About Bud Shaul In 1980 I took apart and rebuilt an old saddle to see how it was made.  In doing so, I found my passion and have been building saddles ever since.  After first teaching myself how to build a solid saddle, I went on to learn the finer points of leather carving and saddle making at Hamley’s in Pendleton, Oregon. Although some of my custom saddles may never see the back of a horse or only see it during a show, I build every saddle so it can be used hard and stand the test of time.   I work with only the finest materials: Hermann oak-tanned leather draped on hand-made saddletrees.  I particularly enjoy working with customers who bring their ideas, photographs, or drawings and want to participate in the design process.  If you can imagine it, I can build it.   See example:  The Irish Saddle I also make all related tack for the western horse and rider, including chaps, chinks, wrist cuffs, headstalls, reins, slobber straps, bucking rolls, breast collars, tapaderos, etc. For hunters, shooters, and gun collectors I make leather gun accessories.  These include scabbards, ammo belts, gun slips, shell bags, molded rifle and shotgun cases, etc.  I often use exotic leathers such as elephant, water buffalo, and ostrich hides that are sent to me by my customers. I also create custom presentation cases for rare guns using English leather and brass hardware on hand crafted oak boxes.   See an article about saddle maker Bud Shaul in the March, 2004 issue of Western Horseman Magazine, page 115.