Roy Rogers' Saddles

Roy Rogers was a wildly popular singer and cowboy actor from the late 1930s to the late 1950s. He was well known for his spectacular Hollywood-style Western dress, seemingly always outfitted in custom-made shirts, pants, boots, and gun rigs. Roy also saw to it his golden palomino stallion, Trigger, was decked out just as elaborately as he was. Trigger wore only the best in fancy headstalls, bits, breast collars, saddle blankets, and custom-made saddles. Trigger's most resplendent saddles (as well as some of Roy's more eye-popping gun rigs and other gear) were made by Edward H. Bohlin, an extraordinary craftsman known for combining intricate patterns of gold and silver on leather. Many of Trigger's saddles were covered in silver and/or gold, and some of them weighed as much as 150 pounds.

In the photo to the right Trigger is wearing a saddle made by Edward H. Bohlin. Note the silver covered pommel, fancy tapaderos (hooded stirrups), and matching headstall, reins, and breast collar.

Roy Rogers' Plastic Saddles

Roy Rogers and Dale Evans also owned several plastic (yes, plastic) saddles. According to the Roy Rogers, Dale Evans autobiography "Happy Trails, Our Life Story," during the 1950s Roy and Dale rode Trigger and Buttermilk in most of the Tournament of Roses parades held annually on New Year's Day in Pasadena, California. Roy said he got tired of seeing their Edward H. Bohlin saddles get rained on in the parade, and had brightly-colored plastic saddles designed for him and Dale by a plastics company in Wyoming. Roy really liked the saddles, commenting that they were lightweight, comfortable, and easy on the horse and rider. Unfortunately for the saddles manufacturer, though, the saddles didn't catch on and only a small number of them were ever made. The plastic saddles used by Roy Rogers can occasionally be seen in publicity photos of Roy or his horses.

The photo at right shows Roy in an advertisement for plastic saddles made by All Western Plastics, Inc. The bottom three lines of the ad read:

All Western Plastics, Inc.
Originators of Plastic Saddlery
Lusk, Wyoming