Lining Up for a Seat of Honor

Like the sight of a horse in the middle of the city, Galdino Gomez’s saddle shop takes one aback.

In it, time has stood still. Gomez makes saddles here one at a time, by hand, each designed precisely for its rider’s needs, fitted to both the person who will sit in it and, often, the horse on which it will rest. His methods, in a culture of mass-produced goods, are increasingly rare--even in the down-to-earth world of horses and riders.

Gomez’s shop is tucked behind the Broken Horn Western shop in Baldwin Park. Out front on Leorita Street, a life-size statue of a horse marks the spot; to the side, traffic speeds by on I-10.

Inside, Gomez, 53, uses centuries-old techniques he learned in rural Mexico and transplanted to urban America. The air smells of leather and the warm home-cooked lunches waiting in the back room. A pile of tanned cow hides is stacked in one corner; in another stands an old sewing machine just one step removed from a treadle. Hanging on the wall are patterns for works in progress. All around are scattered the materials and tools for making and repairing saddles.

“I’m a lot slower than other saddle makers because I tend to be a perfectionist. I am constantly calling the client, asking them to come to the shop to see if the saddle is shaping up the way they envisioned it,” Gomez says in Spanish. It is not unusual for a client to trailer their horse into Gomez’s shop to ensure that the saddle fits the horse as well.

When a client comes to Gomez for a saddle, he listens until he understands how they ride and what they envision. He sketches out a design so the client can see how it will look. He creates a pattern precisely for that saddle and fine-tunes it until it is just right.

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Whether finished in silver or the simplest of leathers, the saddles become small treasures in demand by riders the world over--he has shipped them to Italy, Japan, Colombia, to Florida and Hawaii. They are worn in rodeos, show arenas and parades, including the Tournament of Roses.

James Nottage, chief curator for the Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Los Angeles, said that custom saddles are highly prized possessions among riders. Gomez’s work is well-known to him.

“It difficult to find a really good saddle maker. Gomez is in very exclusive company. For people who ride, getting a saddle from an artist like Gomez is important because it fits the rider and horse.”

There are only a handful of artisans throughout the Southwest who use the techniques that Gomez brought with him from Mexico, Nottage said.

Gomez grew up near Guadalajara and made his first saddle at age 13. He taught himself how to make one by taking apart an old saddle and making a pattern from the pieces. That first saddle, he says, wasn’t very good but sold anyway. He later apprenticed with a master saddle maker and became one himself. Today, he has two apprentices working with him--son-in-law Ullises Plascencia and nephew Ernesto Toledo. Gomez’s two sons also learned to make saddles as children. “This business is very much a family business,” he said.

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The custom saddle is made with the same materials and techniques used 100 years ago: wood trees (the tree is the backbone of a saddle), rawhide, sheepskin and leather. The saddle is hand-tooled and hand-stitched. Mass-produced saddles are made with plastic trees, imitation leather, imitation sheepskin and are put together in an assembly line.

“A custom saddle is double the price of a factory saddle but probably a better bargain,” said Joe Nuzzo, whose father, Charlie, started the Broken Horn. The custom saddles are priced from $1,500 to more than $6,000.

Gomez’s current project is an elaborate, silver-embossed saddle he is making for display at the Broken Horn.

As with all his saddles, he’s staying in touch with his customer.

“I always give my clients a guarantee that the saddle will fit or else I will make them another one,” Gomez said. “I have never had a saddle returned.”