Saddle Shop Life

First day of USTRC Finals

Posted by Don Gonzales

Jim and I are in the booth early this morning… Probably a little too early, but what the hell! Our good friend from All Around Perfmance Horse, John Klam got in last night and we ate and had a couple beverages. As usual we solved some world problems and made some predictions of the outcome of the finals.

It’s good to be here again and we are eager to see all our friends and make new ones. We made a new friend yesterday in Lawton, OK after spending the morning hanging out at Howard Council’s saddle shop. When it comes to saddle making careers, Mr. Council’s is by far the greatest. He has built saddles for over 250 NFR qualifiers and it was a true pleasure to spend the time with him.

Nine days of team roping and lots of money given away. If your around come by and visit. If not we will post frequently and fill you in on the excitement.

USTRC Finals 2011 is here!

Posted by Don Gonzales

Well it’s that time again… Almost! We are desperately trying to finish our products for our booth at the USTRC Finals in Oklahoma City. We have a little under two weeks and lots to do still.

As with every show we attempt to plan ahead and have a jump on our inventory, but with the orders we already have it always seems to create a crunch. We aren’t complaining! We love that we have a long list of customers that have ordered from us and they have priority.

Have no fear, we will finish and have plenty to look at and purchase at the show this year! We have five saddles that we intend to finish and many small items to help with those Christmas gift ideas.

As always, Jim and I will be prepared to take custom orders on any items or saddles to get you exactly what your looking for. Be sure and come by our booth in barn three and visit. We are really hoping you like our new bigger booth and look forward to seeing all our friends and make new ones as well.

Growth Brings Change

Posted by Don Gonzales

I want to thank all our customers for making 2011 a great year so far and with all this growth we at DGSaddlery are doing our best to insure the quality and timely delivery of all your custom leather goods.

With my time being better spent designing all the artwork that is requested on our beautiful saddles and gift items, I have very little time left to handle a lot of the day to day management duties. So as of last week Jim McFerrin will be in charge of all saddle making in our shop. Jim has been with us for five years or so and has built probably 90 percent of the saddles that have come out of our shop. Jim has over 35 years of custom saddle making experience and has used that knowledge to help us design the look and feel that has made our saddles the best on the market. With him handling the build process from time of order to delivery, will insure that our saddles quality remains consistent and completion is timely.

When it comes to small items such as custom belts, wallets, chaps, and other gift items, Jodi Finke will be in charge of all the duties there. Jodi has been most of our customers’ go to person and now she can devote more energy to managing those jobs to completion. Jodi has been with us for four years and is a true asset to our system.

Feel free to call the shop and talk to either one of these great craftsmen and don’t worry, I am not going anywhere… I will be at my table drawing and tooling. I will still be building saddles and other items, but that depends on what the bosses tell me to build when I’m not drawing.

Thanks again and we look forward to finishing the year as good as the first half!

Cramped quarters!!!

Posted by Don Gonzales

I’VE HAD IT!!! Spending the day cleaning and getting ready for another great week of slinging leather. The one thing that is for sure is that we are pretty close to needing more space. We are doing our best with the space we have and as with most businesses, if they are lucky, they grow in production and need more space.

Although our workspace is tight and old, we will continue pushing onward and deal with our issues. If anything it adds a sense of great comedy to our day in day our work life. Blessed to have the pile of work that we have and blessed to have the sense of humor to enjoy it all.

After all, what is a saddle shop with out character. Ya, that’s what I call it, character! Those that work for me have become quite capable of dealing with the unconventional working environment, and we all patiently wait for the day when ample workspace will be a reality and coming from such sparse beginnings will keep us humble. The flip side is we could have a big fancy building and nice big retail floor with no work… I prefer our current situation.