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Pistol River Leather

Pistol River Leather
Custom Saddles, Tack, and Repair

Picture
Mike Brennan makes saddles and tack at his Pistol River Leather shop in Meeker, Colorado, as well as doing saddle and tack repair and restoration work.  See some examples of his leather work below.      

Mike Brennan
970-878-4346

PO Box 100
Meeker, Colorado 81641
pistolriverleather@gmail.com

Restorations
Ask Mike about his repair and restoration specialty work.  He will repair your saddle and ship it back promptly by UPS.  Call Mike today for an estimate.     



Mike Brennan sewing on a stitching horse.
Here are some examples of Pistol River Leather saddles, tack and accessories.  Click on photos for larger views.

Artist's Statement

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     I was raised on a ranch that has been in my family for over one hundred years, and continues to produce commercial beef cattle and fine quarter horses. The first 36 years of my life were spent horseback. The horses were wrangled as soon as it was light enough to find them, breakfast eaten, and the day started as early as possible. No one used trucks, and horse trailers were not even available at that time, so it was simply a matter of striking a long trot to where the work was for that day, sometimes many miles. The cattle were gathered, worked, branded and doctored, moved to new pasture, and then it was the same long trot home for dinner, often well after dark. 
I had the “opportunity” to ride many saddles, the good, bad, and the ugly. Working the horses that hard required four to six different horses for each cowboy and virtually no one had more than one saddle. Each horse became much leaner as the summer work progressed. This changed their basic shape, sometimes drastically. Getting the perfect fit for each horse was simply out of the question, but fortunately, most horses had similar conformation, so the good saddles did not sore any of the mounts. As time went on, some of the cheaper saddles began to show up, which very soon began putting sores and white spots on the horses.
 My point in all this is to illustrate that a very high quality, well made saddle will fit a fairly broad range of horses without putting sores on them. Of course, the top side of the saddle is at least as important to the comfort of the person who virtually lives there for many long and arduous hours each day.
A saddle becomes a work of art when carefully crafted with the best materials available, with loving attention to every detail, no matter how small, and with pleasing and functional lines and symmetry. It is a true work of art when it will fit a wide majority of horses without causing them discomfort or injury. It must also allow the rider a degree of comfort that will allow them to spend all day in it doing hard, rough, and sweaty work, while still feeling as good at the end of the day as it did at first light. Then, and only then, will a saddle become a true work of art. The look and feel of a truly beautiful saddle is apparent without embellishment of any kind.  At this point, the beautiful carving and stamping add immensely to the eye appeal of this work of art. The maker may raise the saddle to such a high level of beauty and refinement that it becomes an art object which may well never see the back of a horse. However, in the same way that a wedding cake will be worthless if the cake itself is a tasteless mass of dough regardless of how much or how fancy the frosting, a beautiful saddle must contain the heart and soul of a truly functional working saddle. Only then will the artistic embellishments so pleasing to the eye become an enhancement, rather than just fancy frosting on a cardboard cake.
Call me today at 970-878-4346 to discuss a saddle that will fit you and your horse and be a true, functional work of art.

Mike M. Brennan

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Web site design by Lee Raine
Photos by Lee Raine unless otherwise noted.
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  • Home
    • Web Site Design >
      • Privacy Policy
    • Links
  • Gear
    • Pistol River Saddlery
    • Cowboy Gear - Tips and Tricks: >
      • Three-Way Hobbling
      • Piggin' String
      • Stirrup Hobbles
      • Tying Your Rope Up
      • Buckaroo Scarf Knot
      • Cowboy Night Latch
      • Cut-away saddle pad
      • Center-firing your Cinch
      • Pack Saddle Latigo Safety Knot
      • Quick Keeper
      • Tire Changer Aid
      • Safety Tie-Up
      • No Roll Saddle Stand
    • Saddle Makers >
      • Wade Saddle History
      • Don Howe Working Cowboy Saddle Maker
      • Hamley and Co.
      • Bill Maupin
    • Spurs >
      • E.F. Blanchard Spurs >
        • How to tell authentic Blanchard spurs.
        • More Blanchard Spurs
      • Garcia Bits and Spurs
      • Amozoc Spurs
      • Prison Made Spurs
      • Adolph Bayers Spurs
  • Arts
    • Poetry >
      • Cowboy Poetry by Gary Vorhes
      • Charlotte Thompson Poetry
      • Mike Meaux Poetry
      • Audrey Hankins Poetry
      • Carole Jarvis Poetry
    • Rodeo Photos
    • Cowboy Photos
    • Horse Photos
    • Cattle Photos
    • Gear Photos
    • Dogs and Animals Photos
    • Reminders of the Past Photos
    • Windmill Photos
    • People Photos
    • Ready to Rodeo
    • Books by Dale Woolley
  • Horses
    • Diamond Z English Shire Horses
    • 5 Tips for Traveling
    • Harnessing A Team
    • The Dameles and the Curly Horse
    • Rounding Up Wild Horses
    • Extreme Horse Camping
    • First Pull on the Latigo
    • Twister Heller Starts a Colt
    • Cowboy Martingale
    • Cowboy Training Halter
    • Cowboy & Colt Clinic
    • Using the McCarty
    • Teach a Horse to Stand
    • Cowboy Draw Reins
    • War Knots >
      • Tying War Knots
    • Tail Knot for Pack Horses
    • Cavvy Marks
    • Deworming Your Horse
    • Safe Fall Trail Riding
    • Horse Remedies
    • Hormone Implant
    • How to buy a mule
  • Brands
    • Brands II
  • Chuckwagon
    • Dutch Ovens
    • Recipes
    • Sourdough >
      • Grant's Sourdough
    • Cowboy Coffee
  • Articles
    • Grubbing Hoe Ranch
    • Trevor and Emily Fuhriman
    • Land of Extremes
    • Jersey Valley Cattle Co
    • Diamond Tail Ranch
    • Gang Ranch of British Columbia
    • TS Ranch of Nevada
    • When the TS Ran a Wagon
    • IL Ranch
    • Basque Ranching
    • Crystal Rose Cow Dog College
    • Wyoming Honor Farm Inmate/Wild-Horse Program
    • Cowboy Etiquette
    • Arizona Trigger
    • Longhorn Cattle
  • Stories
    • For the Love of a Horse
    • Breakheart Station Master
    • Freighters Outbound
    • DK Cowboy Stories: A Prophet With Antlers
    • Ben's Trail
    • Spendin’ Time at Cow Camps
    • Slewfoot The Black Bear
    • Orphan Boy
    • Mooney's Stories - The Circle A Ranch of Nevada >
      • Cotton the Horse
      • Wigwam, the Wrangle Horse
      • Spanish Ranch 1
      • Spanish Ranch 2
      • Spanish Ranch 3
      • Spanish Ranch 4
      • Miss Beymer’s Boyfriend by Bill Mooney
      • Recollections by Bill Mooney
      • Branding out of a Rodear on the Spanish Ranch, Part 1
      • Branding out of a Rodear on the Spanish Ranch, Part 2
      • C Ranch
    • Wild Horse Casey >
      • ​A Dirty Ole Mustanger Like Me
    • Hero Cattle Dogs
    • Ranching Traditions
    • Life Lessons
    • Dave’s Summer Adventure
    • Fire-Proofing the Range
    • Cowboy Superstitions
    • Cowboy Humor
    • Portrait of a Cowboy >
      • Cowboy Obstricition
    • Tons of Silver
  • History
    • Fort Worth Stockyards
    • Horseshoe Ranch
    • Andrae - Marvel Nevada Oral Histories
    • Texas 6666 Ranch Historical Photos
    • Gerlach Cattle Company 1906
    • Cattle Roundup Photos
    • Cowboy Historic Photos
    • Sheepcamp
    • Comstock Lode
    • Pony Express
    • Horn Iron
    • Historic Sites
  • Cowboy Profiles
    • Victoria Jackson
    • Flying M Ranch Women's Team
    • In the Big Nevada Desert
    • Mike Laughlin, Cowboy
    • Bob Tanner
    • Bill Kane
    • Wally Blossom
    • Ian Tyson The Legend
    • Allie Bear
    • Marge Prunty
    • Bryan Neubert Cowboy Clinician
    • Rex Blackwell
    • Wiley Carroll - Legendary Hunter
  • Glossary
    • Horse Terms
    • Cattle Terms
    • The People & The Land
    • Saddles and Gear
    • Personal Gear
  • Cowboys of the World
    • Cowboys of the Dark Continent
    • Scrubber Running
    • The Day it Nearly All Ended
    • The Goring
    • Horse Breaking
    • Honduras
    • Mexico