The Process
Marcio’s favorite part of the saddlemaking process is building the trees, which come in two kinds: wood trees, made of very light wood and wrapped in rawhide soaked in a polymerized resin to be resistant. These are used for larger gullet size Lightweights, cutback swell Lightweights and bear trap Lightweights.
Fiberglass trees are very lightweight, while also long lasting, and comfortable for the horse. The type of leather used on the saddle contributes to both its handsome look and its lightweight.
“We use a synthetic material to wrap the tree and then, to make it more durable, we put a layer of fine automotive leather over the frame to cover it,” Marcio said. “It is a real top-quality leather, the type of leather you find in expensive car seats. This combination makes the saddles to be light and also better looking.”
“[The trees] are the basis of the whole process of making a good saddle, they’re where it all starts,” Marcio said.
Drawing on his own riding experience, Marcio builds saddles that are functional and fast.
“When I design a new saddle, I do it as if I am making it for myself and my horse,” Marcio said. “It must be comfortable for me and also for my horse, and I make sure that it will not hurt the horse in any way.”
Challenges
Master Saddles has a crew of 41 artisans and every single saddle is made piece by piece in-house. Marcio’s wife Graciele and son Murilo also works with him. Marcio says his greatest struggle comes from outperforming other saddlemakers.
“The biggest challenge has always been to create good and contemporary saddles, and then have many competitors copying our work exactly,” Marcio said. “But we overcome it by always being one step ahead, with innovations, and strive to be better and better.”
The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has also presented extreme challenges, affecting Marcio and his family deeply.
“Covid hit Brazil early 2020, and it has been truly devastating for all our business, and every business here in my state of Sao Paulo,” Marcio said. “Just about all of our people got ill with Covid, not just once, but twice, some didn’t make it, some moved away to other pockets of the country where the pandemic is less severe.”
As all of the Master saddles are made by hand, and each artisan has a part to play in constructing a saddle, when someone misses work, Marcio said the whole continuity of production stops, delaying the whole process.
“We have safety nets for when this happens in a normal year, but with the pandemic, it has been very hard to find new qualified artisans to fill the vacancies, and training new ones to our way of making saddles has been a long process,” Marcio said.
Supply chain issues have caused irregular deliveries of supplies, and price hikes on materials—Marcio says up to four times the normal cost.
Despite all of these difficulties, Marcio still enjoys his work.
“I love making saddles, and I love to see our clients happy with our saddles,” Marcio said. “I want to deliver their saddles on time, and it pains me that this COVID situation is beyond my control, and I can’t.”
Looking ahead, Marcio is excited about the ways he can improve his saddles for his customers.
“I spend a lot of time thinking about how to evolve even more with the creation of new saddles and new combinations,” Marcio said. “I never stop thinking about new models and making many people happy.”
For more info: Go to mastersaddles.com to learn more about Marcio Martins Cardoso de Lima and Master Saddles.
