Old time skills....

[Tobina+1]

Here is Saddle #2 for Chuck, which he finished in May.  We just got back from the Boot and Saddlemaker's Tradeshow this weekend down in Wichita Falls, TX (that's why I've been away from here), and it was really fun!  Boot making is a lost art, I think.  And not something you can get into very cheaply, either!  Just like saddlemaking, I suppose.  Luckily, Chuck has made a lot of his own benches and tools, so that helped with the startup cost.  Over the summer, he made a lot of tack for other people.  Smaller projects when the evenings and nights were shorter.  Now he plans to get started on Saddle #3 very soon (over the winter when he has more time).  The saddles he makes are "working" saddles, and nothing too fancy.  He wants to get into a little more tooling, but that takes a LOT of time and patience!  You should have seen some of the saddles at the tradeshow that were in the saddle contest... simply breathtaking carving/stamping!
Chuck has a DVD of how hides are tanned and turned into leather, so if anyone wants to borrow it to watch just let us know!  Again, I don't think it's a cheap (or chemical-free) process to get into, though.

[dnalexander]

Fancy things are pretty, but there is a beauty in  a working saddle. I think the one in the picture is a good example. That saddle is beautiful and a work of art.

David

[Teresa]

I like roughed out rawhide in my saddle seat..
Keeps me glued better when my horse decides to give everyone a free rodeo.. 

[Tobina+1]

Well... put your order in and you can custom design your saddle seat anyway you see "fit"!  Chuck hasn't done any roughout yet, but we saw one saddle in the competition this weekend that was all roughout.  It was kind of a gray-ish brown leather, too, so it looked "old".
Thanks, David!  I'll keep everyone supplied with picts of all the new leather projects.  He's got an order for chaps and a few other things, along with the saddle.

Back to the other skills... how about wicker weaving?  You know, like putting in seats to chairs and such.  Or willow furniture?  I admire people who have the skills and patience to do that!

[pam]

I'm with DN I like plain workin saddles better too. That ones nice Tobina I have one that's all roughout, my granpa bought it out of a guys barn like 40 years ago or so and it's still useable. He had Pete Frost go thru it when he brought it home and fix what needed fixin. I don't know if anybody even remembers Pete or not.

Y'know I think Mom can do that seat caning Tobina, seems like I remember her doin some chairs before.

[Rudy Taylor]

I just wish I could still swing up into a saddle. I spent lots of my youth riding, even into my 20s and 30s, but I'm afraid I'd have to use a footstool to get aboard today.

Beautiful work, Tobina and Chuck!

[Tobina+1]

No worries, Rudy... "gentlemen" and "ladies" used to use stepstools or attendants to get upon their horses.  Or we can just find you a shorter horse. 

Thank you, Pam.  "Caning" is the word I was looking for.  My mom has an old rocking chair that I have fond memories of, but it needs a new caned seat and back.  I thought about doing it in leather.  It might not have the same "squeak", though.

Braiding horsehair is another lost art.  We went to the Cowboy Museum in OKC on the way home on Saturday, and they had a special exhibit there of saddles, horsehair braiding, and silversmithing.  Talk about works of art!  Everything was for sale, but the cheapest thing was a set of spur straps for about $800.  There was a pair of silver etched spurs there for over $34,000!  Some of the horsehair braided bozels and other tack was well over $10K.

[pam]

Braiding horsehair is another lost art.  We went to the Cowboy Museum in OKC on the way home on Saturday, and they had a special exhibit there of saddles, horsehair braiding, and silversmithing.  Talk about works of art!  Everything was for sale, but the cheapest thing was a set of spur straps for about $800.  There was a pair of silver etched spurs there for over $34,000!  Some of the horsehair braided bozels and other tack was well over $10K.

Holy cow! Maybe I better get a little more serious about learnin how!

[pam]

seein Dales recipe for acorn muffins on another thread brought to mind another skill. Wild food! I know a few but would like to know MUCH more! That is truly a skill that would be very handy to have.
I've been mushroom huntin and I've eaten poke and dandelions, used wild garlic to cook with, have recipes for sumac lemonade although I've never actually made any, gathered wild sage,wild rose hips, don't have much knowledge compared to what's out there to know.
I have heard it said that God put a cure for every disease on the earth, just not very many people who remember or try to learn anymore.

[Tobina+1]

Traditional Cowboy Artist Association is the exhibit at the Cowboy museum.  Here's the link to the pictures of all the items this year. 
http://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/events/tcaa/onlinecatalog/Catalog.aspx
If you click on any of the names, you can see more detailed information about each piece, including the sale price.
Most of the braiding is rawhide braiding, not horsehair.  For some reason, I thought there is a guy somewhere around here who does horsehair braiding?  Chuck made a bridle for someone who brought us some tassles (bobbers) to put on it that this man had braided.