Frank Baines - Bespoke Saddle Maker

Walsall is a town built on leather. In 1900, when the cavalry still rode horses into battle, 10,000 of the town’s inhabitants worked in the leather industry – and 7,000 of them were saddle makers. Such was the significance of the trade, Walsall’s football team even became known as The Saddlers. Today there are around 40 saddle manufacturers in the area. Some of the larger outfits have turned to machinery, but most still cut and stitch their saddles by hand.

Frank Baines has saddle-making in his blood – his family has been involved with the trade for almost 150 years. “My grandfather was a bridle-maker, and it was he who first sparked my interest. I did a six-year saddle-making apprenticeship straight out of school,” says Baines. “I then started the company with my wife and we now employ my son and his wife, and my daughter and her husband. It really is a family business.”

Frank Baines Saddlery is one of the UK’s leading producers of handmade saddles for dressage, jumping and eventing disciplines. The company exports its saddles to more than 20 countries worldwide, though it has taken them the best part of 40 years to get to this point. “My wife and I started making saddles in our kitchen at home,” says Baines. “We’d probably only make a couple a week at that stage. Now we send out around 100 saddles every month, and they’re all made-to-order.”

Baines’ workshop is a well-oiled production line. His leather-cutter, for example – whose job it is to scalpel out the 90 patterns for each saddle – has been with the company for more than 20 years. He passes on the patterns to the saddle makers – many of whom are also veterans of the trade – who arrange and sew together the facings, panels and gussets before stuffing them with flocking and stretching them over the tree (the skeletal wooden frame of the saddle). During the process, 15 metres of machine stitching, 850 hand stitches and 400 tacks go into the finished article.

Over the years, the company has picked up countless awards for its innovative approach to saddle-making, including winning the prestigious Best Made Saddle Competition, held by the Worshipful Company of Saddlers, on no fewer than seven occasions. These days though, Baines is more concerned with educating the next generation of saddlers, and continuing to perfect the contact between horse and rider.

“It’s all very well having these exotic leathers and fancy flaps – and we can do that,” says Baines. “But for riders to compete and be successful, the most important thing is, and always will be, the comfort of the horse.”

To read more of our articles click the button bellow. Alternatively, if you would like to find out about our 2018 fixtures click the fixtures button. 

More Articles

2018 Fixtures