Carrie Sapp's Saddle Collection

I've been making saddles to use at live shows for a few years now, but I am not especially prolific. I do make saddles to sell, but I don't take custom orders as the pressure would drive me nuts! However, I intend to offer occasional pieces for sale in the future, as I complete them.

Saddles are based on the Rio Rondo trees, and use many of the Rio Rondo cast parts. I use the thinnest leather available from Tandy, and I strive for realism. I also emphasize a clean, neat appearance to all my pieces. When I make these saddles, I proceed as if I were going to use the saddle in the show ring myself, so it is important to me that the quality is the best I am able to accomplish.

8/15/97 NOTE: I seem to have gotten distracted with customizing models lately, so am not actively making saddles. I should probably remove this page from this site (since I'm not offering a service, per se) and just have it as a display page, but I'll leave it here for now. =]

Click on the image to view the full-sized picture.

	Western Saddle #1 - This was my first saddle, made from a Rio Rondo kit. It was made in the early 90's (don't even remember when!) and I was so pleased to have made a LSQ saddle from scratch. This saddles was made using antique medium brown dye, with natural horn, cantle, and stirrups, and has a stamped border design. Cindy Dalton is the current owner.
	Western Saddle #2 - This black round-skirt saddle was designed from a picture of a real Arabian saddle, and was completed in 1993. It has since been updated with a royal blue seat and better fitting seat pieces (see photo here). It also has a stamped border design. This saddle was sold to Bev Manderfeld.
	Western Saddle #3 - This black saddle, also made in 1993, features my first attempt at tooling, and an experiment with different shapes.
	Western Saddle #4 - A few years went by, and this saddle was not completed until 1996 (though begun in 1995). It features braided trim, done by Kathy Wiggins, on the skirts and cantle. I also improved on my tooling, and tried a new stirrup design. This saddle was more or less a replacement of saddle #1, and likewise was done in antique medium brown, with natural horn, cantle, and stirrups.
	Western Saddle #5 - This saddle, completed on May 23, 1996, was based on a design by Susan Bensema-Young. It has a hand-tooled design, my first use of silver lace (fun!), and is dyed from a mix of chocolate and saddle tan, with a rusty brown seat. Purchased by Heather Mays at Jamboree 1996.
	Western Saddle #6 - This saddle was finished on May 30, 1996, and features my own tooling design, with technique benefiting from a lesson with Susan Bensema-Young. It is light brown with a dark brown seat, and adds stitching on the upper skirt (can't see in photo). This saddle was sold to Kate Cabot.
	Western Saddle #7 - This saddle was completed on June 22, 1996, and was inspired from a multi-tone saddle done by Kim Janes. It also has basketweave tooling and silver lacing. The horn, cantle, and stirrups are natural, the seat pieces and fenders are antique medium brown, and the skirts, girths, and breastcollar are in dark brown. I believe this saddle was sold to Betty Burgess.
	Western Saddle #8 - This saddle was completed on August 14, 1996, and was meant as a copy of saddle #7 to keep for myself :^). It also has basketweave tooling and silver lacing. The horn, cantle, and stirrups are natural, the seat pieces and fenders are light brown, and the skirts, girths, and breastcollar are in dark brown. It appears this saddle was not to remain in my possession after all, as Cindy Dalton is now its owner.
	Western Saddle #9 - This saddle was completed on September 26, 1996, and features some of the new cast pieces from Rio Rondo. It also has the corner flower tooling and a light tan seat. The dyes used were mahogany with a final coating of dark brown. This one is my favorite (and hopefully I'll get to keep it!). =]
	English Park Saddle #1 - This was my first (and only?) attempt at an english saddle, with help from a kit by Kim and Lenore Jacobs. I was pleased with how it came out, but I realized that english tack is just not the thing for me! This was made a few years ago. No larger image available (thank goodness!!).