TACK & FARM

Our Tack & Farm section features an Apparel section to find both practical and fashionable riding attire. If you ride English & Western or Race, many sources are available in the Tack section.

Building a barn? Need an architect for your equine dream home? Find one in Barns & Stalls.

Have a hungry horse? Of course you do! Find a place to buy your feed and tuck your horse in at night in the Bedding & Feed section. Looking for a place to keep your horse? You can find it in the Horse Boarding section. Keep your horse happy and beautiful with resources in our Grooming section.

Traveling? Find a Shipping company or Horse Sitting service if your horse is staying home!

Running and maintaining a farm or stable is a continuous effort, and to help find products or tools you need, please see our Equipment, Fencing and Management Tools sections.

Seeking Services? Find financial and tax expertise in our Accounting section. Companies who will help protect your investment are found in the Insurance section. For those who want legal advice about purchasing, liability, and other issues, please look at the Equine Law section to find an expert. Build and promote your business with teams from Marketing / Videography / Web Design.

Do we need to add more? Please use the useful feedback link and let us know!

Photograph Courtesy of Shoptalk Magazine

William “Bill” Henry Knight is widely considered one of the greatest stampers of all time. Due to family obligations, he cut his stamping career short, leaving leatherwork at the height of his craft, at age 40. But before he did that, within a condensed 15-year period, he executed some of the most extraordinary examples of American leather carving and tooling ever made.

At 20, Bill apprenticed as a stamper at Rowell’s Ranch in Castro Valley, part of California’s Bay Area. There, Bill became immersed in the California-style stamping tradition, learning from craftsmen who had previously worked at California’s famous Visalia Stock Saddle Co.

Stanley Diaz—the most renowned California stamper of the era—worked at Rowell’s during Bill’s time there. Dave Silva, who later became Visalia’s last foreman and one of the most acclaimed saddle makers of the second half of the 20th century, apprenticed at Rowell’s at the same time as Bill.

It is unknown whether (and if so, to what extent) Diaz taught Bill how to stamp, but it is obvious that Diaz’s work—and the Visalia stamping tradition generally—had a profound influence on Bill.  

Indeed, among Bill’s personal possessions, he kept, together with three Ray Holes Saddle Co. catalogues in which his work appeared (Numbers 48, 52 and 57), a 1942 Visalia advertisement depicting a finely tooled saddle very similar to the work Diaz was doing at the time.

Bill Knight Military headshot

While serving on the Sea of Japan during World War II, Bill honed his stamping skills during off-duty hours making stamping tools out of nails and other materials he could find. When Bill returned home to Idaho after the war, he intended to take up where he left off at Rowell’s by making a career in saddle making.

Over the next five years, at Ray Holes’ shop, Bill executed some of the finest examples of stamping ever published in a saddle shop catalog. The following decade, he stamped exquisite trophy saddles at Hamley’s & Co, including the 1959, “Oregon Centennial” saddle. Then, like the streak of his talent that hit the saddle making world in the 1940s, he was gone.

Bill was born on January 30, 1921, in New Plymouth, Idaho. His parents, Clarence and Viola Knight, had five children of whom Bill was the middle child. By all accounts, he grew up in a loving Idaho country household, where creativity, good works, self-sufficiency and family life were celebrated.

In his 80s, Bill took up journaling about his life. In his biographical essays, which demonstrate his artist’s touch, he wrote about his childhood. 

Writing about his mother, Bill stated, “She was the most beautiful human I could imagine. She learned to cook and to sew and to love it I know, for she did it bettern’n anyone else. She loved gardening, for food and flowers.” “I never had a store-bought shirt while I lived at home,” he wrote, “same as Dad and both my brothers.”

Bill recalled “the pump in the yard of the country school, with its drinking cup hung on a wire hook,” and the “magpie nest in the cottonwoods down by the river.” “There was a slough almost stagnant, where you could almost always see a muskrat and out in the sagebrush, just across the irrigation canal, you’d scare up jack rabbits and once in a long while, a coyote,” he wrote.

In keeping with their idyllic home life, the Knight children grew up to be romantics—Bill’s older sister, Lois, was a gifted singer and piano player; his younger sister, Bonnie, and younger brother, Terry, were also singers and musicians; and his older brother, Buck, grew up to be a working cowboy who managed ranches all his life.

Bill loved the West. Recalling the times when he, Buck, and his father attended rodeos, Bill stated, “Dad was possibly classifiably a rodeo fan. He went and took brother Buck and me to convent rodeos in neighboring towns, until we grew familiar with the various events, and gradually with some of the more prominent contestants.” 

Bill recalled the first time he attended the Pendleton Round-Up, stating, “Maybe I was about 13, the first time [Dad] took us to the Pendleton Round Up. That was definitely big time. There they saddled the bucking broncs right out in the arena, rather than inside a closed chute, making it more like a realistic ranch event.” 

At the Pendleton Round Up, Bill watched three-time World All-Around Champion, Robert “Bob” A. Crosby, referred to as “King of the Cowboys” by Life magazine. Of Crosby, Bill said, he “was a big money winner at calf roping and maybe other timed events” and “hero worship welled up when he performed.”

Bill graduated from New Plymouth High School in 1939, after which he attended Boise Junior College (now known as Boise State University). As a young man, Bill aspired to become a writer and journalist. 

During their courtship, Bill wrote his high school sweetheart and future wife, Sara Louise Tucker, a poem titled My Road— (February 14, 1938), which is reminiscent of Rudyard Kipling’s If— and just as powerful:

“I want to be the kind of man

That wants to live, and really can!

                              That is my ambition.

And when I’ve served my sentence out

I’ll face my maker without doubt

                              Of my position.

I want to live in such a way

That men who know me well can say:

                              “He never lied

To any fellow—fool or king,

But smiled—at death, and everything.”

You bet, I’ll have a home or bust

A love—an inter-family trust—

                              And then stick to it.

I want to be the type of lout

That I’d be proud to brag about—

                              —And then—Not do it!”

On July 8, 1940, Bill, age 19, married Sara, age 18. Sara, whose mother was from Mexico, was a devout Catholic. Bill, who was raised as a Methodist, also became a devout Catholic.

When the young couple started having children, Bill worried about being able to support them. They went to see a Catholic priest, about whether there might be any flexibility in the rules prohibiting the use of birth control. The priest essentially told them, “It is what it is.” 

Bill and Sara eventually had seven children—six sons (three of whom studied for the priesthood, but ultimately opted for conventional family life) and a daughter.

In 1941, Bill started his stamping career with an apprenticeship at Harry Rowell’s Ranch in Castro Valley, California. Bill worked there with his then brother-in-law Steve Hoagland, a saddle maker, who had married Bill’s sister Lois during her time as a singer in the Bay Area.

Rowell, known as the “Rodeo King of the West,” arrived in the Bay Area in 1912, in his early 20s as a penniless Englishman. By the 1940s, he was living the American dream as the successful owner of slaughterhouses, a rancher and a rodeo producer and promoter—and founder of the famous Rowell Ranch Rodeo.

Rowell wanted to establish a saddle making business that would complement his other businesses. Following the standard modus operandi, he deployed to create his business empire; Rowell partnered with and hired the best workers he could find.

Rowell convinced Visalia’s foreman, Victor Alexander, to partner with him. In 1940, at Rowell Ranch, the two formed the Victor Alexander Company, with Alexander serving as president and Rowell as vice president.

Alexander, originally from Gallup/Ft. Wingate, New Mexico, previously worked on dude ranches and competed in the rodeo circuit throughout the country. After an injury in Miles City, Montana, Alexander joined Visalia in 1935 (then under the direction of Leland Bergen), and became Visalia’s foreman after five years.

When Alexander left Visalia for Rowell’s, a number of former Visalia workers followed him there, including stamper Stanley Diaz.

According to Victoria Carlyle Weiland and William A. Strobel’s Here’s A Go! Remembering Harry Rowell and the Rowell Ranch Rodeo, every worker at Rowell’s new saddle shop was “a specialist, whether silver or goldsmiths, engravers, leather toolers, wood workers who made the saddle trees, or spinners who spun the mohair from which the cinches and ropes were made.” 

Weiland and Strobel state that, before the doors opened, the company had $20,000 worth of orders and a waiting list of 25 clients from Wyoming, Arizona, Oregon, Nevada, the Midwest and Canada. Rowell secured lucrative contracts with Sears, Roebuck & Company to develop saddle lines for them. Bronc rider Fritz Truan, fresh after winning the prestigious Madison Square Garden saddle bronc riding title, placed the company’s first order, which was for a hand-tooled belt.

Thus, at the time Bill apprenticed at Rowell’s Ranch, it offered a unique environment for a young stamper interested in rodeos and the western lifestyle and tradition. Indeed, as proof of Rowell’s ability to attract talent, three of the greatest California style stampers—Stanley Diaz, Dave Silva and Bill Knight—all worked together at Rowell’s before World War II.

According to Silva, Diaz noticed Silva tooling backgrounds on saddles at the shop. Diaz told him, “Kid, you’re too good. You can do backgrounds on my stuff,” and from that point, Silva worked directly under Diaz. 

Silva described Diaz as “one of the greatest rose stampers of all time, very likely the best rose tooler in the world.” Referring to the realism of Diaz’s work, Silva said, “You could almost reach in and pick them.”

According to Silva, the young stampers at Rowell’s envied his relationship with Diaz. It is very likely that Bill was one of those young stampers who watched in awe, as Diaz plied his trade with young Silva by his side.

The details of Bill’s relationship with Diaz are unknown. However, Diaz’s carving and tooling style – and more generally, the California stamping tradition which emphasized an effort at realism using specific flowers, buds and stems, developed at Visalia and other Bay Area saddle shops – made a tremendous impression on Bill.

Later in his career, when Bill’s admirers referred to him as a “master saddle maker,” he would balk. While Bill could make a saddle, he did not consider himself a master saddle maker. 

But when his admirers referred to him as “a master stamper,” he beamed with pride and did not protest the point. After all, he was indeed a master stamper and had learned from, and worked alongside, some of the best in the history of the craft in America.

World War II interrupted the work of many of Rowell’s workers; Bill was no exception, despite his uneasiness about war. Along with Diaz, Silva and others at Rowell’s, Bill joined the war effort.

Riding shouldn’t hurt. Unfortunately many women are riding in saddles made for men, which cause discomfort and pain. Many female riders and saddle fitters are not aware of critical differences between the male and female pelvis, which dictate unique saddle design for each gender.

In the female pelvis, the seat bones are much further apart, which means if she is riding in a ‘male’ saddle, she will likely be sitting on the seaming, which is generally pretty uncomfortable. Often, the seat twist and seat width are mixed up, and she may end up buying a saddle with a wide twist when she really needs a wide seat (the twist is the width of the saddle that touches the upper inner thigh; this should be narrow for women). The seat width is determined by the space between the seam running along the outer edge of (at the widest part) of the seat. You need to look at the distance between the seams on the seat, which should be wide enough to allow the female’s seat bones to sit on the padding (if it’s too narrow it feels like you’re sitting on a ridge, or your seat bones are falling off the edge of the seat).

Another consideration is the position of the pelvis itself. The male pelvis has a relatively higher pubic symphysis. When he sits in a balanced position with his spine perpendicular to the ground on the saddle, his pubic symphysis will be tipped upward and not in contact with the seat. In contrast, when the female sits on the saddle with her spine perpendicular to the ground, her pubic symphysis is much lower and closer to the front of the saddle – to the point of contact and rubbing. When a male rider sits on a male saddle he can balance on his seat bones like a bi-pod, whereas in a male saddle the female finds her balance in a tripod position, which means her pubic symphysis will be in contact with the front of the saddle. This is very uncomfortable; usually the female rider collapses at the hip to escape the pressure and discomfort (also because of the lower cantle of a male saddle does not provide adequate support for her pelvis).

Make sure your saddle fitter understands the impact of female anatomy on saddle fit. If the rider is uncomfortable or out of balance because she is riding in a male saddle, this will affect her aids as well as the comfort of the horse. Your professional Certified Equine or Saddle Ergonomist or saddle fitter will evaluate 25 points for achieving optimal fit, balance, position and comfort for the rider.

Photographs Courtesy of Reynolds Saddlery

By Nick Pernokas

In the days of the old west, it wasn’t unusual to see someone who had more than one occupation. In remote areas, it was helpful if a man was able to do more than one thing. Leather was an important trade, so in many cases it overlapped with other jobs. Kit Carson fixed harness, when he wasn’t acting as a military guide. S.D. Myres was a mayor and a deputy sheriff.

Now, I want to tell you about Davis Reynolds.

Davis grew up in Louisiana. His uncle, Bud Moses, was a stock contractor and on weekends Davis would work for the rodeo company.

“I worked for him for years,” says Davis. “It was a blast.”

In 1990, about the time he got out of high school, Davis started riding bulls and roping calves and steers.

“I’d ride bulls and team rope, but whenever I got hurt, I’d go back to team roping.”

In 1994, Davis moved out to the Grand Canyon area to cowboy, and quit riding bulls because there wasn’t much bull riding near there. Day working on some of the local ranches replaced the team roping. Davis worked for the Babbitt Ranches during their month-long roundups. The Babbit Ranches were huge and still ran a chuck wagon.

“Those guys were just awesome. They took me under their wing and took me out there.”

The vastness of the Babbitt Ranches impressed Davis. The endless panorama of sky and emptiness was a change from Louisiana.

Davis went to work as a tour guide for the mule concession in the Grand Canyon National Park. The mule barn had its own saddle shop and Davis built some chaps for himself. One of his friends there was a saddlemaker and he suggested to Davis that they build a saddle for him.

“I helped him build my first saddle,” remembers Davis. “It was terrible, because it just gave me the bug.”

From then on, Davis built all of his own gear.

In 1995, Davis married Lisa, who he met at the mule barn. In 1997, the park service was looking for someone to pack supplies into the Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the Canyon. Davis had the experience, so he went to work for the Park service. It was a federal job with the Department of the Interior.

In 2000, Davis joined the Arizona National Guard. After 9/11, he was deployed overseas to Iraq for six months, where he participated in special missions. Davis was the medic in his team. A knee injury caused him to be sent to Germany for surgery. When Davis returned to the United States, he received a medical discharge. Unfortunately, something else had followed him home: PTSD.

Davis discovered that his leatherwork was good therapy, and he began a successful leather cell phone case construction business in a camper next to his house. Soon, his nightmares were going away. Davis was making a lot of hand-sewn cases, but he wanted to build other products as well. Davis found out that he was eligible to attend a leather trade school through vocational rehabilitation, and the G.I.Bill, if he could jump through all the hoops to qualify.

After several months of completing other courses in business, Davis was cleared to find a saddlemaking instructor. The stipulation on this was that it had to be someone who had worked for vocational rehabilitation and had taught other veterans. Davis searched the western United States and finally found Bud Shaul, a saddlemaker in Yarnell, Arizona. Bud, a marine, had taught veteran classes at a school in Idaho. Bud was also a former saddlemaker at Hamleys Saddlery in Oregon.

Davis told Bud, “I want to learn about saddles, but for anything you do in this shop, I’m yours.”

Davis took two of Bud’s two-week classes on saddle construction. In the process he built two saddles, but more importantly, the men became friends. There wasn’t any place to stay that was close, so Davis slept in Bud’s shop and did some repair work for him at night. Bud was impressed with Davis’s work ethic and his eye for detail. When the classes were over, he offered Davis a job, which was more like an apprenticeship. There was no pay involved, but the opportunity to learn was tremendous. For the next two years, Davis would travel down to Yarnell on his weekends and vacations from the Park Service at the Grand Canyon.

Davis helped out at Bud’s schools and met many other vets that were coming through it. Eric Marsh wasn’t a vet, but he was a firefighter who took the class. Eric asked Davis for help on a saddle he was building after he took the class, but soon after he tragically perished as a Hotshot fighting the Yarnell Fire. Eric’s widow called Davis and asked him to finish Eric’s saddle, which he did.

Davis Reynolds Saddlery now had a 12×24-foot building and things began to pick up for him.

“I was happy. I’m thinking, I’m a hobbyist doing what I love to do in my off time. Then, I realized the responsibility you have when you’re making that stuff.”

Davis decided that to make a top-quality product, he had to learn from more experienced leather workers. Bud encouraged him to take some classes. Davis was hesitant at first, but Bud even offered to go to some classes with him.

Bud told Davis, “As long as you’re alive, you need to take lessons from other people and swallow your pride.”

Davis went to the Wickenburg Leather Show that was put on by The Leather Crafters and Saddlers Journal. The friends and connections he made there were priceless. He met people that he could call if he had a question. For the next few years, Davis took classes at the show.

“It was the coolest thing to meet some of the greatest leather artists in the world there.”

Davis became good friends with Charil Reis and Ralph Solome, who managed those shows, and now he works for them at the Prescott and Sheridan shows. He hands out the informational packets at the door and helps people find the tools that they need.

“I get so much energy off of that, helping other people find that drive and keep that drive going. There’s so much talent at these shows.”

Bud passed away before fulfilling his dream of enlarging his school. The family sold most of his equipment through an estate sale, but they gave Davis all of his patterns and books. Many of the patterns are the old Hamley patterns. The northwest look has definitely influenced Davis’s style.

“The round skirts have drawn me to a lighter, stronger saddle with inskirt riggings.”

Davis uses a variety of swells. His favorite is a Flat Creek Packer, which has a little swell to it. It’s similar to an Association swell with a wood post horn.

“To me, a saddle is that person’s personality, not mine. You have to make it to match their personality and what they want it to look like.”

Since Covid, Davis’s saddle orders have dramatically increased. Davis also builds a lot of holsters, which range from concealed carry to cowboy style. Cobra sewing machines have replaced the stitching pony in his shop.

Today, Davis runs the sign shop for Grand Canyon National Park. They produce all of the informational signs in the park. On his time off from the park service, Davis also works as a hunting guide for Steve Chappell of Elk Camp T.V. Elk Camp is a weekly show on the Sportsman Channel. Their team schedules elk hunts in the high desert of Northern Arizona during hunting season for various individuals and then films them.

Davis and Lisa have 40 acres just south of the park with a log home and the shop. A couple of older horses share their place with them. Davis seems to keep things fresh by all of his varied professions he rotates between. As if that weren’t enough, Davis is licensed to marry couples. He has even performed weddings in his shop. That’s what I call a full-service saddlemaker.

You can find Davis Reynolds Saddlery on Facebook.

Photographs Courtesy of Reynolds Saddlery

This article originally appeared on Shop Talk Magazine and is published here with permission.

There are more interesting articles in our section on Recreation & Lifestyle.

Equitopia Center presents Master Saddle Fitter Jochen Schleese, CMS, CSFT, CSE discussing how to property fit both western and english saddles. Poor saddle fit can cause pain, sheer cartilage from the shoulder blade, cause spinal subluxation and unwanted behaviors. Pressure on involuntary reflex points, such as the side of the withers and behind the saddle support area can cause the horse to stop moving forward and even buck.