Made in Chattanooga - American Saddlery, Inc.

John Wayne may have never ridden in a saddle made by American Saddlery, and "The Duke" never knew what he missed.  American Saddlery has been in Chattanooga 38 years.  Its 40 employees proudly keeping equestrians comfortable in the saddle, and the horses happy to tote them around.  The company has 100 models of saddles, all of them MADE IN CHATTANOOGA.The 40 employees at American Saddlery specialize in saddles, but also "bridles, breast collars, and smaller items like tie straps, curb straps, throat straps and others," says company president A. J. "Jack" Hughes.The key to building a good saddle starts here with Barbara.. She works with strips of leather, and pattern molds.  "The seats are cut in 2 pieces," says Mr. Hughes.  "The reason we do that is so we can get uniformity in each side."  While that's going on, the horn is built at another station.  It is trimmed to make it smooth, with a finished edge.  The leather cutouts that worker Barbara is working on, are brought to the next station, where a wooden mold is waiting.  "The front is added, and we have shaped the seat," Mr. Hughes says.  "That is one of the most important things to the saddle, because where you sit, has to be comfortable."Leather has been stitched by hand.  "You work leather when it is ready to be work, not when you're ready to work it," he says.  The pieces are glued to the wooden mold.  The Cheyenne roll is the finished part of the particular seat we are following through the manufacturing process.Skirts are then attached.  "The skirts have a fleece lining that actually sits down on the horse's back."Left and right fenders are added..The final product is the result of a lot of tender loving care..But will the horse like it, with me in the saddle?  "I hope the horse knows what to do," I say to myself.The next morning, a beautiful warm, sunny day on the farm in Ooltewah, my horse Joey doesn't seem to mind the saddle... Or me.  I'm certainly not an expert, but the saddle we watched being made, actually rides pretty good."It's very critical that the saddle not only fit the rider," Mr. Hughes says, "but that the saddle fits the horse.  That's very important.Joey the horse, didn't seem to mind it at all.American Saddlery ships out 15 to 20 saddles a day, just like that one. People love them in this country, and people in China, Germany, Italy, France, Belgium and Canada apparantly enjoy them, too.  The company has regular shipments to those countries.Made in America... And MADE IN CHATTANOOGA.