Calabasas Saddlery sits in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. Over 50 years, it has earned something most retailers never do — genuine loyalty that spans generations.
Southern California's most discerning riders keep coming back. They come for the custom Western saddles and the hand-picked English tack. More than that, they come for real expertise. No algorithm or dropdown menu can replace it.
You might be a lifelong equestrian looking for a trusted local outfitter. Or you might be new to the LA equestrian world and wondering why this shop carries such a strong reputation. Either way, the story behind Calabasas Saddlery is worth knowing.
Calabasas Saddlery: A 50+ Year Legacy in Southern California's Equestrian Community
Calabasas Saddlery opened in 1968. Back then, the nearby roads were still dirt. Hitching posts were practical — not decorative. That history shapes everything about who we are today.
In 1973, Vern Benfer took ownership and built what the store became. His daughter Julie runs it now. That makes Calabasas Saddlery one of the few family-owned businesses that has held onto its core purpose across generations. We hold the title of oldest continuously operating retail business in Calabasas — and that's not a small thing.
As one of the most trusted equestrian suppliers in Southern California, we’ve built long-standing relationships with top equestrian manufacturers near and far. The store has changed right alongside Southern California. It started by serving working cowboys in the Santa Monica Mountains. Today, the customer base looks very different. English riding disciplines — hunter-jumper and dressage — make up about 80% of our clientele. Women account for 85% of sales. Our shelves reflect that shift. You'll find Western saddles and working tack sitting next to English riding gear, apparel, and boots — all under one roof.
None of this came together by chance. Our team of 20 equestrian experts brings real, hands-on knowledge to every conversation on the floor. That's why Southern California's most serious riders keep coming back — season after season, year after year.
World-Renowned Custom Leather Work by Dave Thornbury
Some craftspeople become institutions. Dave Thornbury is one of them.
Dave has worked at Calabasas Saddlery since 1976. He handles the personal work — the pieces that can't be mass-produced, shipped overnight, or found in any brand catalog. His reputation reaches well beyond Southern California. Riders travel from across the country for his leatherwork. That says everything.
What Dave Makes (and Why It Matters)
Most riders are surprised by how much Dave can do. His craft covers more ground than people expect.
Custom chaps — built to your exact measurements, your discipline, your aesthetic. Not a size medium adjusted with a few snaps.
Saddle repair and restoration — giving new life to heirloom pieces and well-loved tack that deserves decades more of use
Branded customization — personalized leather work for riders, ranches, and programs that want their equipment to carry their identity
Leather horse equipment — handcrafted with attention that factory production cannot match
Each piece starts as a conversation. Dave works with you. He learns how you sit, how you ride, and what your horse needs. The process is slow and deliberate. That's the point. It's what makes his work different from anything on a standard retail shelf.
Booking Your Appointment
Dave works focused hours: Monday through Friday, 10am to 2pm. That's a deliberate choice. Good craftsmanship takes concentration — it's not a revolving door operation.
Reach out through Calabasas Saddlery to get in touch with him. The staff will point you in the right direction and help you prepare for your consultation.
One piece of advice: don't wait. Riders who find Dave tend to come back for every leather need they have. His schedule fills fast.
Anyone serious about leather horse equipment or saddle repair and restoration in the Los Angeles area knows this: Dave Thornbury isn't just an option. He's the standard everything else gets measured against.
Comprehensive English & Western Tack Selection Under One Roof
Walk through the door and the sheer breadth of it stops you. Over 900 tack items and 600+ horse care products line the shelves — English and Western, side by side, no hierarchy, no compromise. Very few equestrian manufacturers in California carry both disciplines at this depth. Calabasas Saddlery does.
That range is deliberate. Southern California riders don't fit a single mold. The inventory here reflects that reality straight up.
English Tack: The Details That Discipline Demands
Hunters, jumpers, and dressage riders — the English section covers all of you. Bridles span snaffles, pelhams, kimberwicks, and D-ring bits. That variety lets you match hardware to your horse's way of going without guessing. Girths are picked with saddle security as the priority. Martingales are stocked to coordinate with hunter-jumper tack. Presentation matters in the ring just as much as performance does.
English saddles run lighter and sit closer to the horse's back. The shorter-shanked bits — Pelham, Weymouth — reflect a discipline built on subtle communication. Every piece in this section is chosen with that mindset.
Western Tack: Built for the Long Ride
The Western selection gets the same careful attention. Headstalls follow the two-finger rule at the jowl — cavesson or pencil bosal, based on your horse's training stage. Reins come in longer split cuts, nylon and heavy leather both, with mecate options for bosal work. Bits offer gentle ports and curb options, sized to allow one skin fold at the lip corners. Breastcollars handle rough California terrain and keep your saddle right where it belongs on a long mountain ride.
Western saddle options go deep here. Seat depth, cantle height, horn size, and rigging — these are all discipline-specific details. The staff knows them from the ground up, whether you ride Western pleasure, rope, or run barrels.
You'll also find the details that show real range: elephant pads for heavy-duty Western cushioning, and pig blankets available by special order. These aren't filler products. They show that the shop serves every kind of rider, not just the most common ones.
Consignment Saddles and Try-Before-You-Buy
Budget matters. Fit matters too. Calabasas Saddlery stocks used saddles on consignment and lets riders try saddles on horseback before buying. That's a big deal. For beginners or budget-conscious buyers, it cuts out the biggest risk in saddle shopping: paying for leather that looks right on a stand but feels wrong in the saddle.
That policy alone separates this shop from most equestrian boutiques in the Los Angeles area. It's the kind of practical, no-nonsense approach that builds real loyalty over time.
Expert Saddle Fitting Services That Come to You
Saddle fit isn't a detail. It's the difference between a horse that moves with freedom and one that suffers in silence — and most riders never see that line until they've crossed it.
The numbers are hard to ignore.
60% of leisure horses experience back pain tied to improper saddle fit. 85% of veterinarians name saddle fit as a critical factor in lameness evaluations. And here's what makes it worse: 50% of riders don't realize their horse's back shape changes with the seasons. A saddle that fit well in March may be causing real problems by November.
Calabasas Saddlery takes this seriously — and that commitment goes well beyond the shop floor.
Fitting That Meets You Where You Are
We bring the fitting to you. Instead of asking riders to trailer their horses into Calabasas, we offer mobile saddle fitting services — expert consultation at your barn, your arena, your horse's own environment. For riders in rural Southern California, or those managing multiple horses at a working facility, that's not just convenient. It's a different kind of service altogether.
On-site fitting changes everything about the assessment. A horse evaluated at home moves differently, stands differently, and gives a more honest picture of its needs. That context matters — especially for something as precise as pressure mapping, a tool that shows how weight spreads across your horse's back.
The data backs this up:
Getting that assessment in a showroom is one thing. Getting it in the actual conditions your horse lives and works in is another thing entirely.
What the Data Says — and What the Staff Knows
Our staff are working equestrians — riders and trainers, not salespeople running through a checklist. That distinction matters.
90% of certified saddle fitters recommend professional fit evaluations every six months. Our team supports that schedule, offering follow-up consultations that track how a horse's topline changes over time. Correct saddle placement alone can increase stride length by up to 10 centimeters. A performance rider feels that gain right away. A recreational rider feels it as ease and comfort.
75% of performance horses show measurable gait improvement after moving to a custom-fitted saddle. That statistic hits differently when the person explaining it has spent years in the saddle themselves.
Serving the Greater Los Angeles Equestrian Community Beyond the Storefront
The Greater Los Angeles equestrian world is bigger — and more stretched thin — than most people realize.
The LA Equestrian Center in Burbank boards over 1,000 horses across its facilities. It hosts 16 arenas, a 3,500-seat Equidome, and connects riders to 50 miles of Griffith Park trails. LA County recognizes 7 designated equestrian districts, from Hidden Hills to Avocado Heights. Charrería culture has deep roots here. Horses share streets with cyclists and pedestrians. That's a sprawling, diverse riding community — and it needs more than a good arena to function.
It needs somewhere to shop that understands it.
Calabasas Saddlery fits into something much larger than retail. Equestrian facility scarcity across Southern California is real — and it's getting worse. Boarding costs are climbing. Some Orange County stalls now run close to $1,000 per month. Waitlists are growing at stables from Huntington Beach to San Juan Capistrano. Equine therapy programs serving at-risk youth and veterans face facility shortages with no easy fix in sight.
So a well-stocked, well-staffed equestrian boutique in Los Angeles isn't a luxury. It's infrastructure.
Riders spread across LA County need a dependable, knowledgeable place to turn. That includes:
Working-class horse owners in Avocado Heights
Hunter-jumper competitors in the San Fernando Valley
Riders at every level in between
They all need access to horse tack and accessories, riding apparel, and real professional guidance. Calabasas Saddlery has been that resource for over five decades. The community it serves keeps growing wider — and we've grown with it.
Why Equestrians Choose Calabasas Saddlery Over Big-Box Retailers
Scrolling through Amazon listings to find a saddle pad that fits your horse is a frustrating experience. No filter or star rating tells you what you need to know. That gap is real — and Calabasas Saddlery fills it.
Over 100 specialized equestrian brands line these shelves. Names like Albion, Antares, Butet, Amerigo, and Bates — brands serious riders know on sight. You won't find them at Tractor Supply. The helmet selection alone makes the difference clear. Take the KASK Jessica Springsteen Star Lady Limited Edition helmet — competition-grade, Swarovski crystal aerators, priced at $1,195. That's not a product that ends up in a big-box catalog. It's a product that needs someone who understands why it matters.
Curation Over Volume
Big-box retail trades in volume. Calabasas Saddlery trades in precision. You feel that difference the moment you walk in and ask a real question.
The staff here are working equestrians. They know the difference between ASTM/SEI helmet certification standards across disciplines. They can match a saddle tree width to your horse's build. They'll tell you which English bit suits your horse's way of going — not from reading a spec sheet, but from riding themselves.
That depth of knowledge covers every category:
Riding apparel — Tailored Sportsman breeches ($179.99), Alessandro Albanese, Animo, and Rider's Gene competition jackets ($449.95) — boutique labels that match how Southern California riders compete
Footwear — Alberto Fasciani and Blundstone riding boots, not carried by general sporting goods chains
Horse care — veterinary-grade brands including Cavalor, Banixx, and Aspen Vet products
The Thing Amazon Cannot Replicate
E-commerce platforms can match SKU counts. They can't match a phone call to (818) 591-0292 where someone picks up who knows your local show circuit, understands venue requirements, and can tell you whether that bridle will pass the judge's inspection.
Calabasas Saddlery also stocks farrier supplies and handles repair and maintenance services — boot care, clipper blade work, tack maintenance. Big-box retail drops the relationship after the sale. This store doesn't. Add the authorized dealer status that protects you from gray-market product risk, and buying local and expert makes solid sense.
Fifty-plus years of trainer relationships, barn manager referrals, and community trust have built something no algorithm can copy. That network is part of what you're buying into every time you shop here.
Conclusion
Some shops sell saddles. Calabasas Saddlery tells a story. It's one that has been unfolding across Southern California's riding trails, show rings, and barn aisles for over five decades.
Looking for the perfect fit for a competition horse? Just getting started in equestrian life? This shop meets you where you are. Dave Thornbury's hand-tooled leather work stands out on its own. We also take pride in offering high-end custom equestrian apparel alongside our expert saddle fitting. You can browse both English and Western tack under one roof — something most equestrian suppliers can't offer. Plus, saddle fitting services come straight to you. These aren't just conveniences. They're the mark of a shop that understands riders.
Near the Los Angeles equestrian community? Make the drive to Calabasas. Stop by, ask questions, and let the expertise speak for itself.
Some discoveries are worth the detour.
