Randy Severe holds the stamp used to emboss the Round-Up bucking horse logo onto the trophy saddles

PENDLETON — Saddlemaker Randy Severe grew up at Severe Brothers Saddlery, soaking in expertise from his father Bill and uncle Duff. The Severe family started the saddle shop in 1955 in an old Army building near the Pendleton Airport.

His father and uncle tutored young Randy in crafting belts and wallets, but said they wouldn’t let him make an actual saddle until he got married. Randy married Rosemary at age 21 in 1974.

“The day I got back from my honeymoon, Duff met me at the doorstep,” Severe recalls.

The young man learned quickly and several decades later, he carries on the tradition. Brothers Robin and Monty craft saddle trees from their own locations. The shop is a balm to the senses.

Rawhide scents the air. Severe’s domain of leather and wood contains hundreds of tools, old photos, antlers, straps, stirrups and buckles. An ancient guitar hangs from a peg.

Severe has sold saddles to some well-known clients. Actor Clint Eastwood sat aboard a Severe saddle while filming the movie “Pale Rider.” When President Gerald Ford’s son, Steven, decided to try saddle bronc riding, he had Severe make him a saddle on the advice of rodeo cowboy and actor Casey Tibbs. Then there’s a long list of rodeo stars: Tibbs, Ty Murray, Larry Mahan and the DeMoss brothers, Cody and Heith.

Severe’s saddles have the reputation as being as comfortable as an old pair of boots for both the rider and the horse. He said his saddles start with a quality tree, which, he says, is as important as a skeleton is for the human body.

Severe says he uses quality rawhide to craft saddles that “are guaranteed to last a lifetime” and “put a smile on the horse’s face.”

Over the years, Severe Brothers Saddlery produced more than 200 trophy saddles for the Pendleton Round-Up. Each requires at least 120 hours of labor.

Saddles aren’t Severe’s only product. Several years ago, Pendleton Whisky contracted him to make engraved leather bottle sleeves for the company’s 20-year-old Canadian whiskey.

Severe’s Uncle Duff, who taught his nephew the art of saddle making, died in 2004 at age 84.