Legendary saddlery will be on move soon

Iconic Lake Worth property and its landmark horse getting new owner.

LAKE WORTH — The handmade saddles — made of handpicked leather and fitted to the rider and horse — sold at McLelland’s Saddlery in Lake Worth have been special ... for decades.

“I call them the Gucci of the saddle,” one customer told The Palm Beach Post in 2001.

But, things are apparently about to change.

Ted McLelland, a vice president and owner of the store, confirmed that his 317 N. Dixie Highway spot, is up for sale.

He’s been at that location since 1958.

“Not everything is put together yet,” McLelland said, declining to give any details of the pending sale.

The Post found out the buyer is Peters Development, a company that owns more than 40 Lake Worth properties.

“We close in about 45 days,” said Ariana Peters, a managing partner at the company. “The current owners who have been there for many, many years needed to wrap up their business, hence the long closing time.”

McLelland said the closing could be in August.

The sale, McLelland said, isn’t easy. “Our leathery machine, one of them weighs 3,000 pounds,” he said. “We weren’t looking to move because the machinery is so costly to move. It’ll take us 45 days just to get out of here.”

Peters said that’s OK with her. “We are working around what is good for them,” she said. “We are ready to close today, but they have been in business there for over 50 years and we want to give them whatever time they need.”

Neither McLelland or Peters would give the purchase price.

Peters said her company is buying the site because it’s one of the most talked about buildings in the city. “Especially the iconic 15-foot landmark horse watching over Dixie Highway,” Peters said.

McLelland told The Post in December that the horse was taken down the day before Hurricane Irma in September. “She could’ve blown away,” he said. “Even when we take the horse down in July, we don’t put her back up until hurricane season is officially over.”

McLelland said the store will either remain in Lake Worth or at another Palm Beach County location. “We don’t know where we’re going to move yet,” he said.

CONTRIBUTED BY MEGHAN MCCARTHY Perry McLelland, co-owner of McLelland’s Saddlery, stitches a swell cover for a custom-made saddle in the store’s workshop. The saddlery’s current home is being sold and the owners don’t yet know where their new location will be.

CONTRIBUTED BY MEGHAN MCCARTHY McLelland’s Saddlery sells a variety of saddles including custom-made saddles, basic riding saddles and elaborate show saddles in the store’s showroom.

KEVIN D. THOMPSON /T HE PALM BEACH POST Jake, the big, black 15-foot horse that stands in front of McLelland’s Saddlery, watches over Dixie Highway when hurricane season comes to an end.