![]() Today, Todd lives in Crossville, TN where he enjoys the challenges of raising, training and showing their Futurity and Derby Reining horses. Since the fine antique bits and spurs of a century ago are scarce and difficult to find as well as very expensive, there is a growing interest in pieces. The International Guild of Bit and Spur Makers membership elected Todd to the Board of Directors in March 2012. All of his work is stamped with the approved Guild Stamp. In the fall of 2010 Todd's work as a Bit and Spur Maker was juried into the prestigious International Guild of Bit and Spur Makers. Todd’s spurs are influenced by the advice and knowledge of reining, cutting, pleasure, and rope horse trainers from across the United States. The need for better tools led to the founding of Bowman Custom Spurs. The Balding looks, names and designs are. For Jeff, Bits and Spurs are tools of the trade and have one primary function, and that is to improve the horsemanship of the rider. Having done some cowboying in his youth, Jeff is committed to building a sound product at a price affordable for the working cowboy. Soon after, 'non-pro reiners' requested him to create spurs that allowed them to better communicate with their own horses. All looks, designs, names, and website content TM and by Tom Balding Bits and Spurs. By 1990, Jeff was building spurs and bits full time. To compensate for one leg being shorter than the other, he started tinkering and building different kinds of spurs, simply because the tools he needed were not available on the shelf at the local western stores. Bits & Spurs Professionals Choice Diamond Tooled Spur Straps Rafter T Ranch Kids Spur Strap with Sunflower, Thunder Bird, Rafter T Arrow Quick view. Showing and training his own horses was a challenge, especially considering his physical limits from the skydiving accident. Todd’s college interest in reining horses resurfaced and by 2000, he was showing at a competitive level. He retired from the rodeo business in 2003. His “no excuses” philosophy, coupled with being able to get back to riding horses as part of his rehabilitation, allowed him to return to saving cowboys from bulls and skydiving. Todd’s rodeo career slowed in 1998, when a near death skydiving accident crushed his legs, pelvis, arm and face. His stamp is his bond, ironclad like a good handshake.During his rodeo career, Todd Bowman was able to observe horsemen across the country communicate with their horses while they competed in a variety of equine disciplines. Featured, Best Selling, Alphabetically, A-Z, Alphabetically, Z-A, Price, low to high, Price, high to low, Date, new to old, Date. The pieces of tack, tools for riders, are more precious than ever. He’s years behind but still works every day. “I’m trying to get one of my nephews to take this over,” he said. A professional tradesman who I recommend highly to. : Bits & Spurs: Motifs, Techniques and Modern Makers (9780965994743) by Martin, Ned Martin, Jody and a great selection of similar New. You couldn’t have anybody better than them.”īusiness cards and photo memories carry the dust of nearly 50 years of toil. Rod has produced these spurs for most of my 5 Star clinic participants. Israel lists his now famous customers: “Leroy Ashcraft, Matlock Rose, Stanley Glover, Don Dodge. Ranch cowboys, trail riders, cutting horse people and pro rodeo competitors found him, anyway. “If I had made everything people had wanted me to, they’d have put me out of business right quick because they wanted something that wouldn’t work,” Israel said. Suggestions from customers were often politely ignored. He learned from each effort and improved on earlier models but only after testing them himself. His mouthpieces were generally a little wider, nothing fancy on them to hang up on a fence, made with chain or hollow pipe across the mouth. Then, he tried his hand at building them on his own. “You have to use good material or the shanks won’t hold up,” he said. Well, Israel took a bit design he kind of liked. They connect to the reins and allow for a rider to exert a certain amount of control over their mount. These are the metal devices that fit into a horse’s mouth. “I got to seeing some hand-made bits around,” he said. Z Type Shank Bit, with Interchangeable Twisted Wire Snaffle Mouthpiece. – John David Israel is an old cowboy who remembers paying close attention to what other cowboys used to rope and ride, particularly when it came to bits and spurs. Bits & Spurs Spanish Type Bit with U Mouthpiece C Shank Bit with Spoon, S.S. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. ![]() ![]() ![]() This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. ![]()
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