About El Rey de las Monturas
A working saddlery on the edge of Marysville, Washington — owned, run and answered by Richard Whitaker.
Seventeen years at the same bench
El Rey de las Monturas began in 2009 in a two-stall barn on 69th Avenue. Richard Whitaker had spent most of his twenties repairing tack for local outfitters and packing strings in the Cascades, and he kept hearing the same complaint: a saddle bought online usually fits the photo, not the horse.
The shop's answer was simple and has not changed. We measure the horse, we measure the rider, and we build to those numbers. Trees are ordered to spec from a maker in Oregon, leather comes from Hermann Oak in St. Louis and Wickett & Craig in Pennsylvania, and everything from the groundseat to the final oiling happens here in Marysville.
Today the shop is three people: Richard on the bench, his wife Maria on orders and fittings, and an apprentice who mostly cuts strings and learns to keep a straight stitch line. We build roughly forty saddles a year and repair several hundred more.
From tracing to trailer in four steps
Measure
Wither tracings, back profile, rider inseam and thigh length. Twenty minutes in the shop or by mail if you are out of state.
Choose
Tree, seat size, rigging position, skirt shape, tooling pattern and hardware. You approve a written spec sheet before we cut.
Build
Four to eight weeks on the bench. We send photos at groundseat, at tooling and before the final oiling.
Fit
Ride it. If it needs adjusting in the first ninety days, bring it back and we correct it at no charge.
Business details
We publish this so you always know who you are dealing with.
| Trading name | El Rey de las Monturas |
|---|---|
| Owner | Richard Whitaker |
| Business address | 7433 69th Ave NE, Marysville, WA 98270, USA |
| Phone | 224-340-3392 |
| Business email | info@elreydelasmonturasoficial.com |
| Website | https://elreydelasmonturasoficial.com |
| Founded | 2009, Marysville, Washington |
| Service area | Snohomish County, Washington State, shipping across the USA |
Values we actually keep
Honest quoting
The written quote is the price you pay. If a repair turns out cheaper than estimated, we invoice the lower figure.
Repair before replace
If your saddle can be saved, we will tell you so, even when a new build would earn us more.
Local first
Hardware, wool and leather sourced from US suppliers we can phone. Nothing drop-shipped from a catalog we have never seen.