A family workshop that grew out of love for horses, honest leather and the ride ahead.
El Rey de las Monturas Oficial was founded by Mary Glen Spinks, a lifelong horsewoman with a deep respect for traditional saddle-making. What began as personal commissions for friends and neighbors has grown into a small, dedicated workshop shipping fully custom saddles to riders across the United States.
We remain deliberately small. Our team hand-builds a limited number of saddles each year because every saddle deserves the time it takes to be done right. From the first cut to the final oiling, a saddle spends between four and eight weeks on our bench.
Every stitch is placed for a reason. Every piece of hardware is chosen for the horse first, then for the rider, then for the eye. Beauty follows function — never the other way around.
We use only full-grain American skirting leather, sterling silver hardware, and hand-forged buckles. No shortcuts.
Fit begins with the horse. A saddle that hurts the animal isn't a saddle we're willing to sign.
We ship a small number of saddles each year. Every one is signed and numbered by its maker.
Our leather is vegetable-tanned. Our packaging is recyclable. Our tools last for decades.
Every saddle we build comes with lifetime repair service at cost of materials.
We support local riding programs and 4-H clubs across the Piedmont Triad region.
Mary grew up riding barrel horses in Louisiana before settling in North Carolina. She trained under two master saddle-makers before opening the workshop in 2014.
Twenty-eight years of tooling experience. James signs the floral and basket-weave work on our signature builds.
Elena leads our custom fitting program and heads the lifetime repair service that comes with every saddle.
