My everyday cattle working saddle is a McCall saddle with a Wade tree which I’ve had for 7 years. Still love it and think it is a great saddle for the price. They are known for a close fit to the horse and you tend to sit up straighter which makes for better balance.
Roger Allgeier, who owns Brighton Feed and Saddle in Utah, started the company 23 years ago. They have standard saddles sold through distributors but you can also have them design and build a saddle specifically to your needs. They make a lighter weight saddle called the Lady Wade as well.
My friend Rick Lamb recently interviewed Roger for his The Horse Show radio program and I hadn’t known the history of the Wade saddle.
The first Wade saddle design originally came out of Mexico late 1800s as Vaqueros came to California and brought the saddle with them. In the early 1930s Cliff Wade in California had a saddle made by Hamley in Oregon based on that original Wade design. Tom Dorrance saw it and wanted Hamley to make him one but with some changes. Hamley said they would call it the “Wade”. In 1958 Hamley redesigned his originally idea and it was called a 58 Wade. Finally Roger made some additional changes in 1998 and called it a 98 Wade. That’s what you see today.
You can get more information at their website by clicking HERE.