There are many reasons why the Hope Saddle would definitely make a good decision when choosing to purchase a saddle. First of all, the Hope Saddle is more than just an exquisite, hand tooled, quality piece of leather art. It is engineered and hand-crafted by master saddle makers in the old world , and western traditions. There are no gimmicks, just  top quality workmanship, based on time-proven principles.

    Our saddles are hand-crafted of top quality leather. Our saddles also have 100% bark tanned wool fleece. Stainless steel screws. Stainless steel, or bronze & brass fittings, and pre-stretched stirrup leathers. The advantage of pre-stretched stirrup leathers, is that since they are pre-stretched, the side that you mount on will not become longer than the off side. There is grain oriented fleece, which keeps your saddle pad from sliding out from underneath the saddle. Quality  sterling, or brass overlay conchos, as well as brass and silver combination conchos.

   There are two seat choices depending on your needs: a well shaped hard seat with a nice pocket, or a regular padded seat with smooth out or suede leather (your choice of color). All of our seats are shaped in a way where there is no excess bulk. They are made as close contact as possible, for western type saddles.

   All of this is added to a special designed tree that will give the horse/mule and rider the utmost in pleasure for a lifetime. It is a wood fiberglass covered tree for strength and durability. It has been designed to position the rider in a truly balanced riding position. Not only will it position you properly, but it has been designed to free up and accommodate the working muscles of your equine partner. Remember, if you are not enjoying the ride, your horse/mule probably isn't either.

    With all of this in mind, we have engineered this quality saddle to position the base body weight of the rider on the most natural place on the horse or mule's back, which is near the 15th vertebrae. How is this possible?  In the natural state the horse will carry 60% of it's weight on the front end, and 40% on the back end.  The first 14 vertebrae of the horse angle toward the back. All the vertebrae behind the 15th angle toward the front. The 15th vertebrae  stands straight up. the 15th becomes the balance point of the horse/mule. For a better understanding of this visit our Saddle Fit  page.

   In addition to many fine features of the Hope Saddle, we have taken great care to provide you with a saddle fit system that will assure the best possible fit for your horse.

   Remember that over 2 pounds of pressure per square inch can cause tissue damage. Therefore, our tree bars are made with sufficient bar surface to allow proper weight distribution. The bars have also been constructed with added flair to reduce the possibility of muscle damage in the shoulder area.

   Our fit system involves a set of 8 fiberglass forms that represent different bar angles, widths, and flare. (picture seen on the left) A 9 minute video comes with the forms explaining how to position them and what to look for in fit. Each form has a letter designation. This is an extremely easy process to do.  The forms are returned to us with the order form and determined letter designation. A tree with that bar type in the seat size requested will be ordered, if it is not already in stock. You can rest assured that the saddle you receive will be the proper fit for your horse.

    Our rigging is designed to lighten the pressure in the wither, shoulder, and girth area. At the same time, it also disperses the pull over the entire underside of the saddle. It may appear to be center fire rigging, but it floats between 7/8 and 3/4 position. This rigging can be offered on both the Traditional Hope, as well as the Western model. Some people prefer traditional western rigging with the rear billets and flank strap. Keep in mind that this will add weight to the saddle and the features we mentioned above will not apply any longer. We highly recommend our style of rigging on all of our trail saddles. This keeps the comfort of the horse in mind,  reduces weight, and bulk.

16"-----     26lbs   & 23 in.

16"-------- 26 lbs -----------------29 lbs-------------------24 in.