Walsall is a busy town in the heart of the bustling West Midlands area of the UK, which has for centuries been the heart of leathergoods and saddle manufacture, near to the leather tanning areas in the nearby ‘Black Country’ of England, located close to natural water sources essential for the leather tanning process. The Cardanel Saddle Company has been established as a family concern in Walsall for many years, and are proud to be members of the Master Saddlers Federation.   

On entering their small, bustling workshops, you are immediately aware of the noise and buzz of enthusiasm of a team of dedicated master craftsmen and craftswomen, all carrying out the diverse skills required in the saddlemaking process, under the guidance of the Lowbridge brothers. Cardanel saddles are hand-made in the traditional way…on the bench… to a meticulous standard, using the very best European leathers all carefully selected by Carl Lowbridge, one of the MDs of the business, with every saddle getting a final check-over also by Carl, as a matter of course, thus ensuring optimum quality control. Although their saddles have always been made predominantly for export, the name CARDANEL is maybe not as well known in the global riding markets as some other English saddle brands, but Cardanel saddles are in great demand worldwide, and many are branded for some very well-known saddlery names in Europe and in the USA. 

As well as their superb craftsmanship, Cardanel are true experts in the design of dressage saddles to customers exact specifications. One of the USA’s leading dressage names has her super quality saddles made by Cardanel Saddles Ltd, and top names in US Dressage use them as their competition saddle.