What Is Estes Saddlery?

Updated

Estes Saddlery is a custom Western saddle maker operated by Ted Estes, based in Ball Ground, Georgia. The shop builds handmade Western saddles to order, and its stated approach is to use top-tier materials without compromise — starting with the saddle tree and extending to the leather and rigging hardware. If you are looking for a stock, off-the-rack saddle, this is not that; Estes Saddlery is set up around custom work fitted to a horse and rider.

What Estes Saddlery offers

The site is organized around a few main areas:

  • Custom Saddles — the core service: a saddle built for a specific horse and rider.
  • Saddles For Sale — saddles available for purchase.
  • Saddle Photos — a gallery of finished work.
  • About Ted — background on the maker.
  • Contact — phone and email for inquiries.

How the custom process is described

The site explains the build in terms of three material decisions, each tied to a named supplier.

1. The saddle tree

Everything begins with the tree, described as the foundation of the saddle. Ted works with tree makers Warren Wright and Rick Reed. The stated goal is not to fit a horse's exact current shape, but to properly fit a type of build — the reasoning being that a horse's conformation is dynamic, changing over time and as the horse moves. Good communication between saddle maker and tree maker is treated as essential.

2. Skirting leather

Two leather options are offered: Hermann Oak and Wickett and Craig. The site describes both as having distinct qualities and as the best leathers currently produced.

3. Rigging

For rigging, Ted uses Dale Harwood and HorseShoe Brand (Jeremiah Watt) exclusively.

The overall claim is that there are no compromises in materials or construction.

Who this is for

Estes Saddlery suits riders who:

  • Want a Western saddle built to order rather than bought off a shelf.
  • Care about the provenance of the tree, leather, and hardware.
  • Are willing to accept a long build timeline — one customer testimonial describes "a very long and painful process" before the saddle arrived in Mozambique, while also calling the workmanship among the best they had seen.

If you need a saddle quickly, or want to compare many stock models side by side, a custom shop like this is a poor fit.

Contact and location

  • Location: Ball Ground, GA
  • Phone: 678-677-7332
  • Email: [email protected]
  • Facebook: linked from the site

The site does not publish pricing, lead times, or a deposit/ordering policy, so those details would need to come from a direct inquiry.