SADDLE SURE “I never had a class” in saddle making, said craftsman Will Burgess.“I learned from my buddy and would go visit with the old saddle makers and learn from them. In the beginning, I would go to horse sales, and buy saddles, and tear them apart to see how they were made.” | COURTESYPHOTO
CUSTOM CRAFT Will Burgess, above, learned to make saddles from masters like Tooter Cannon of Dickens. To date, he's turned out a total of 364, at an average of 15 saddles per year; orders require a year's lead time. A custom Burgess saddle will go to theTop Hand at this year’s Motley-Dickens Old Settlers Rodeo. | COURTESY PHOTOS
RODEO TIME
Master saddle maker brings local influences to 99th Old Settlers’Rodeo
KAY ELLINGTON | CAPROCK COURIER
A quarter of a century ago, young Will Burgess had graduated from Graham High School in 1985 and headed to Weatherford College, where he stayed for two years. But college never quite captured his imagination.
What did intrigue him was that he had a buddy who took saddle making from Texas State Techn…
