and more. I finally decided to leave it as is.

I have done quite a few saddle repairs and completely renovated a couple saddles, but this is my first effort at building a saddle from scratch. I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out.

04/26/2024

I finally got back to working on my saddle! I set it aside a couple years ago, because I wasn't confident about doing the cantle binding and I never got back to it. Well, last week I decided it was high time I finished that saddle! So, I have been working the last week on preparing the cantle for the binding and today I finally stitched it on.

The cantle binding is probably the most difficult part to do and get right on a saddle and it's surely the most noticeable thing if it's not done right. This one came out "OK", but my inexperience shows. The front looks ok, but the back looks pretty poor. The stitches on the back of the binding are nowhere near straight and even. Most modern saddlers hide the stitches on the back of the binding by various means, but a sure sign of an excellent saddle maker is straight and even stitches on the back of the cantle binding. An excellent saddle maker I am not....yet.

So, I have a few parts to be stained and finished and final assembly. I hope to be riding this saddle next week!

04/21/2024

Grandkids and good horses: Two of the best things in life!

04/05/2024

I just got back from an excellent four day trip in the south-central Utah area, during which myself and four buddies did some nice rides. We rode Wild Horse Wash, Chute Canyon, Pleasant Creek, and Losee Canyon/Casto Canyon Loop.

Here's a 3+ minute video from our Chute Canyon ride.

Now that I have my new laptop, I'll get full blog posts and YouTube videos out in the next week or so. Watch for them.

03/12/2024

For those of you still waiting and wondering why I haven't yet got the posts up on my website and YouTube channel about my recent rides, well, my laptop died last week and I just got my new Macbook Pro ordered, so give me another week or so and I'll get those posts up with all pertinent details, so you can find the places, too!

02/28/2024

Today Derek and I spent the day bushwhacking in the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada. It’s one of our favorite playgrounds for horse riding. We had an “epic” ride! Last year we tried to find a route through one canyon over the ridge south of Baseline Mesa to the North Fork Wash, but were unsuccessful. Today we found a route! What a ride! Definitely not for the faint of heart!

Watch for a post about it on my westerntrailrider website and a crazy good video on my Western Trail Rider YouTube channel. I hope to get both out next week. I will also post the track on my Western Trail Rider Ramblr page.

02/26/2024

My buddy Derek Habel and I enjoyed a very challenging and enjoyable ride today on a trail in the Blue Range Primitive Area in eastern Arizona. We went from Tut Creek to Cleveland Spring, down into Foote Creek and out to the Blue River, then back to the trailer, a solid 15 miles.

The trail was quite challenging, but enjoyable. Not for beginners. Watch for a post about the ride on my website, westerntrailrider.com and my YouTube channel, Western Trail Rider, coming next week.

02/02/2024

I'm finally back from St. Louis, MO! I spent 7 weeks there helping my daughter and son-in-law do renovations to their first home. I was very pleased to be able to help them.

We made a number of updates/changes/improvements to the electrical, HVAC, and plumbing systems, reconfigured their master bathroom, and did a lot of repairs and finishing to drywall in a number of rooms. Finally, I built and tiled a new shower stall for them. I wasn't able to stay long enough to finish some things we started, like grouting the new tile and laying the floor tile in their master bathroom and closet, but we got most of the technical and difficult work taken care of. I think I left them with a workable renovation, given their work and school schedules.

Now, I'll take a few days of recovery time, then back to my horses and other projects I have waiting for me!

01/07/2024

I was perusing some old posts I wrote on my Western Trail Rider blog a few years ago. I came across this one that I particularly like. It describes the joy I get from the back of a horse.

I no longer own the two horses I mentioned at the end, but the two I now have are the son and grandson of Lizzy and I couldn't ask for better trail partners.

Some thoughts about why I enjoy riding my horses.

01/01/2024

Happy New Year everybody! Hope it’s a great one!

Don’t forget to make some good resolutions!

12/25/2023

Merry Christmas to all!

I'm spending my Christmas in Missouri with my youngest daughter and her husband. I'm looking forward to a couple wintertime rides in the St. George area when I get back!

12/10/2023

I have another MFT listed on KSL.

Big John is a Missouri Fox Trotter gelding, about 11 years old (not registered, but the approximate age has been verified by a vet), standing 15-2 hands (measured), and weighing around 11-1200 lbs. He's a big, strong boy. He's sound in every respect. He has a nice gait, both a correct fox trot and a rack. He's a safe horse.

His training is somewhat lacking - meaning that he is pretty herd-bound at this time and can be hard to get moving in the right direction when leaving his buddies (due to not being ridden for nearly a year), but other than that he's a good ride. Not a mean or dangerous bone in his body. He's pleasant and calm, but just needs some mileage put on him to give him a little more confidence on the trail and a little more discipline to make him more compliant to his rider's commands. I'll be working on that until he's sold.

$6,500.00 Missouri Fox Trotter Gelding for sale in Salem, UT on KSL Classifieds. View a wide selection of Horses and other great items on KSL Classifieds.

12/10/2023

This last week was a good one for me. I moved two nice mares on to new owners. Both Opal and Bay sold on the same day and both are going to excellent homes in Utah and Idaho, respectively.

I have also recently listed another Missouri Fox Trotter, Big John, an 11 year old palomino gelding. There has been a lot of interest in him, but he still needs some work. I'll be putting some mileage and training on him and hopefully we'll find the right buyer for him. I'll post a link to the KSL sales ad in another post.

11/15/2023

I just uploaded a short video from a ride Jon Tanner and I made on November 4, 2023 in Jackass Gulch, which I have also heard referred to as Muley Canyon and Mule Gulch...take your pick...located near Escalante, Utah. It was an excellent ride, one which I plan to do again in the future.

Just the sound of the horses' hoofbeats, no terrible music. Hope you enjoy it.

This was a ride with Jon Tanner to a canyon near Escalante, Utah. I'm told the name of the canyon is "Jackass Gulch", but I have also heard it called Muley C...

11/13/2023

I just finished uploading my video of the Thunder Mountain Trail ride Jon Tanner and I took on November 3, 2023. That was my first time on that trail and it was spectacular! I plan to make a full blog post on westerntrailrider.com soon.

This video is hoofbeats only. No music. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/eZUW29WdovU

Thunder Mountain Trail, near Bryce Canyon in Utah, was the inspiration for the Thunder Mountain roller coaster ride at Disneyland. It is one of the most popu...

11/06/2023

Last weekend rode Thunder Mountain near Bryce Canyon Utah, Beautiful trail and weather. Great to get out on the mountain in November

10/25/2023

I'm excited to be working with Viking Bags, Elite Sports and Born Tough to try out their products! Viking Bags makes motorcycle gear, but they have a backpack that I think might make a great overnight bag for my horse pack trips and trail rides. They have agreed to send me one for a product test.

I will write up a review post once the product testing is done
Keep an eye out for these updates.

Check them out their other gear here:

https://www.vikingbags.com/motorcycle-tour-packs
https://www.elitesports.com/
https://www.borntough.com/

10/22/2023

Almost forgot! I got the listing up for the bay MFT mare I have been working with. She has surprised me! She is turning out to be an excellent trail horse. I've only had a couple significant trail rides on her so far, but she's already handling advanced obstacles very comfortably. She has a nice gait and a very comfortable and ground-eating walk. I like her!

$7,000.00 Registered Missouri Fox Trotter Mare for sale in Salem, UT on KSL Classifieds. View a wide selection of Horses and other great items on KSL Classifieds.

10/21/2023

Well, Diesel is almost 4 months old now. I was unable to do the "imprint training" I wanted to do with him, because his dam was aggressive when I went out to them just after his birth. So, I had to "people" him the traditional way. It took several days just to touch him, but I think he has progressed pretty well. What do you think?

10/03/2023

For anyone who may be looking, a friend just contacted me to let me know she has two geldings for sale.

* Tennessee Walker gelding, 18 years old, cremello, stands about 15-3HH, well-seasoned trail horse, healthy and sound.

* Missouri Fox Trotter gelding, about 14 years old, stands about 15-3HH, seasoned trail horse, healthy and sound.

Both horses are registered and are expected to sell in the $5,500 range. Both could use some tune-up, as they haven't been used in awhile. Both horses need someone with a little riding experience.

Contact me if you are interested and I'll get you in touch with the owner.

09/28/2023

The price on Red Curly Opal, the 4 year old MFT Curly I have had listed for sale, has been dropped to $8,500 by the owner. I think she's worth every dime of that.

I just posted a 22 minute video about her on my YouTube channel, Western Trail Rider. Take a look!

Red Curly Opal is a registered curly Missouri Fox Trotter mare, foal date May 11, 2019. She is a beautiful red roan and that curly coat makes her a very rare...

09/09/2023

As promised. Here's the video of the Cave Falls Trail, Yellowstone National Park ride. This was a Back Country Horsemen of Utah, High line and Hobbles Chapter (Utah County) that was organized by Rod Unsworth. We had 7 riders and horses in all and it was a pleasant couple of days.

This video is of the ride we took on the second day, a 7 mile loop on the Cave Falls Trail, beginning and ending at the Bechler Meadow Park Ranger Station.

Enjoy!

09/04/2023

Last week I had my first chance to ride in Yellowstone National Park. That is a bucket list item I have been wanting to check off for many years.

We had 7 riders and 7 horses from the norther Utah area. We made camp just outside the park in the Targhee National Forest, near the Bechler Meadow park ranger station. Rod Unsworth and I, with other help, had set up some corrals at the camp area the week before the ride. We used the corrals, but everyone else high-lined their horses.

Our first ride was 18 miles (round trip) into the Bechler Meadow area on the Bechler Meadow trail. Several of our riders made a shorter out-and-back, while the rest of us went on into Dunanda Falls, where Rod took us to some "hot pots" in the river. Near the falls, hot springs flow down from the hillsides into the creek, where people have made some small dams, which create the hot pots. It was a nice break. If you go in there, though, rock shoes are absolutely necessary.

The second day we took a short loop of about 7 miles on the Cave Falls trail. This one follows along the Cave Falls River for about half its length. It's quite a pleasant ride with some spectacular views. I made a video of much of the ride, which I will post on my Western Trail Rider YouTube channel as soon as I finish editing it.

The rides were excellent and the weather was pleasant for us. The company was great and we all had a nice time.

The only disappointment was that we saw absolutely no wildlife the entire time, other than birds and a few squirrels. The closest we got were some fairly recent moose tracks near Dunanda Falls.