Starks Saddlery
(541) 536-9503
Carved to Last
By Dana Martin
Farrier switches careers to saddle maker
Retirement conjures up different images for different people.
For some, retirement takes them to the golf course or the bank of a
favorite fishing hole. Others hit the road and travel.
To George Stark, retirement is the luxury of spending time inside a comfortable shop, away from harsh weather conditions and backbreaking work.
For the past 30 years, George has been preparing for his idea of retirement. The knowledge gained from his years of shoeing horses and breaking colts is paying off as he carves and tools leather in his La Pine saddle shop.
"I was born in the race horse business," George says, noting his father once trained horses for Bing Crosby and other famous people in the late 1930s. "After Bing sold out of the horse business, my dad went into public stables and ran a lot horses in California and Mexico.
" At the age of 19, George moved to Coos Bay, where his brother worked as a farrier.
"I started shoeing horses with him, thinking it would only be for awhile until I figured out what I wanted to do when I grew up," says George. "Well, here it is 30 years later."
Midway through his horse shoeing career, George began to plan for the future, knowing his aches and pains would eventually prevent him from shoeing. In the early 1990s, he met some leathercrafters and became interested in learning the art. Five years ago, he attended saddle making school and eventually decided to make it his business.
"I found a saddle shop for sale and bought all the equipment," says George. "Before I even got set up, I had my first saddle order and it just went from there."
As of June 2005, George officially retired form his farrier business and went into saddle making full time.
"I miss the shoeing, but not the aches and pains," he says. George and his wife, Cheri, moved to La Pine at the end of 2004 and set up Stark's Custom Saddles and Leatherwork's next to the La Pine Feed Store on Reed Road.
Located in the middle of prime horse country, his clients range from Bend equestrians to desert ranchers and buckaroos.
Although he builds saddles to meet a variety of needs, George's favorite saddle is the buckaroo working ranch saddle.
"It has evolved from the old Mexican vaquero saddle, and there is a different design to it." he says. "I'm also drawn to the heritage of them. I'm a bit of a history buff."
George says his buckaroo saddles are big and heavy, designed to hold up to the demanding job of roping bulls and cows. He enjoys the challenge of making saddles that will go the distance. "
What these cowboys do is go out there and try to tear things up, kind of test and see how well I build them," says George. "If there's a weak spot, they'll find it."
When someone places and order for a Stark's custom saddle, George covers a list of questions to ensure the saddle will be made to expectations. If someone is experiencing back problems, he has the person sit in the seat while he builds the saddle around them.
"I carve the seat until all the pressure points are alleviated and the saddle is as comfortable as possible," says George. Heavy seat padding is not necessary for comfort if a saddle is built correctly, he says.
George refers to one client who had severe back problems and sciatica. After trying several saddles she faced the possibility of having to give up riding. As one last attempt, she decided to pay the price for one of George's custom-built saddles.
"She went from being able to ride only a half hour at a time to riding four to five hours," says George.
With a lifetime full of experience, George applies his vast knowledge to his profession. He knows the importance of having a saddle correctly fit the horse and the rider. If a client has a special needs horse that is difficult to fit, George takes measurements of the horse so he can have the tree of the saddle made to specifications.
"I used to ride a lot of colts, and at one time started thinking about how different saddles fit different colts," says George. "I had a tack room full of saddles, and instead of just throwing one on, I got to looking at them a little closer. As far as myself, some saddles were really comfortable and some saddles were just miserable." "
Now my whole lifetime experience has pulled together into this. My goal is to make quality saddles that will hold up and look nice."
As his trademark, George often tools roses with a barbed-wire border, a unique design that has proven to be popular. "
I was looking for something different and it was a hit," he says.
His saddles start at $2,000 and go up from there, depending on the features. To supplement his business, George also does repair work and makes leather accessories, including saddlebags, belts, hair clips, and spur straps.
"This stuff is my day money and saddles are payday." he says.
As his reputation as a saddle maker grows, George hopes his business with thrive. People are slowly discovering his shop, and stop in to visit and learn more about his work. George prides himself on being an American saddle maker, and he plans to keep it that way. In his opinion, production saddles do not have the quality it takes to last.
"With those cheaper saddles, they have to be cutting corners somewhere," says George. "Everything in my shop is cut out and tooled by hand. I get e-mails on my computer every day form this company in India that wants me to outsource to them - have them build my product to sell. I figure when someone is using cheap labor like that, there just isn't going to be the pride in ownership that I have."
Although custom-built saddles are a bit more expensive, George believes time will prove the price worthwhile.
"Cheap saddles just don't hold up," says George. "I tell people if they can't afford a new custom saddle, they should buy a decent used one because they'll be happier." He believes a quality saddle maker is one who pays attention to detail, uses quality material and does not cut corners.
"A few months ago, a guy brought in a saddle that he bought 40 years ago- and it was used and old when he bought it," says George. "He rode it from Bakersfield, California to Gresham, Oregon, and never had any work done to it. He brought it into me because he wanted new sheepskin put in. When I tore that saddle apart, it was so well made it is going to be good for another 40 to 60 years."
"That's the difference between quality saddles and cheap ones. I hope when someone tears one of my saddles apart in 50 years, he'll say 'That guy did a really good job.'"
INFO: 541-536-9503, www.starkssaddlery.com
For more information on Stark's Custom Saddles and Leatherwork's,
visit George's Web site at starksaddlery.com
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