Chapter 6

The way back to Elk City was easy. Suzy’s horse was calm and didn’t seem to have any issues. We stopped off in Ashton, Idaho, to visit a saddler that I knew.

Little known and refusing to advertise, he operated solely by word of mouth. And he was probably the best leatherworker I had ever seen. He spent most of 2 days measuring everything that you could think of on both the horse and Suzy.

When he finished the measuring, he started talking to Suzy about how she rode. Even getting her on the horse and watching her ride. He had her go through all of the gaits. Walk, trot, canter, and gallop. Taking notes as they went along.

Then he started talking about leather. Did she want exotics, like alligator or ostrich? Did she have any preferences about color, texture? How about padding?

When he was finished, he started to quote a dollar figure. I stopped him before he could finish. Looking at Suzy, I asked. “The horse is yours. You paid for him. But can I at least buy your saddle as a gift? Say an early Christmas or birthday gift?”

Suzy sat for a minute. Then broke into a smile. “Of course, you can.” And latched on with a heat-inducing kiss.

The saddler had been watching, as well as the two apprentices. All three blushed crimson, which was interesting in the saddler’s case. You would think an 80-year-old to be past such things.

The saddler wrote up a quote on the saddle and associated tack and handed it to me. He was well aware that I wanted this confidential. I tried hard not to gasp at his price. It also didn’t even cross my mind to argue prices. We shook hands, and a date was made to pick up the finished product, eight months from now.

Again, I didn’t even think about challenging his estimates. This guy was the pro when it came to saddles. The only people better were in Europe.

After leaving Ashton, we took our time heading back to Elk City.