Hope Saddle

The Hope saddle was the first trail saddle that we marketed. All of our trail saddles have the features of the Hope saddle. It is a slick fork saddle that is small and compact in design. There are a couple features that make the Hope saddle different than our other trail saddles. First of all it does not have a gullet hole. This gives it, its own unique look. The other difference is its fender. We call it the Hope fender. Along with its well shaped balanced seat, the fender is also cut in a way to keep the rider in proper alignment. This helps novice riders ride correctly without thinking about it, and people with back issues may like this fender because it keeps them from slouching. We often use this fender on our other trail saddles upon request. A reining fender is standard on our other trail models.

Why Choose a J.J. Maxwell Saddle?

There are many reasons why purchasing one of our trail saddles would be a good decision. Each saddle is more than just an exquisite, hand-tooled, quality piece of leather art. Each saddle is engineered and hand-crafted by a master saddle maker in the Old World, and western traditions. There are no gimmicks, just top quality workmanship, based on time proven principles.

All of our saddles are hand-crafted of top quality leather, 100% bark tanned wool fleece, stainless steel screws, and stainless steel or brass hardware. They are all compact in design, which means: lighter weight, shorter skirts, less bulk. The stirrup leathers are pre-stretched. The advantage of pre-stretched leathers is, the side you mount on will not become longer than the off side. We will lengthen or shorten fenders and stirrup leathers as needed for longer and shorter than normal inseams. The fleece is grain oriented, which keeps your saddle pad from sliding out from underneath the saddle. The skirts are blocked, which means that they have been wetted and formed to the tree and allowed to dry. This gives the underside of the saddle a nice curve to it. The back of the skirts are not sewn or laced together beyond the back of the bar and are allowed to float. This prevents a hard line across the back. A permament stirrup twist is applied to the stirrup leathers. This means less stress on the ankles, knees, and hips.

There are several choices for the seat, depending on your wants or needs: a well shaped hard seat with a nice pocket, a standard padded seat, or an inlaid padded seat. With a standard padded seat, you do loose some of the pocket. The inlaid is the preferred seat by most because you have a little bit of padding where it is needed, and you still have a good pocket. All of our seats are shaped in a way where there is no excess bulk. They are made as close contact as possible, for a western type saddle. In regards to a narrow twist. The twist can only be as narrow as the the fit of the horse. If you have a wide, flat backed horse, you are not going to have a narrow twist. Only way to narrow the saddle is to build up the seat away from the horse, but then you loose contact.

All of this is added to a special designed tree that will give the horse/mule and rider the utmost in pleasure for a lifetime. We use 11 possible fits with an easy to use fit system. The fits are based on different body types. The tree is a wood fiberglass covered tree for strength and durability. The front of the tree bar has been shortened up slightly and rounded off. This makes for less of a sharp angle. The front of the saddle is the front of the tree. You may note that there is very little excess skirt sticking out in front of the tree bar. The front of the saddle is meant to be placed just at or off the scapula. This modification to the tree is very subtle, but it allows for more freedom of the shoulder. All of our trail saddles have the same features. They all have a 4 inch cantle. The Hope saddle, Pistolero, Weatherly, and the GT Packer are all built on the same style tree.

We also have a unique rigging that lessens the cinch pressure, and spreads the pressure down the side of the saddle. This makes it unnecessary to have a rear cinch, and therefore, a lighter weight saddle. We do add rear rings, billets, and a flank strap upon request.

Beside all these features, our saddles have been designed to position the rider in a truly balanced postion. Not only will it postion you properly, but it has been designed to free up and accommodate the working muscles of your equine partner. Remember, if your horse is not enjoying the ride, then you probably aren’t either.