FAMILY

TRADITION

THE NEXT GENERATION

From left: Jim McKinney - Mark Howes - Bob Wattus

If your saddle is not right for the purpose and horse type, your horse naturally won’t perform to its best. A workhorse has to be reliable all day. They have to work sometimes all day, or everyday.

Hence the importance of a good saddle tree.

Horses are always getting sent away to trainers to fix the ‘problem horse’. When a lot of the time it can be as basic as an ill- fitting saddle.

Because of the synthetic, composite materials we use we can guarantee a tree for a lifetime of use.

If anything were to go wrong we would replace the tree.

We endeavour to keep 100% customer satisfaction.

The horse hasn’t changed but the design and technology behind good saddle making has leapt ahead.

“We are the youngest couple in Australia making saddle trees with generational knowledge passed down from Dad,” says Libby Wattus and husband Norm Cormick.

Today’s trees are stronger, more durable, and adaptable.

Gone are the days when trees split, shrunk, distorted from wear and tear. Technology stepped in and that means better trees, better saddles, more safety and comfort for the horse and rider.

It’s the current generation that ensures total respect for knowledge derived from past experience and couple it to contemporary material such as carbon fibre.

“After watching my father over the years, learning his technique and methods, it seemed only natural to continue the family business and keep the art of saddle trees alive and thriving,” says Libby.

As Bob says: “It started around 1989 when I couldn’t buy what I wanted. Simple as that. We came into contact with Mark Howes, renowned saddler at Ford Collins. Together we designed a semi- quarter horse bar for the Wade saddle in America. The bar proved so good that we are still using it today.”