Cloete Saddles

08/04/2026

A Semi-custom Midlander
by Cloete Saddles

Custom-built for Kristy Hughes-Goyette and her chunky, black 14 year old Canadian/Hanoverian mare, Ember.
(Interestingly enough, Ember's previous owner, Carla May, is also a valued Cloete client)

This slick-fork, semi-custom saddle, with peonies carved by Tamara Cloete is going to be a perfect fit for Ember 🖤

07/10/2026

Horseback Archery Saddle
by Cloete Saddles & Franco Cloete

07/08/2026

CLASSIC, TRADITIONAL WADE
by Cloete Saddles - Franco Cloete
Crafted for Claudia Ellen Reh and her 10 year old QH Grade mare, Hazel.

Hazel's back profile is representative of a good percentage of QH profiles, with a zero rock and D-measurements throughout (double-back), widening out substantially toward rear positions 8-10.

Once again, Tamara Cloete cinched the thematic artful carvings according to Claudia Ellen's request for the 'Stranddistel (Eryngium maritimum)' - a flower cherished by her.

'Früher war die Stranddistel eine typische Pflanze in den Dünen der Ostsee- und Nordseeküste.
Die Stranddistel ist eine zweijährige Staude, die sich perfekt an das harte Leben am Strand angepasst hat.' (BUND)

06/18/2026

The Przewalski's horse is the only horse no one has ever tamed - apparently the last truly wild horse species on earth.
(not a very promising business prospect for Cloete Saddles 😆)

Dr. Edmund Hale's take on how eleven of these animals were reintroduced into China's expanding Gobi desert in 1986 and grew into an astounding population, is truly intriguing.

And not only is their organic multiplication remarkable, but also the regenerative effect they had on the desert area they were released into!

Horses move several kilometres a day, and so each animal becomes a slow-moving distributor of native plant material across the landscape.
They fertilise soil naturally; their dung dispersing seeds and returning nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, gut bacteria.)
They are beneficial to grass land structure; as a French study states, that grazing by wild horses maintains and promotes grassland diversity.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if more horses could be released from stable confinement to graze and benefit larger areas of land?!

Wild horses were released into the Gobi — and what came next is one...

06/05/2026

A semi-custom Highlander
By Cloete Saddles
Custom-crafted for Lee Hall and her 6 year old Paint gelding, Daunte.

Daunte sits entirely in our D-card (double-back) profile, meaning that he has a very rounded back shape, with prominent longissimus dorsi muscles and a higher/rounded rib shelf.

Now, Lee being a tiny rider, and Daunte being quite wide, the 14" seat required a narrow twist in order to ensure a comfortable ride for Lee 😁

This semi-custom swell fork Highlander has a few custom upgrades, i.e.
• top grain seat leather
• back cinch rigging system/D-ring
• barbed wire border tooling
• and some feathers custom-carved by Tamara Cloete

06/02/2026

Growing up, our daughters had to often share the couch with a new saddle or two, that were waiting to be shipped out somewhere☺️
At times, they probably felt much like 'saddle victims' LOL
And for many years they were bombarded with a cannonade of saddle-business talk in our home - all day, every day - so much so that they had a large part of our clients' names memorised!

Thís is to thank them for putting up with all the saddle talk and saddles that were part of their entire life growing up in the home of Cloete Saddles!

We are thankful for their involvement in our saddle business - Cheyenne is our website - & photo editor and promotional material designer, and Tamara (in the pic), is our leather artist who creates the amazing carvings on your custom saddles!

We're thankful for them!

06/02/2026

For all the new folk who have arrived recently, welcome!
We're so grateful to have you join our ride!
🐴🙋🏼‍♂️🙋🏼‍♀️🐴

06/01/2026

Cloete Saddles are light. Years ahead.

05/27/2026

I'm sorry - I'm going to have to be honest here...
This is a dang neat pic, not because of its mood and composition, but because it contains nuances that portray a modern saddle maker's investment in his workmanship; the passion and depth of reflection and perception poured into his visions and subsequent toils.
Mean remarks on social media by people who lack understanding of contemporary saddle design, could never undo what this picture captures and portrays.

Artist: Stefanie Travers
https://www.stefanietravers.com/about

05/26/2026

SYMMETRY AND BALANCE ARE KEY TO HEALTH AND PERFORMANCE.
(Dana M. Johnsen)