I’m not much of a cowboy, that’s for sure, but I do feel it’s important to have good solid gear you can count on. Most importantly, in my opinion, is your saddle. About three-and-a-half years ago, through a friend, I found a saddlemaker named Tad Knowles in Elizabeth, Colo. I had a horse that I felt like would be my No. 1 mount for a long time and the saddle I had wasn’t fitting him. Over a few lunches—and not a few hours in he and his father (Tom’s) saddle shop—they made me a saddle I could be excited about. It fit my horse really well, and I have roped lots of cattle in it and rode lots of miles in it and it holds up and gets more comfortable with every track my horse makes.

That brings me to a process that’s been happening since around Christmas. We had a saddle that wasn’t fitting the horse my wife was riding. Turned out, the tree was broken. I’d been wanting to buy her a new saddle for a long time, so this was the perfect excuse. We brought the horse in and Tad looked him over real close and recommended a tree. We took his advice and after my wife agonized over how she wanted it to look, we put the deposit down and the process started.

If you ever order any custom leather work—especially a saddle—be patient. By the time the custom tree was made and everything was finished, we got the saddle in May. That’s actually a pretty good turnaround.

Well, the saddle came and it didn’t fit our horse. We called Tad and immediately he made a house call to check everything out. Turns out, our horse’s left shoulder is quite a bit more developed than his right and it was throwing the saddle off-kilter. We're not sure if it has always been that way and we missed it when he fit the tree, or if was slowly developing that way (he's got some hock issues) and finally became noticeable about the time the saddle was ready. At any rate, Tad made up a special pad for us last weekend my wife rode all afternoon and it fits much better.

When she pulled it off of him, the sweat covered his back evenly. That is why I bought a custom saddle from Tad. The guy knows his stuff, he builds saddles that fit horses, works with you to make every detail right and if that’s not enough his tooling work is beautiful.

Custom saddles are not cheap—and there’s always some little thing that’s not exactly how you had imagined it—but they’re worth every penny. Here’s a picture of my saddle, finished in 2005. It was the 15th saddle Tad ever made. It’s got a Buster Welch tree that’s a little thicker to hold up to roping lots of big stock. He also made the doctoring bags and worked with me to create something that was functional as well as attractive. The conchos were made by Gary Wiggins (www.wigginsbitsandspurs.com), I use a King Rope (www.kingropes.com) and steer string. Tad’s dad, Tom, ties all the cinches I use (you can’t buy the kind I like) and a guy named Billy Albin from Commanche, Texas, made the tapaderos. I used to only use oxbow stirrups, but over the past year, these have really grown on me.




Here’s my wife’s new saddle. He finished it in May, and it was his 39th custom saddle. It’s on a Poco Bueno tree, sometimes called a PW. It’s built for wider-backed horses and requires a little more pad over the withers for a more average-backed horse. All the hardware is Jeremiah Watt (www.ranch2arena.com). Her stirrups are S.A. Walls slanted stirrups (www.sawalls.net) and if you have any knee or ankle pain, you’ll love these. I have a knee that bothers me some an I’m a big believer in what S.A. is doing out in Mena, Ark.

If you want to learn more about Tad Knowles and Wildflower Saddles and Tack, you’ll have to call. (303) 646-3363 or feel free to email me rodeoblog@myhorse.com. He and his dad have made other stuff for my wife and I over the years including belts, chaps, headstalls and wallets.