Pistol River Leather
Custom Saddles, Tack, and Repair
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. |
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Here are some examples of Pistol River Leather saddles, tack and accessories. Click on photos for larger views.
Artist's Statement
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
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
