Dan Lawrence Custom Trees & Saddles

Dan Lawrence Custom Trees & Saddles Dan Lawrence - Saddler
Maker of Traditional Rawhide Covered Trees & Saddles. Hunter Valley, NSW Australia.

I am a seasoned saddler with over a decade of experience crafting strappings and saddles. My journey into this trade stemmed from a desire for superior, more durable gear for my horses. Each item I produce is meticulously handmade, with a focus on crafting high-quality working gear, encompassing both Australian stock and Western styles. Central to my work is ensuring optimal tree fit for horses, p

rioritizing their comfort alongside that of their riders. My saddles and strappings are tailored for endurance and rugged use, designed to withstand long hours and demanding tasks. I maintain uncompromising standards in craftsmanship, utilizing only the finest materials personally sourced by me, discarding anything less than top-notch. I firmly believe in delivering excellence and reflect this commitment in my pricing structure.

Back home in nsw and just unloaded the machine I went to get. Lucky I upgraded my tractor or i dont think i could of mov...
12/05/2026

Back home in nsw and just unloaded the machine I went to get. Lucky I upgraded my tractor or i dont think i could of moved it so dam heavy.

Stay pony 😅
10/05/2026

Stay pony 😅

In my quick visit to QLD I managed to visit Peter Brophy. It was a rushed visit but we managed to cover alot mostly rela...
10/05/2026

In my quick visit to QLD I managed to visit Peter Brophy. It was a rushed visit but we managed to cover alot mostly related to horses and trees. I finally got to see his old time saddle in person. Photos don't do it justice. I have not seen a tooled saddle to this standard anywhere in the country. It's just beautiful.

07/05/2026

My next project is to develop somewhere here to do trees. I do 90km travel just about every day in travel for abit of guidance and to use machines I don't have. Its exhausting and quiet the cost in fuel, all that keeps me going is my desire learn and do the best job I can. 1st step is to start gathering machinery. I feel doing more here is the only way for me to learn quicker and to remember the geometry/method. I often find myself in bed by 7pm due to how tired I get.
I'm actually really looking forward to just cutting leather and sewing again lol. But I know even when i'm up to that stage I need to keep making trees.
I guess thats why i've heard many say people either be saddle makers or trees makers not both.
Apologies if i'm slow to reply, not intentional just running low on batteries and have no one else. I manged to find one machine I need in QLD the other day. Have to pick it up myself or freight will kill me so decided to take a extra day to spend some time with Peter Brophy.

09/04/2026

It's all the same but different!😉 ENGLISH SADDLE SEAT REPAIR done in the Hunter Valley NSW.

Happy Easter everyone! Bit of a update and some fit advice!Update from whats been going on here, trees are slowly coming...
02/04/2026

Happy Easter everyone! Bit of a update and some fit advice!
Update from whats been going on here, trees are slowly coming together for customers who have ordered saddles, i'm still learning the tree side. The saddle orders range from 1 side of the card system to the other, so alot of changes i've had to get my head around since they are all handmade out of wood. I've long respected the tree as the most important part of the show but often not appreciated enough by the public and even certain saddle makers. I experienced first hand how much damage a wide tree can do and thats what made me want to be a saddle maker. I worked out over time by measuring horses, I didn't have enough variation in tree sizes for the horses I was measuring. I've seen alot of people advertising they are using the EBPS which is great to see measuring but i'd advise you to also be careful. Its a tool and only measures back profiles. You then have honesty part by the person interpretting the information, no further comment on this.
For me i'm not interested in measuring your horse and selling you a saddle built on a tree that wont work. Had it done to me multiple times, thousands of dollars wasted. My aim is to do my absolute best to connect the dots for you with the information we gather. Unfortunatley you can never guarantee anything as things change however mostly its minor. Your tree however doesn't change, unless its broken! So its your constant.
This is why its important for trees to be rigid not flexible. A symetrical tree that has built in scope is what you need. 99% of your problems will disappear when you measure your horses and know what body type of horses your tree fits. I don't put a big emphasis on padding like you see most saddle fitters. But i'm also not trying to sell pads. I see pads are a bandaid not a long term fix, fix the root cause. In my experience with problems I encounter on my farm, if I don't fix the problem properly when It started occurring, it ends up costing me more in most cases. Hopefully this helps someone.
I expect to have repairs finished by end of next week. Last repair job is to put a new seat in a English saddle. So expect a finished picture next week :)

08/03/2026

Check your gear. Especially anything to do with rigging and stirrup leathers. Applies to both English and Western Saddles. Super important to keep these in good working condition for your own safety.

01/03/2026

Disabled the store on my website. Scammers/Bots keep attacking it and dont have the time at the moment to deal with it. So PM if you need anything.

24/02/2026

LONG TREES & SHORT BACKS

Have recently had this issue. Dennis and myself have been working on a solution for me and bud. To fit Bud a tree has to be wider with more angle compared to stewie. They require 2 different trees. Another challenge is Bud is also 2" shorter from the scapular to his 13/14 vertebrae or the B position if you use the EBPS.
I'm happy with the unloaded contact the tree is making. Next test will be under load. Have learnt quiet abit. I'll post a sweat pattern picture in comments :)

10/02/2026

Was great to do some measuring for trees yesterday in the hunter for a customer who contacted me for help. What was even more interesting to measure a horse with what I consider a working horse width & angle then switch to the rock card and its flat. This is first time i've seen this combination for a horse in 12+years of measuring.
When building a tree/saddle I recommend a minimum age of 4yo, horse in its typical working condition, 3 measurements 6-8 weeks apart then up to 12month wait time for finished tree/saddle from final measurement. May seem like a long process but the results you get really are worth it.

Something you may find interesting.The last 2 days we have been spraying and packing timber to dry at the tree shop, app...
04/02/2026

Something you may find interesting.
The last 2 days we have been spraying and packing timber to dry at the tree shop, approx weight of 5ton. Each length of timber approximately weighs 67kg. This creates about 200 sets of bars and 200 cantles for custom trees. 2/3 of this timber will end up on the ground to get the shape required.
Bloody happy that job is done before the next batch of 40c days! 🥵🌡

Address

5793 New England Highway
Blandford, NSW
2338

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