Castleberry Saddle Shop

This is a belt commissioned by a nice young man for his dearly beloved. Thank you sir for letting us have the honor and privilege of helping you please your wife. This young lady was just tickled !!!!! Yes we make a lot of custom belts, wallets and checkbooks and journals. Fun projects.

Here is a custom guitar strap we had the honor of making. Guitar straps and rifle slings and duck straps and pheasant or game carriers are a delight to make.

And here we have a nice older English saddle in for cleaning and nourishing and new billets. So here are some before and after pictures. Enjoy.

Here is a very nice saddle built by Bob McCray out of Flagstaff, Arizona. New fleece, strings, and stirrup leathers and stirrup hobbles and cleaning and nourishing. A very nice custom hand carved saddle. A real privilege and honor to have worked on this saddle.

And here is another SAVE my saddle, please . Very nice Hermes saddle she got 60 years ago. This is why we so often recommend buying a quality saddle. Before and after pictures.

And another Older Stubben saddle redone. Some before and after pictures. Cleaned, nourished, stripped and reflocked, and new foam in the doe skin knee rolls. Old foam had deteriorated and crumbled and accumulated in the bottom od the knee rolls. And tuned up and did a basic cleaning of the doe skin knee rolls. It is always a great honor and privilege to work on these older pieces of art.

And another Older Stubben saddle redone. Some before and after pictures. Cleaned, nourished, stripped and reflocked, and new foam in the doe skin knee rolls. Old foam had deteriorated and crumbled and accumulated in the bottom od the knee rolls. And tuned up and did a basic cleaning of the doe skin knee rolls. It is always a great honor and privilege to work on these older pieces of art.

Here are a few pictures of a McClellan 1904 USArmy saddle and accoutrements we had the honor of cleaning and nourishing and building a few parts for display for this gentleman’s mancave.

Here is a couple pictures of a USArmy saddle, 1904 McClellan saddle and a few accoutrements we worked on restoring for one of our clients. It is a real honor to work on these historical saddles

Another saddle done. 60 year old Stubben Sigfried with a torn panel. Young lady told me she sent pictures to five other saddle repair shops across the country, same pictures she sent me and they all told her throw the saddle away, not fixable . Then someone referred her to me and we looked at it and said let’s give it a shot . And here are The before pictures and the the results. Glad to be of service.

Yes been a busy busy week here’s a second Saddle we just finished up also before and after pictures again came out looking pretty nice.

And here we just finished up a Billy Royal Saddle here at CASTLEBERRY saddle shop here are some after and some before pictures. A few modifications done to clients specific desires.

9/16/20. Busy busy busy and staying out of trouble !!!

8/14/20. Hello one and all. Some of you may have wondered how that old saddle with the torn jockey came out. And for those of you who missed the before pictures, we have included them also.

Boy oh boy. Here we are starting a major rebuild / restoration. This is a 50 plus year old Simco that this young lady had as a child, her first saddle that is being rebuilt for a her grand daughter and when done her grand daughter’s grand daughter should be able to ride in it !!! Going to be a labor of love.

And here is today’s project,a nice leather pillow with a laced closure so new flocking / stuffing can be added at any time.

And here is another rebuild here at Castleberry Saddle Shop. Love these older saddles, so well built and really great leather carving. Here are some before and after pictures. Enjoy!!!!!

And yes, another rebuild with some nice Stirling Silver.

Been a busy couple weeks. Here is a custom cribbing collar made off an old old old English pattern that this young lady says is the only one she has found that actually works. She has tried several mass production ones to no avail, so she said she wanted one like the original.

Here is a very nice older circle Y rebuild forgot to take the before pictures until I had the saddle all apart, so here’s a few before individual shots and then of course the Saddle all put back together, and a few side by sides as work progressed.

Here are some before and after pictures of another rebuild western saddle

Here we go a couple more dress belts with buckles provided by our client came out looking pretty nice.

Love working with tradesmen. Was asked to make a couple sturdy work belts. Here is one in oiltan and one in black, both lined with changeable buckles and tes, very sturdy and durable !!!

5/14/20. Hello everyone just a quick note almost caught up in the shop so now is a good time to get things in that need repair before everything reopens for the horse show season etc. Look forward to seeing everyone give a call at 707-448-2972 to schedule time in and yes we are observing mask gloves and social distancing. Giovanni

Latest special order in the shop, rattlesnake hat band. Rattlesnake provided by client. Actually came out fairly nice. All hand sewn double needle hand stitched.

5/1/20 Quick note. Yes we are open and taking in repairs, also maintaining social distancing mask and gloves required for all repairs are being done by appointment call 707-448-2972 to schedule time

Special order in the shop. Had to make some masks. Limited Edition One Time Usage

Now is a good time to have us start making those special Christmas gifts, yes Christmas will be here before you know it. Leather gifts are special and many times become heirlooms. Call now to begin your design work. We will be observing social distancing and encouraging strongly mask and gloves please.

So what’s going on at CASTLEBERRY Saddle Shop, yes we’re open, doing repairs, making various tack and bridle accoutrements. We are observing social distancing, wearing gloves and masks and ask that our clients do the same. If you’re finding out that the major tack suppliers are closed or running slow due to reduced staffing, give us a call and schedule some time and we can make what you need. Glad to be of service. Here is an order of four different size off billets, all manually sewn, ( no we do not use computerized sewing machines, we do it the old fashioned way ) and hand rubbed to a fine belt finish. We feel our hand made tack should last an easy 20+ years with regular care and maintenance.

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3/23/20 Hello everyone just a quick update! Yes, we are open. We are considered an AG associated business, however we are utilizing best practices, social distancing and sanitation. ... Everything is by appointment so please call 707-448-2972 to schedule your time in the shop as we prefer not to have strangers to each other in the shop at the same time. We will get all work out as quickly as we can. Giovanni and crew.

3/20/20. Hello everyone in these trying times I understand most horse shows have been canceled therefore now would be an excellent time to have saddles and tack, harness and bridles and halter etc repaired. Being a small one-man shop we are practicing social distancing and sanitation measures please call for an appointment 707-448-2972 and will help you out best we can.

A special project on which we were asked to help with the leather work.

And here was something a little different that we did in the shop yesterday.

And here it’s a little bit of a different project how to resolve by hand ice hockey skate for a young man

And here is another older saddle rebuild. The after pictures are first and there are some side by sides that are neat. Actually this is the second one for this young lady. Says she saved a fortune not having to buy new saddles.

And here is another nice saddle that gets an extension on life. Before and after pictures. It is an older Textan and we made a new rear cinch setup

If you are a bird hunter, pheasant hunter, duck hunter etc. we make some really nice pheasant carriers / game carriers and ducks straps. Here’s some pictures of one of our every day pheasant carriers/game carriers and they can all be personalized. They go for $35 and will easily carry 4-8 pheasants.

And here is another miracle save on an English saddle that saved buying a new one. Much less expensive to repair than replace.

Here are some before and after pictures of a rough out saddle that came in for cleaning and nourishment and a couple sets of 9 foot harness leather loop ( all one piece ) reins. Time to get those saddles ready for Spring riding.

And here are some pictures that a young working Vaquero asked me to do some repairs tidy up clean up whatever you wanna call it on a pair saddlebags that he tried to cut down including gluing and staple or to hilarious some of the tasks that were asked to fix after someone else has been fixing them however they didn’t come out too bad take a look see

Here’s a picture of a very old well used Saddle needs a lot of stuff however the client only wanted new stirrup leathers so here’s some before and after.

And another happy young lady that likes a little bling but had trouble with the pedals, so we worked on the stirrup leathers, put on a new Lattigo and set the stirrups to turn so she could have less stress on her knees.

Here we go another older Saddle cleaned up nourished stripped reflocked, looks brand new and a beautiful Albion Saddle. Ps.... client had it for sale as she now is riding in a different saddle. M M 17.5 PM me for more information.

Our latest project, all hand cut. Key rings and luggage tags.

Here is some interesting information! We are always asked to do repairs and on occasion the generalization or the question is discussed, can you match color? There are two things that we guarantee in the shop, one is that we will do very best work we can, and two is we probably cannot match color. So how do we solve that problem, that is the question. Our approach after about 35 years of experimenting with color, is sometimes we get lucky and we match pretty well, however sometimes it is best to have a contrasting color to make things look nice. Here are two examples where I was not comfortable trying to match color and the client and myself chose contrasting colors instead on one and one where I was just directed do the best I can and as time goes on with patina they will both look really nice.

And here are some before and after pictures of a very nice custom saddle. A complete restoration / rebuild.

And another of her bracelets. I am so proud of these students.

And one of Katie’s bracelets. She is doing awesome in our leather classes.

This beautiful gun case came in with the lacing of course worn out, didn’t do to badly, lasted almost 100 years. Cleaned, nourished relaced with 52 feet of beautiful kangaroo lace, added new carry straps, ready for another hundred years !!!

Before and after pictures of another restoration. Look at the pictures very closely especially the horn. Without question, this young lady was extremely pleased. Made my heart feel good.

Once again, I am just tickled with this current leather class I am teaching. The students have far surpassed the teacher as they almost always do. Katie Patricia and Marilyn have only had about seven classes. Will be starting more classes very soon class size is limited to four students minimum six students maximum. Contact Giovanni at 707-448-2972 for more information.

Here we are deeply engrossed in our beginners leather class. We will be starting another class as soon as we have enough interest. Just pm us if you have an interest.

This week’s usual project, a casino chip bag with attached credit card holder and key ring holder for one of my casino player clients that needed a place to put all his $500 casino chips. He carries this in his pocket instead of a loose credit card and chips. It’s a bit more of a project and it appears, however it did come out nice.

A message from a great client. Makes my heart feel good. I will forever be grateful for this wonderful breastcollar. Thank you Gio! Just a few pics from a photo shoot I did yesterday. I have to say that breastcollar really pops. It has a nice traditional Buckaroo vibe to it.

Here is a picture of the Deerskin Hippy Vest and headband and fringed leggings in action at the Woofstock Dog Show !

More closeups of deer skin vest, headband and leggings.

I am here we have another pair of earth sandals going to Chicago.

And here is the finished hat with the bling, of course sterling silver Concho’s headband and stampede string!!!

Here’s another original and unique product from the shop decided I needed to make myself a semi-dress cowboy hat out of leather using authentic artificial sinew for all the hand the sewing portions, yep no machine work on this hat and with a leather sweat band on the inside all completed and ready to wear and it fits !!! I saw one similar over 30 years ago before I started the shop could not believe how much the gentleman wanted for it at an equestrian show! now I believe he didn’t want enough. This was a task, from drawing the pattern to completion !!!

Here’s a special project for someone a set of coasters and a coaster holder.

And here is another pair of our CASTLEBERRY SADDLE SHOP earth sandals !!!

Here is the before pictures on a beautiful old Colorado saddlery saddle vintage 1967.

Here’s another project complete rebuild of a Colorado saddlery saddle, really a beautiful old saddle A lot of sentimental attachment for young lady. I love working on these older samples this appears to be vintage 1967 if the markings are correct.

What an honor and privilege to work on this old Rowel Ranch saddle, was really in bad shape now looks somewhat better. I love the old masters !!!

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Here are some pictures of a Rowell Ranch saddle in the process of a rebuild. A bit dirty coming in and first process of cleaning. Horn already redone.

Check out this horn repair, before and after pictures, it was a bit of a task.

And here is another really nice breast collar we did for a local young cowboy!

Here we were asked to re-create and/or duplicate a breast collar for a real cowboy however no floral carving, just a border stamp.

Granddaughter Rayelle, age 10 is starting to take a more serious interest in the shop. Here she’s learning how to do some hand sewing and basket weave tooling.

Here is a set of directors chairs that we did 12 years ago and they had somebody really heavy sit in them and they gave way at the stitch line as you can see so they brought them back and we rebuilt them again a bit heavier and We cleaned and nourish them also and they came out really nice.

Yesterday went to visit a lady friend of ours that has cats and the whole time we are there she talks to them like they understand her it was amazing so I left came home told both our poodles, Apple and Party about it and boy did we have a really good laugh.