Horseback Finery : Handcrafted Saddle Pads Comfort Modern-Day Cowboys

Former President Ronald Reagan sits on one. So do Gene Autry and Sylvester Stallone.

In fact, any time one of these modern-day cowboys climbs on a horse, you can bet your bottom dollar they will be sitting on a custom saddle pad made by Moorpark resident Roland Wyatt.

For more than 20 years, Wyatt’s pads have brought comfort to horse enthusiasts throughout the country. In addition to the rich and famous, his customers include the police departments of Los Angeles, San Diego and Dallas.

“There is not anyone in the world that makes this type of pad,” said Wyatt, 59. “There have been several who have tried to copy us, but they all went by the wayside.”

Each of the pads is handcrafted of top-grain leather and plush carpet scraps left over from Wyatt’s Simi Valley carpet business. The thickly cushioned pads, which are cut and shaped to fit a horse’s back, can also be customized to include an owner’s initials or logo.

Wyatt, a longtime horseman, said he made his first saddle pad in 1968 because he was dissatisfied with the traditional pad, a wool blanket with little or no lining.

“I thought, ‘You know, I can make a better pad than what they’re selling,’ ” Wyatt said. “It’s something I wanted to do myself and then it mushroomed.”

After a few false starts, Wyatt put his custom pads on the market in 1971, and they have been selling steadily ever since. He said he grosses about $100,000 a year.

“It’s satisfying because it’s something I like to do,” said Wyatt, who employs five people to make the pads.

Even Wyatt acknowledges that his custom pads, which range in price from $150 to $280, contrasted with $39 to $59 for a regular pad, are not for the typical cowpoke.

“It’s certainly not for the back-yard horseman,” he said. “Some people say, ‘What the hell, I didn’t pay that much for my first car.’ Well, that may be true, but there are also $200,000 horses out there.”

Buddy Gordon, vice president of Al Gordon’s Paddock Shop in Burbank, said his store has been selling Wyatt pads ever since they have been on the market.

Gordon said he has sold several pads to Autry and Stallone.

“Their product is not only elegant but durable,” Gordon said. “In fact, one of the drawbacks is that they’re too good. When someone orders one, they never order one again. There’s no need to. You just don’t wear it out.”

Lt. John D. McCrillis, who heads the Los Angeles Police Department’s 31-member mounted police unit, said he has never had to replace pads.

“We’re quite pleased with them,” he said. “We use them every day. They’re durable and long-lasting. They also look real nice.”

Wyatt said he supplies about 500 Western wear shops nationwide.

It was through Longhorn Saddlery in Mesquite, Tex., that he got the assignment of a lifetime, he said.

Shortly after Reagan was elected President in 1980, the Texas Republican Committee asked Longhorn Saddlery if it could make a special pad for Reagan. Wyatt was given the job.

Wyatt said he and his wife, Nancy, designed two carpet pads, both red, white and blue.

One featured Reagan’s initials, and the other was decorated with stars and stripes.

“It was quite an honor to be allowed to make them,” he said. “When you do something for the President of the United States, I would say that’s a highlight.”