Thompson Saddle

Seidel’s Saddlery custom “Thompson” 3/4 tooled saddle.  Specs include:  Modified Association tree, 15 1/2″ Seat, 4″ cantle, #8 Horn, 3/4 tooling in our Wyoming Wild Rose tooling pattern, Butterfly shaped round skirts, inlaid padded seat, half covered leather stirrups, chestnut color with dyed background.

The “Thompson” saddle is a good example of the type of saddles that we have been building for years.  The benefit of the 3/4 coverage is that when you are riding in the saddle, while it looks like it is fully carved, it is actually smooth under your leg.  Many times, in a fully tooled saddle, the skin on the inside of your knee will become raw from rubbing against the tooling in the leather, if you are not wearing chaps.  So, in this case, you would have the benefit of the tooling everywhere but where you are sitting, so that the leather under your knee, thigh, and calf is smooth, and not chafing.

The Modified Association is a nice all-around swell configuration for just about any type of riding, and is one of the most common swell fork trees that we use.  The Cheyenne Roll is kind of a signature on Keith’s saddles, probably because he prefers one on his own personal saddle.  The benefit to a Cheyenne Roll is that you can reach around and grab it if you become unseated for some reason, and pull yourself back down in the seat.  It’s also very handy when you are picking the saddle up and moving it around or carrying it around—to be able to grab it with one hand under gullet and the other hand under the cantle.  The sterling Indian head conchos on this saddle have a notch cut out at the bottom for the strings, so that the strings come out the bottom of the concho, and not the middle, which hides a lot of the concho’s detail.  It’s just a different way of showing off the conchos, while still having latigo strings.