Stock saddles

Leather for stock saddles is very different to the leather in English style saddles.

In a country like Australia, that produces so many cows, you would expect we could source Australia leather. Unfortunately, not possible.  Australia no longer has the tanneries that produce the commercial quantities of vegetable tanned saddle skirting we need. In part understandable because tanneries have a big pollution output.

Face leather for Stock saddles

Leather Quality

1.Face Leather

In the House Lines styles saddles the leather we use is high grade vegetable tanned cow hide predominantly sourced from wholesalers in America. Unfortunately we cannot get a regular source of Australian vegetable tanned skirting of sufficient quality so we are forced to use imported leather.

With face leather  you cannot have scars or imperfections visible on the outside surface so you need to cut around any sections of the hide that  does not look nice to the eye . The yield, or useable amount, per hide is lower  with face leather than with raw leather,  so effectively face leather saddles cost more to produce.

2. Raw Leather  

In  the last few years we have seen a growing popularity of Raw Leather for use in stock saddles.

In the RAW LEATHER styles the hide is effectively turned inside out and buffed.  This give  a feel what many riders say is better grip.  The leather is strong and some station owners say more durable.

Why do Raw Leather saddles cost less to make?

From a manufacturing point of view we don’t have to cut around minor marks or scars on the hide as you have to with face leather. The buffing effectively hides minor marks so the yield per side is higher than face leather, the cost lower so we can pass on the saving.

The RAW Leather finish is a buff finish, it does not need to come up to a high grade sheen and shine like a face leather saddle has to. Hence we can use a more economy range leather that does not have the shine. This is strong leather, durable and will last as long as face leather if properly cared for but is less expensive to buy.

Raw leather we buy on the leather market as we can from time to time.

English style saddles.

In our English saddles we specify a very different type of leather. Our range of English style saddles stands out because we specialise in saddles with a high degree of sophistication and moulding in the shape. This moulding and styling is what give the comfort and feel to the saddles.  This degree of detail is what you expect to find in many high priced premium brand products.

In many of our models we use a multi layered technique that puts very soft “calf skin feel” outer on the flaps and seat to provide maximum comfort and a soft quality feel to the saddle.

The easiest test for any buyer is simply to feel the leather. Good leather has a wonderful feel to touch. It feels soft and nice to the touch. You don’t need to be an expert to immediately know if the leather is good or not.

Even on many of our synthetic saddles we stay with this moulding and multi layered build technique to give a feel and level of comfort we believe is exceptional.

Try it for yourself. Simply feel the saddle with your fingers then sit in it. You will feel the quality.

Our objective is to provide great comfort and value for our riders.

We believe if you closely compare any level of our range with the comparable priced saddles you will immediately see where the quality selection in our leathers will become obvious and you don’t need to be a saddle expert to feel the quality.