Those who want a custom-made saddle from Bernie have to wait about 10 months before they get to the top of his order book, and then another two or three weeks while the design is planned, the tree is ordered, the saddle starts taking shape and the fit is checked and adjusted to the customers requirements, and finally the finished article is ready for its first time on a horse. Bernie works on just one saddle at a time, usually putting in about 10 hours on each one. One of the special saddles he makes each year is the trophy for the Warwick Gold Cup Campdraft.

Bernie’s latest saddle went to Wisty Halloran. “At first I had only a fairly rough idea of what I wanted,” she said.

“Mostly I’m riding in the bush, so being comfortable is a priority if you’re on a horse all day.

I wanted a stock saddle with fenders, but some of the fender saddles I’ve ridden in weren’t comfortable at all, and I wasn’t sure why.

“I talked through that with Bernie and realised how important it was for the tree to be the right shape for me as well as the horse.

Then we got down to details such as the position of the kneepads, the metal fittings, the type of stirrup irons (I didn’t want ox bows), and the girth system. I showed Bernie two old saddles and we went through what I liked and disliked about each of them.”

Wisty said the really nice part of having a saddle custom made was adding some personal touches.

“Bernie did some beautiful decorative stitching and tooling for me - hand stitched Celtic knots on the facings below the cantle, and a tooled monogram, based on a design from the Book of Kells, on the fenders,” she said.

Bernie also managed to get some special cloth for the counter lining under the saddle.

“I’m absolutely thrilled with the result,” said Wisty.

“I’ve had the saddle on two horses and it feels just great. As Tom used to say, it’s better to ride in a Brady saddle than wish you did!”