“It’s an interesting place to be because of the people you meet from all over the world,” said Gale. “I’m not out to really make money. Our deal with O’Keefe (Ranch) is to do some teaching.” That agreement includes talking to most of the grade three’s in the valley as well as visitors who drift into the Carriage Shed while walking around the ranch.

“People come in and are flabbergasted,” said Gale. “I show them how leather starts out as rawhide and can be put into a vat for a month to a month-and-a-half with tree bark for tanning. I can’t believe the number of kids who don’t know where leather comes from.”

He shares, with those who are interested, how to put a front on a saddle or cover a horn. “Looking at it you wonder how you could ever make it fit,” he said. “You can do fantastic things with leather. You can push it around corners and stretch it. You use a stick and rub it and rub it until all the wrinkles are out.” He shows them “saddle trees” (inner forms) of fiberglass that have been around for about 30 years, and the wood trees covered in rawhide that are still the best. He explains that a tin “strainer” holds the shape of a seat and that deep seat saddles are used for barrel racing and reining while flat seats are used for cutting.

Since he was a rancher in Alberta for many years Gale knows about being on horseback. The riding started when he was a child on a farm with a pony and workhorses. Later, in what he calls his “wild days,” he raced wild horses and even had a permit to chase and catch wild horses in the foothills north of Cochrane.

 Saddle making was something he learned out of necessity when he had to do his own repairs. He taught himself by taking one apart in his shop on the ranch. He learned more from saddle-maker friends and a book written in 1950 by John Beck that he still refers to. When he moved to Vernon he bought a shop with heritage machinery that he continues to use. “The old stuff fit right in here,” he said.

Besides saddles Gale has designed straps for holding a trunk on the platform of a 1932 Pierce Arrow car, wide hand-decorated guitar straps, chaps for a bull rider, lots of belts decorated with silver-plate, and gold-plate conchos and buckles that are shipped all over the world. His wife Marion, who helps him in the shop when she’s not in her garden, has made vests and bracelets. Gale is proud of how competent she is becoming with the machinery.

His customers tend to be recreational riders with acreages and a few horses. It’s hard for him to compete with factory-made saddles that can be put together in an afternoon and sell for $800 - $900. But one trend that brings him business and didn’t exist when he was young is saddle fitting. “Today people are more concerned with their horses. We’ve done house calls with two or three trees and put them on the horse before choosing one. Then we visit again – maybe it’s still not perfect and needs a shim in front or back to make it higher or whatever is necessary. I don’t charge for visits. I can also take an old saddle and adjust it to fit better. I enjoy taking anything and making something out of it. I like woodwork also. I’ve always used my hands.”

October 2007 Lynn Dewing