Frequently Asked Questions
And now for some questions we frequently hear. . .

Q. "What is the wait time for a custom saddle?"

A. The present "wait" time for a custom saddle is approximately sixty (60) days from the time we get your deposit until the saddle will be delivered to your door. Your time begins on the day we receive your deposit. You make your deposit by check, wire transfer to our bank or pay with a credit card.

Q. "Do you build your own saddles or are they built by contractors?"

A. This is a great question; every saddle. . . every single saddle that has the Jerry Shaw name stamped on it is built in our Saddle Shop by the team of professional craftsmen that we have assembled. We invite you to come to our shop and watch our team of professionals in action as they engage their experience and craft. Every saddle is built with a tree that we have had built by our tree builder to meet our criteria of excellence in design, fit and durability. . . designs that we have developed and proven in the field over many years of providing high quality saddles to professional cowboys and cowgirls. Every saddle with my name on it is built with the finest materials that we can buy, carefully selected hides that meet our high an stringent standards of quality, thickness and strength. The reason this is important to you is that the shop who farms out their work to the lowest bidder can not tell you if the tree is built in the USA or Mexico; can not tell you if the leather is high quality American Tanned Leather or something imported from Argentina, Mexico or some third world country from South America's whose standards are very low. We don't want to sell you a saddle; we want to be your saddle maker for life.

Q. "What kinds or types of saddles do you build?"

A. We build western saddles for cowboys and cowgirls who ride, train, show or work performance type horses. If you check out our SADDLES GALLERY you will see some of the saddles we have built in recent years including CUTTING SADDLES, REINING SADDLES, WORKING COW SADDLES, RANCH CUTTER SADDLES, WADE SADDLES, BARREL RACING SADDLES, SILVER SHOW SADDLES as well as saddles built for TRAIL AND PLEASURE. These are by no means the only saddles we've built or the only type of saddles we've built. We have simply tried to give you a sampling of our work so you can decide on the type or style of saddle you want.

P.S. If you check out our SADDLES IN STOCK GALLERY you will see what we have built and ready to ship.

Q. "What kind of leather and materials to you use in construction of your saddles?"

A. We have never had a customer accuse us of short changing them on the quality of materials that go into our high quality saddles. Leather makes a difference in the cost, quality and life of a saddle. For that reason we use the best American Tanned Leathers that money can buy. Our choice is almost exclusively leathers from HERMANN OAK LEATHER COMPANY or WICKETT & CRAIG LEATHER COMPANY OF AMERICA. Both of these companies maintain the highest of standards for their products and we pay dearly for that, not just to dramatically increase our production costs but to provide you with the best and finest quality product that can be built. We could use an inferior product, as many of our competitors do, and decrease our production costs dramatically but we refuse to take that route. As long as the Jerry Shaw name goes on a saddle the quality of materials will be the best available.

One only has to open one of our Saddle Galleries to see the remarkable difference in the many colors and textures of our saddles as opposed to other makers whose saddles all look the same drab color.

We also use only American made trees. And although we purchase trees from several companies to meet the needs of our customers, all the trees come with a minimum of five (5) years warranty.

Q. "Do you have a Dealer's Program for those who wish to resell your saddles and tack?"

A. We will not be adding any new dealers after December 1, 2011.

Q. "Do you have a catalog of your saddles and tack?"

A. At this time we do not have a printed catalog. With the many different saddles we build, we have felt that maintaining an up-to-date printed catalog would be too difficult and too expensive. Our web site is our catalog. Some of the saddles we are contracted to custom build are just "too interesting" for some folks, we do try to post those that we feel are relevant to the widest range of interest among those who visit our site.

Q. "Do your saddles have a warranty?

A. Yes. We are not afraid to stand behind our craftsmanship. If you buy a saddle that is in stock and it just doesn't work for you or your horse you may exchange it for one that does suit your needs or we will refund your purchase price less transportation and/or shipping costs. We'll treat you right if you'll treat us right. Don't expect us to readily make an exchange if the saddle comes back to us with the cantle chewed off or with a tractor tire track across the seat.

However, CUSTOM ORDERS have a different policy. Any refund on a CUSTOM ORDERED SADDLE will reflect the cost of the saddle less SHIPPING and the amount of the DEPOSIT. In every other way, a custom saddle will be treated as a saddle we sell out of our stock. Our trees are warranted by the manufacturer for at least five years. And we'll repair or replace anything that is awry due to faulty craftsmanship or materials. We want you to be happy with your purchase. Our web site stats show us that 97 percent of the people who have visited our site for the past three years do so by doing a search engine search by typing in J Shaw Saddles or Jerry Shaw Saddles. This means that they have either seen our work or have been referred to us by someone who thinks our work is worth checking out. We hope and believe this is a sign that we are doing our work well.

Q. "How much of a deposit is required to order a custom built saddle?"

A. When ordering a custom made saddle, a $1,000.00 non refundable deposit is required upon placement of you order. At the time you place your order we will give you an estimated time of completion. Many factors enter into the time required to build a saddle, therefore, our estimate of completion is just that; an estimate. We have no control over our tree builders schedules, therefore, our best guess is based upon our experience with them. The same is true with our leather suppliers. We have no control over their production times which are affected in many ways such as break-downs, large unexpected orders, and receipt of materials over which they have no control. Notwithstanding our best intentions, sometimes things just happen beyond our control that slow us down. We will do our best to meet our estimate time of completion but as you to be patient when things don't go as planned.

Q. "What is the purpose of the deposit you require when ordering a saddle?"

A. Experience is often a harsh teacher and reality is a bitter pill, sometimes, to swallow. By experience we have learned a few things, many of which we never hoped to learn. We have learned that, without an investment in a purchase (a deposit) some people will order one or more (sometimes as many as four) saddles with no intention of paying for them when they are completed. The deposit is, for us, an indication that someone is going to complete the purchase of the saddle when it is finished. It also helps us defray some of the costs of our investment in the materials to be purchased for your saddle. Your order will be placed in our building (manufacturing) line up only upon our receipt of your deposit.

Q. "Do you use top quality leather or the kind that has imperfections?"

A. We use only premium quality leather in building our saddles. Actually, we use the highest quality skirting leather that can be purchased in America. However, leather is leather. It is the hide of a cow and because of this each piece of leather has unique marks, natural characteristics and surface features which testify to its previous life as a part of a cow and to the authenticity of all natural leather. While great care is given to build a saddle with a "perfect" exterior it must be realized that not all cows live in mansions where they are pampered and adored. Some actually spend a part of their lives outside where they get branded, bitten by insects, nicked by barbed wire or kicked or bitten by other animals or bump into thorn trees. Also, since it is from the hide of an animal, variations of color may occur even on the same piece of leather. These are just natural characteristics of fine leather. And again, while we try to work around these characteristics, occasionally you will have variation from perfection.