Western & English Today

EARLYSPR 2014

W&E; Today provides retailers and manufacturers with education and ideas that provoke innovation in the Western and English markets.

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Early Spring 2014 what he felt atop that horse — afer his stints around race cars, sleek sailboats and jet-fueled aircraf — spurred Balding to leave increas- ingly crowded SoCal in the late '70s. His plan: head for the wide-open spaces of The Cowboy State — Wyoming — buy some horses, be a cowboy. "Honestly, I didn't think I would ever weld again," says Balding. "But for some reason, I'd brought one of my welding machines with me." He toiled as a ranch hand for the next few years, but everything changed — literally overnight — one day in 1984. "A neighbor lady stopped by with a broken bit," he tells me, "and asked if I could fx it. I looked it over and replied, 'Why don't I just build you a new one?' and I did. Te very next day, I had business cards printed." Afer crafing that frst bit, Balding started traveling around to horse shows to more fully understand what horsemen wanted in a bit and developed such inno- vations as sweet iron bits inlaid with copper, for the sweet taste horses like, and the ball hinge design on the bit — unique to Balding — so that the bit won't pinch the corners of the horse's mouth. He ran his one-man operation out of a repurposed mobile home for the next 15 years, with each cubby-like room deployed for a par- ticular process, as he moved down the hall from design conception and raw materials to fnished product. Balding next constructed his sleek little factory on the edge of Sheridan's downtown. "Te layout in the mobile home worked so well, I duplicated that on a larger scale here," he says as we walk down the center hallway, fanked by rooms to the right and lef. "Te raw materials come in at one end of the shop, and our fn- ished product goes out the other." "I've worked with just about everyone over the past 30 years," continues Balding. "Bobby Ingersoll and Andrea Fappani are each longtime clients. Te Quarter Horse Congress kept my business going during those early years, but although it's still mostly quarter horses — primarily reiners and cutters — today, we also make quite a few bits for Arabians; also the polo market." I ask: Polo? Where'd that come from? As luck would have it, the Big Horn Polo Club is in Sheridan. Estab- lished way back in 1898 by English cattle barons seek- ing to build New-World cattle empires in Wyoming, and who desired a bit of "jolly old England" diversion, the club stil thrives today. From Big Horn, word of Tom Balding's exquisite craftsmanship and knowledge of equine dynamics fanned out to polo players worldwide. His once one-man outft now employs fve other people: Ofce Manager Kelli Anderson, who started in 1998; Shop Supervisor and Bit Technician/Engraver Justin Massar, a 14-year employee; Spur Technician Sam Davidson, hired in 1992; Technician Ryan Bircher, a 2010 hire; and the newest hire (2012), Marketing & Employee Relations Coordinator Desirae Barkan. Te vibe in the shop is downright serene: I can sense the group dynamic is greatly akin to that of an extended family. 30th AnniversAry yeAr Today, as Tom Balding Bits & Spurs celebrates its 30th anniversary, Balding and his fve employees serve a mar- ket of more than 150 retailers in the U.S. alone, with oth- ers strewn around the globe. Add to that countless cus- tom orders — at the moment Balding and I are strolling though Kelli Anderson's ofce, she's felding a call from an Australian gent who wants a bit adorned with custom sugar skulls (sure, we can do that, she says) — and the herculean output of this small team staggers the mind. As an example, just page through the Tom Balding 16 Western & English Today Above: Desirae Barkan and Kelli Anderson handle marketing and the business ofce, respectively. Below, from left: Sam Davidson, a 20-year Tom Balding technician, assembles spurs from assembly to fnish. Expert engraver Justin Massar specializes in bits. Tom Balding explains how a bit is prepared for assembly. Ryan Bircher, who creates many of the raw parts, polishes an assembled bit. The welcoming entryway to Balding's shop is festooned with colorful perennials and antique farm implements. 0314 MnfProfile TomBalding.indd 16 2/19/14 4:13 PM

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