David is a master saddler, with in excess of 45 years experience in the saddle making industry. He started his career as an apprentice, signing his deed of apprenticeship in 1967 and worked for 5 years before becoming a fully qualified saddle maker. He then went on to work for a local saddle maker for a number of years to hone his craft.

In the 1970's he moved to Lincolnshire to work in a retail saddlery shop making bespoke saddles. This was the equivalent of another apprenticeship, learning to make saddles which were unique to each horse and rider. During this time, In 1983 Dave won the coveted Worshipful Company of Saddlers competition.

In 1986 David became the production & design director for a large equestrian manufacturing company, and was involved in the creation of the first generation of synthetic saddles in the UK. He developed the cub saddle and designed their injection moulded trees.

In 1999, David designed his own polymer saddle tree, based on his experience wanting to maximise comfort and performance for horse and rider. Treetec Ltd was set up to produce these trees.

The Treetec saddle trees are used in all saddle company saddles, but are also sold independently to other saddle makers all over the world.

Dave was involved in setting the British standard for injection moulded saddle trees, then in the mid 2000’s helped set the British standard for wooden saddle trees.

Throughout his career, Dave has travelled the world, collaborating with riders and horse handlers, developing ideas and working on a variety of different saddles such as Keiffer and Forestier on saddle design. He is often asked to consult with designers and saddle makers and worked on development of saddles with leading figures across many different disciplines from natural horsemanship, dressage and showjumping.

Although David has created the foundations for The Saddle Company and continues to work on product development and innovation, he is supported by a talented team who produce all of the Saddle Company's products by hand to the highest standards.

Read more about the team here >