When you are looking for a saddle bar stool or saddle counter stool as your kitchen bar stools, or if you own a Western style restaurant or bar and would like to recreate the feeling of the bygone era of the Wild Wild West, there is one thing you can do to get into this feel – get a set of western bar stools, and in particular saddle bar stools.
Have you ever ridden a horse? When you sit in a saddle seat bar stool, you get back the feeling of being in the saddle, and this adds to the illusion of the grand old wild west times.
We will explore here three types of western bar or counter stools which will suit several different tastes and occasions. We’ll talk about modern bar stool, round saddle stool, and cowhide seat western saddle bar / counter stool.
What all these stools have in common is that they are made of wood. Back in the times of wild west, metal was not as prevalent as it is today, and the cowboys had to make do with the materials that were more readily accessible, in particular wood. So the cowboys had to master the art of woodworking to create these stools. The other materials the cowboys had available were natural leathers, either coming from caught wild animals, but more commonly from the cows that were slaughtered for their meat.
Another thing these western saddle bar or counter stools have in common is that, just like the horse saddles, they never feature a back rest, or the arm rests.
Let’s look at these three styles of saddle bar/counter stools.
Modern style rectangular saddle bar stool
When you would like to establish that wild west cowboy feel in your home, but you have modern style kitchen furniture and fixtures, then you should consider modern style saddle counter stools. They will still be made of wood.
Some modern style saddle counter stools have their seat shaped in a downward curve, resembling the curvature of the saddle. Despite the rectangular shape of the “floor plan” of the seat, you will be able to sit on the chair looking forward, as if riding, and straddling the chair with your legs, or you will be able to sit sideways, with your legs together, and your behind safely seated in the curve of the saddle seat.
Others have their “saddle” made of straight, flat wood, which might be a type of seat you are more used to.
Round saddle bar stool
Some western style counter stools have a round “saddle” instead of rectangular. They are still termed western counter stools for their other qualities, such as wood as the material for both their legs and the seat. They will typically have four legs, and the neighboring legs will be connected with cross bars at different heights on neighboring sides, and same heights on opposite sides, for stability and sturdiness of construction.
Sometimes the legs will be made of natural branches, with their natural curvatures, giving a seat a rustic, unique look. Later, with the development of wood carving machines, the legs would become straight and of the same shape, and would feature simple circular ornaments.
Cowhide seat western saddle bar stool
Cowhide is a natural cow leather that has been minimally processed, not bleached or colored. It may have been soaked in salt after the cow was skinned, and in the tannery, it might have been tanned to remove the odors and prevent shedding of hair.
Wooden western bar stools would then be upholstered with that cowhide leather, using metal round top tacks, which would provide a look of a western bar stool strongly resembling a horse saddle. Sometimes, a saddle horn would be added to one side of the bar seat to complete such horse saddle bar stool.
