4-Beat Stitchery came into being when Gloria Cihan developed an interest in the “Cadillac of Saddles”, the Minihan style of Plantation Saddle. Gloria was always involved in art, even as a child. Her interests initially led her to explore all mediums, without settling on any one, until she discovered the Minihan style of Plantation Saddle.  Gloria had ridden from an early age and once she had used a Plantation saddle for the first time, she has used them ever since. Gloria’s Cherokee Heritage had already seeded an interest in leatherwork within her, and the interest grew into a quest to become proficient as a saddle maker and restorer. This led her to begin to collect, restore, repair and customize these rare saddles.. Sunday, 06-Jul-2008 19:30:58 EDT

A Brief History of the "Kentucky Spring Seat Saddle" and the Minihan style of Plantation Saddle.
In the late 1800’s Eugene Minihan is credited with being the first saddler to devise the "Kentucky Spring Seat Saddle". This innovation was a flexible tree that gave a spring to the saddle, which gave a comfortable ride to both horse and rider that no previous saddle type had. There is no record of the total amount of custom saddles made by Minihan, but these saddles were sent all over the US, Canada and other Countries. He gave us the saddles till his Death in 1926.

Minihan and brothers, John & Tom Salmon and J.W Hutchison, a Virginian who was a crippled Civil War Veteran, worked with him on producing these saddles in Minihans time. A great many hours were spent on these saddles without highly sophisticated machinery. Today there are very few good saddle makers left with the knowledge to carry on his work, on the Plantation saddles. Gloria hopes that she will be able to contribute to their continued use and enable these saddles to be enjoyed in the future. Perhaps one day she will fit into the same category of fine saddle makers of history, as a woman.

Preachers, Lawyers, other highly influential people as well as the average person rode the Plantation saddles. They were used in the mountains, on the plantations and just for enjoyment. Gaited horses have always used the largest number, although you can use them on any type of horse.

Gloria has always had a keen interest in the many different styles and patterns that are on the seats, and she takes pains to reproduce them faithfully. In her custom saddles, she has chosen the styles, trees and sizes that are best suited for the conformation of the horses of today. Gloria has adapted the pommels to a wider spread, as the original pommels were often rather narrow for today's horses.
 

All of the leather used is American tanned and we use American made saddle trees because we think Americans can do a better job than anyone else. 4-Beat Stitchery sews, molds, shapes, stamps, carves and tools each leather item by hand, and often distinguishes it by carving the customer's name on it. It's not factory made or mass produced. The talent used to create each article is apparent to anyone viewing the workmanship. 4-Beat Stitchery keeps prices within a reasonable range for the quality of work produced.

Gloria hard at work on a restoration.

 

The Friends and the good times we have had because of these saddles have been priceless. Gloria hopes that she will please you with her saddles and work, while carrying out a bit of history herself. Happy Trails.....