A saddle does a lot more than provide support for a rider according to Gary "Begs" Begley.
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For him, it's about connection.
"A serious rider wants to be one with the horse," Mr Begley said.
"They want to feel the heartbeat.
"When we make a saddle we have a measure of the horse, we measure your bum and build a pillow that fits in-between."
For more than 20 years, Mr Begley has run a saddlery and saddle-making school from his property near the small town of Howard on the Fraser Coast.
As a former leather and shoe travelling salesperson, Mr Begley noticed the craft fading when he delivered to saddlery shops in NSW, Queensland and the Northern Territory.
This motivated Mr Begley and his late wife, Lesley-Anne, to open the Burrum River Saddlery and Saddle-Making School, which he believes to be the only of its type in Queensland.
Since then, Mr Begley has helped hundreds learn how to make a saddle, with keen leather learners coming from around the country and some from overseas.
"I've had an American colonel do it, and go home to teach retired servicemen," Mr Begley said.
"We have had them from New Zealand, they come from all over.
"Because we teach how to make a no-nonsense saddle."
Small groups spend a week at the school, where they can stay in shared accommodation or bring a swag, and they leave with a completed saddle.
Mr Begley runs the logistics of the training and has two experts in the traditional art to run the workshops.
Using machines more than 100 years-old to sew the leather is part of the beauty of his saddle-making teachings, according to Mr Begley.
Seeing students leave with this knowledge and some going on to make a career in saddlery is extremely rewarding for Mr Begley and he feels the craft will now always live on in Australian culture.
"I want to see young people making saddles," Mr Begley said.
"We back them up."
The school also teaches whip, bridle, bag and belt making.
A chance meeting with the Northern Territory Education Minister - after winning a training award for a display at the 2014 Alice Springs Show - led to a strong working relationship with the state's education department, with students from the Top End attending the school and then sharing their knowledge in community.
While this relationship has been on pause due to travel restrictions, Mr Begley is in discussions that should see the students return.
