WESTERN WISDOM Season 4, Episode 010 "First Prize: Full Stamped Saddle" audio podcast by award-winning western author Stephen Bly. Sponsored by BlyBooks.com Legacy Series.
"First Prize: Full Stamped Saddle" blog post article found here: https://www.blybooks.com/2022/07/stamped-saddle/
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A PRIZE FULL-STAMPED SADDLE
Reed Phillips from Canyon City, Colorado sent me a charity raffle ticket for a drawing they're having. Now it seems like a worthy cause and to tell you truth, it’s one time I wouldn’t mind winning. First prize is a beautiful, handcrafted, silver mounted, full stamped trophy saddle.
HAND CRAFTED SADDLE MAKERS
Now I’ve watched the old boys as they’ve built saddles like that, and I know the work that it takes. My saddles have all been pretty slick and plain, mainly because that’s all I could afford. Handcrafting and stamping on saddles is meant to more than just some fancy foofaraw.
PRACTICAL CRAFTSMANSHIP
Like everything else connected with cowboy gear, the tooling on the saddle has its practical purpose as well. The rough indentation of the fancy saddle is meant to cause friction on the rider’s jeans and will actually help a man sit tight in the saddle without tiresome leg cramps that sometimes accompanies riding a snuffy horse.
Most everything a cowboy did in war had a very practical explanation behind it. But just because it had a practical purpose doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be pretty.
PRACTICAL SPIRITUAL LIVING
Now, it seems to me that the Christian life is meant to be practical. That means that our every action has a purpose.
Paul says, “I do not run like a man running aimlessly. I do not fight like a man beating the air” (1 Corinthians 9:26).
A PURPOSE FOR EVERYTHING
For Paul, every step, every action, every word, every possession had a purpose in accomplishing the task he’d been given to do. But that doesn’t mean the Christian life is just a dull, boring grind. A Christian family should follow biblical principles of discipline, instruction, and respect. But you can also have an uproariously good time in applying those principles.
LIVELY WORSHIP
A worship service should show respect and honor and praise to God, but you can do that with a wide smile on your face and a shout of joy from your lips and a clap of your hands. You see, we can do the minimum. We can just be obedient to God’s commands. Or we can be obedient with a flair, with joy, with great delight. Either way will get you there. But one sure does look a whole lot better than the other.
Sort of like the difference between a plain saddle and one that’s full stamped.
Stephen Bly
Circa 1995