RON ROSE

This saddle is built on a Wade tree made by Bill Bean, Eagle, Idaho, with 16-inch seat, a Guadalajara style horn and a 4 1/2-inch by 12-inch round cantle with Cheyenne roll. It has 7/8 flat plate double rigging, semi-square skirts, and 5X full flower carving with mixed floral design. The silver concho on the back of the cantle and slotted silver conchos were made by Chris Cheney, Rexburg, Idaho. The 5-inch curved-side Monel stirrups were made by Robin Johnson, Lima, Montana.

RON ROSE, Saddlemaker, Buhl, Idaho
Ron Rose was born in Ogden, Utah and at an early age became interested in rodeo, competing throughout high school and college and for 11 years in the Rodeo Cowboys Association. At age 24, spurred on by a friend betting him that "he couldn’t build one," Ron built his first saddle. From then on he was hooked. He operated a saddle shop in Ogden for three years before moving the operation to Twin Falls, Idaho in 1979. Three years later he moved his shop to Buhl. In the early 1980s Ron learned to build saddle trees from Tenney Haws of Midway, Utah, and built his own trees until 1990, when it became too much to do both. In 2003 Ron attended a carving class held at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering taught by Cary Schwarz, and has since spent time with Cary to continue to improve his carving. In addition to saddlemaking Ron runs a few cattle and enjoys training cow horses.

Photos by Adam Jahiel