I traded my old boss Gerald Richie for this mule a couple years ago. He’s a dandy. I was thinking lately about when I first met Gerald way back when. It’s pretty cool to have a mule that he raised and a nice picture to look at on a winter’s night. I’ve ridden a few […]

I was asked recently by the National Cowboy Museum and Western Heritage Center in Oklahoma City if I would grant permission to use the floral carving design from this year’s TCAA saddle. They are planning on using detail pictures of my carving designs for a variety of events for 2014 including table runners, docent directories, […]

It was December 2, 1993. The winter winds in the upper Snake River plain were bitter, raw and angry. But there was roping to be done. I was determined to get rich in the purebred Galloway business and had cooked a deal to lease some cows to help build our numbers. The cattle I had […]

Bill Knight worked for Ray Holes in the 1940’s when he returned home from the war. His name never appeared anywhere on any work, yet his imprint is felt even today. Ray Holes designed this carved panel and Bill carved it. This panel appeared in the Ray Holes catalog for many years. Dale Harwood credits […]

Dale Harwood once quipped that the purpose of the back billets on a saddle was to keep the back cinch from falling on the ground. I’m thinking he may be on to something. Many times over the last thirty years I’ve heard folks say that they need a back cinch in order to help keep […]

A number of years back, my friend Pete Gorrell (a veteran saddlemaker now living in Colorado) showed me how he shims his stirrup treads. I add one thick layer of skirting leather to the inside tread of the stirrup, which is the side nearest the horse. As the stirrup leathers drape around the barrel of […]

In the morning I’ll head for Oklahoma City for a weekend celebration of the West. It will be my fifteenth trip to the National Cowboy Museum. We began this wild ride we call the TCAA in 1998…little did we know just where it all would lead. There has been many great opportunities that have come […]

We’re days away from our annual event at the National Cowboy Museum called ‘Cowboy Crossings’. It is a joint exhibit and sale featuring the work of the Cowboy Artists of America and the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association. It’s a great weekend of learning, growing as artists/craftsmen, and oh yes…a little socializing. It has become a […]

I’ve long marveled at the instructions on saddle soap containers. It doesn’t seem to matter what brand or type of saddle soap, they all seem to say pretty much the same thing. If you follow these instructions, there is no way that your dirty saddle will get clean. There usually is some sort of product […]