Van Dyke Saddlery & Stock Horses LLC

Sheridan, Wyoming  ·  Est. 2004

Saddles built to last a lifetime.

Two traditional apprenticeships, more than 400 saddles, and one shop in the Bighorns. Paul Van Dyke builds custom saddles by hand — and teaches the craft to the people who want to build their own.

See the saddles Learn the trade
A rider's hands coiling a rope over a hand-tooled Van Dyke saddle, chaps and horse mane in frame

The standard in this shop

Three rules, and no exceptions

  • Better

    Make every product better than it’s ever been done before — and design every item you make to last forever.

  • Inside as well as out

    Make the parts you cannot see as well as the parts you can. Give the same attention to the smallest detail as you do the largest.

  • With the best materials

    Even for the most everyday items. There is no part of a saddle worth saving money on.

Three ways to work with Paul

Commission a saddle, come to the shop for two weeks, or start where you are with a course you can take at your own bench.

Silver-mounted cantle with hand-carved Sheridan-style floral tooling

Custom Saddles

Made to your custom order, one at a time, handcrafted and built to hold up to real work, day in and day out.

Start your saddle
Hand-carved floral pattern part-way through the tooling process

Sheridan School of Saddlery

Two students. Two weeks. Two saddles each. Not just how a saddle goes together, but why every part of it is made the way it is.

See the school
Saddler's hand tools laid out on a workbench

Online Courses

A growing list of courses filmed in the Sheridan shop — from drawing and a first project, through tack, to covering a horn and a swell for saddle makers.

Browse the courses

The work

Sheridan-style floral carving, basket, border and geometric stamping, silver mounting, and roughout working saddles that earn their keep.

Finished saddle photographed outdoors on the Wyoming prairie
Close-up of hand-carved floral tooling on a saddle fender
Hand-carved initials and scrollwork on the back of a saddle cantle
Saddle horn cap with color-tinted hand carving
Saddle seat with color-tinted floral carving across the jockeys
Basket-stamped saddle photographed outdoors
Roughout working saddle photographed against a haystack
Tooled saddle resting on a hay bale
Light veg-tan saddle on a rail in front of a haystack
Basket-stamped working saddle photographed outdoors

See the full gallery

What people say

“I got a new saddle from Paul last winter, and the first thing I did after riding it was order a second one. The construction is sound and built to use, the look is great, and the seat and fenders make good riding easy and comfortable. My line of work as a horse breaker can be tough, but it’s a little better when I can use my Van Dyke.”

Jacob B. Saddle owner

“Lots can do but few can teach. Paul is an exceptional teacher. I most appreciate how Paul connects the methods and techniques with the heritage of the Sheridan style.”

Kelly M. School graduate

“Not everyone who is good at making saddles is good at teaching others how to make them. Paul is both a master of his craft and an excellent teacher. His patient way of handling students keeps them in a learning frame of mind.”

Austin Willard School graduate

“Paul is a very patient and precise teacher. He taught me to build the parts of the saddle that you can’t see just as well as the parts that you can. Quality, inside and out, is something he really believes in.”

Ben Maurer School graduate

Get in touch

Talk to Paul

A saddle, a place at the school, or which course to start with — whatever it is, he answers his own email.

Email Paul Call the shop