What Was Your First Leather Project?

[BondoBobCustomSaddles]

Year 1954, my Grandfather walk me to the Tac room in the barn. Taught me how to make a strap. Beveled and coffee sun dyed.

When it was done......He Whooped me with it.....can't remember why. And that was the beginning.

Now there's a good story! Here's one. I've told it before, but; just feels like time to tell it again. A long tome ago, we used to have and show horses. My girls grew up and as it seems to always happen, got different interests so we got out of horses for while. I went on to build race cars and some other stuff. One day my oldest daughter moved back home and you guessed it got herself a horse again. We started to go penning and I just borrowed a horse from the lady that owned the stable. I got the itch to have my own saddle again. So I got hold of a girl that I had sold my old Ryon saddle to. I had almost given it to her because she was just a poor kid that had to earn her money by delivering papers in the morning before school and I felt sorry for her. I sold it to her for $100. Well, When I called her 10 years after I sold it to her, to see if she would sell it back to me. She said that still had it and that in recent years she didn't use it because it was too heavy for her and she had a bad back. She said that she would be glad to sell it back to me, For $750. Well I said that I would let her know. After I hang up I thought to myself, before I would call her back I would make one myself. That is how I got started making saddles. I figured if I could build race cars, I sure as hell could build saddles!! I got a kit from Bowden, (I use the word loosely) and armed myself with a set of Al Stohlman books and that was my first leather project. Pics are of that first saddle and a 3yr old "Duke" that I built it for. I still have Duke, can't say the same for that saddle, it is in Kentucky being loved by another friend of my daughter's.