According to Colonial Williamsburg, anyone who wanted to work in the saddle trade had to take up an apprenticeship sometime around the age of 13. Through this process, they would learn how to master the unique special knives and equipment required to make saddles and harnesses, including the half-moon-shaped round knife. Leather was then cut to specific measurements and patterns. Interestingly, these patterns were kept confidential, as they were what made one saddler unique from another — like a secret recipe. Saddlers did not make the wooden frame, hiring a specialist frame-maker or importing them from England.

Good saddlers needed a deep knowledge of their material, which they absorbed over time through experience. Hides can vary in texture, color, strength, and grain, and a saddler learned to match each hide with the job required. Saddlers could be successful and respected members of a colony, as they frequently worked with the upper echelons of society. While horses aren’t common methods of transportations for most Americans today, modern-day saddle-making is almost identical to the methods and materials used by their Colonial predecessors.