Standard western saddle racks for wall mounting

[ken gibbs]

Design Question:

I am doing a finishing job on an interior room in a horse barn. I am looking for a design for saddle racks that can be mounted on a vertical wall. I think I have the design close to what I need but does anybody have the standard dimensions for Western saddle racks? Western saddles are a minimum 24" wide but I need to have the vertical separation specs. Would 32" vetical separation be adequate?

Full bar Western saddles are heavy and I will use 2" X 2" 45 degree bracing out from the wall mortised into a 2" X4" that screws into the wall top and bottom. The top "L" will be used to hang bridals, etc. Appreciate any comments you may have and thanks for your help.

[Joe Chritz]

32" should be fine. The saddle rack I just did is 32" tall and works fine.

If this is to be semi-permanent storage I would build the racks with a curved top to take some of the stress off the saddle tree.

Joe

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Ken, I used to be around horses and their accessories more, so if my memory is working tonight, I remember all the tack rooms I was around having the saddles further off the ground then 32". More like 40". Not sure if thats what you mean by vertical seperation.

As you mentioned, they can be heavy, so height is important if the tack will be used much. If it's for display, it won't matter. Taller people appreciate taller stands. A few of the barns my Dad worked out of had kids and womens saddles stored lower.

Like Joe said, the bearing area needs to be wider. Pretty normal to see two 2x6's v'ed together to make that. One of the principals of the tack rooms where to allow air movement, as a working horse gets sweaty pretty quick, and wet leather dosen't last as long.

None of these barns had bridles stored above the saddles, because the reins are so long. There where usually halters, brushes, and the hundreds of other things that go with horses up there. Usually the reins where hung on a support post, which kept them from getting tangled and knotted.

My experiance was on, utilitarian, working cattle ranch barns, where fancy is not profitable, so take it for what its worth. Thanks for bringing back some good memories!

[Jim Becker]

32" vertical separation should be just fine for Western. It can be less for English saddles.

[Curt Harms]

a 10 gallon milk can bolted horizontally worked fine. Today I don't know what 10 gallon milk cans go for on the antique market, but I suspect it'd make an expensive saddle rack.:eek:

[ken gibbs]

I am planning on using 24" long 2" X 4" stock mortised into a wall mounted 2" X 4" with the narrow dimention cut into the flat mounted 2" X 4" mortise. Each "arm" will be set at 90 degrees from the vertical wall, and will have a 45 degree brace mortised into the "arm" and support. I am going to rip 2" X 4" stock at about 30 degrees and add a piece on each side of the 2" X 4" arm so the saddle will have a formed rest about 4 1/2 " wide with enough curve to ease the strain on the saddle. Does anybody have a better idea? I don't have any milk cans and I don't want to spend a lot of cash on custom cut moldings. Are their any off the shelf moldings aval that might work instead of ripping 2" X 4"s ?

Thanks for your help guys.

[Dennis Peacock]

Hey....I'd like to see some pics of the finished products.!!! My daughter has a horse and is kept at a neighbors place and barn and I'd like to make something like this out of appreciation of our neighbor allowing my daughter to keep her horse and supplies there.

[Charlie Plesums]

I am not an expert, but was still commissioned to build a saddle stand for a real working cowboy saddle. The reference book I was given recommended two flat boards, each about 30 degrees above horizontal, to hold the two halves of the saddle (a saddle is built with a support on each side of the backbone, but nothing on the horse's backbone). 8 inch wide boards, 26 inches long, with a couple inches between the boards at the top (for the horse's spine), turned out to be about 16 inches wide at the bottom, matching another recommendation. This forum does not allow a link to your own web site, but there is a page on my web site that discusses the saddle stand.

Another recommendation was to split a 16 gallon barrel (about 16 inches in diameter) in half, and attach the end to the wall. I don't understand how the barrel would hold together after it was split in half, but it does suggest a size.

[Jim Becker]

This forum does not allow a link to your own web site, but there is a page on my web site that discusses the saddle stand.

Indeed said links are allowed, Charlie. The prohibition is on other forum sites (of any type), auctions, and anything deemed for personal gain, such as pushing traffic for affiliate income, etc.

So post the link to the saddle stand resource!

Jim
SMC Moderator

[Charlie Plesums]

Indeed said links are allowed, Charlie. The prohibition is on other forum sites (of any type), auctions, and anything deemed for personal gain, such as pushing traffic for affiliate income, etc.

So post the link to the saddle stand resource!

Jim
SMC Moderator

Thanks Jim


I am not an expert, but was still commissioned to build a saddle stand for a real working cowboy saddle. The reference book I was given recommended two flat boards, each about 30 degrees above horizontal, to hold the two halves of the saddle (a saddle is built with a support on each side of the backbone, but nothing on the horse's backbone). 8 inch wide boards, 26 inches long, with a couple inches between the boards at the top (for the horse's spine), turned out to be about 16 inches wide at the bottom, matching another recommendation.

There is a page on my web site at www.plesums.com/wood/other/saddle.html that discusses the saddle stand.