Evolution of the riding saddle in America has gone from primitive to
ridiculous. Now in the Bitterroot Valley of southwest Montana, Bob and
Julie Trezona, former Oregon buckeroo and jillaroo, have combined their
considerable talents as saddle maker and artist with horse trainer/writer
Tom Bryant and designed and produced the perfect saddle for recreation
riding, trail riding, endurance riding, breaking and training colts and
for most types of farm and ranch work.
The Bitterroot Mountain Saddle is the answer to the problems created by today's horse and rider, who are bigger than their forefathers. Bryant said that the Bitterroot Mountain Saddle is simple, lightweight, tough, beautiful and best of all, inexpensive. The Bitterroot Mountain Saddle is the type of saddle that was ridden by the men and women who rode and worked a-horseback for centuries, the type of saddle that the Moors rode when they invaded Spain in 710. And the type of saddle the Spanish brought to America. Noted American author Glenn Vernam, wrote in his 'Man On Horseback' (Harper & Row, 1964), "The Moors brought Arabian and Barb horses and lightweight riding gear....Their saddles were lighter, less complicated and inexpensive....A person could ride whatever kind of mount he had without feeling inferior." When the Spanish invaded America in the 1500's, they brought with them this "la jinta," a lightweight type of military saddle they had improved on over the centuries. When the expansion of the West began in the early 1800's, the first choice of the explorers and mountain men was an American version of the lightweight Spanish type saddle.
In 1822, saddle maker Thornton Grimsley began making his "Sante Fe" saddle in St. Louis. Fur trader William Ashley is said to be one of the first to outfit his brigade with the Santa Fe saddles. Army scouts were also very fond of the Santa Fe saddle and a quote from an Army Quartermaster in 1846 states: "We obtained a fairly good idea of the Spanish tree (with) its tall and slender horn and high steep-pitched cantle."
After the mountain men came the cowboys and the ones from Texas were among the first to glomb onto the Santa Fe type saddle. Vernam states in 'Man On Horseback,' "Quickly realizing the unsuitability of the various saddles brought to Texas from the East, the pioneer cattlemen turned to the northeast Mexico model as far superior for all outdoor ranch work. This saddle was built on a plain wooden tree, usually covered with rawhide, but sometimes left bare....Between 1830 and 1855, it held first place throughout the Southwest, appearing as far north as southern Colorado."
The Bitterroot Mountain Saddle will bring back to modern America all the good points that made it so popular in the old West: lightweight, durable, practical and inexpensive. Offered in three basic tree designs: Wade, Weatherly and Modified Association, all Bitterroot Mountain Saddles are built on hand-made wood trees that are covered in rawhide and treated with waterproof varnish.
Two basic models are available, the Standard and the Deluxe, as is a full line of accessories. Author/photographer/cowboy Tom Bryant tested a prototype of the Bitterroot Mountain Saddle and said he logged hundreds of miles in it, in all kinds of country, in all kinds of weather and reports that the saddle is the best he has ever ridden.
For further information and to obtain a free brochure on the Bitterroot Mountain Saddle, you may contact Tom Bryant, c/o Bryant's Barn, 642 N. Birch Creek Rd., Corvallis, MT 59828 (406) 961-4194.
