Both of us were raised in the West, Dean in Wyoming and Montana, Tracey in Colorado. Dean spent his childhood on ranches has been around horses his entire life. Dean was named after Dean Oliver, the famous calf roper of the 60's & 70's after his Dad attended calf roping school of his in Idaho. His Dad was an accomplished horse trainer, training reining horses, calf roping horses, barrel horses and just good ranch horses. Dean learned his horsemanship from his father and continues to break and train horses for some of his customers.
Tracey, although growing up in Colorado, always dreamed of finding a Cowboy and riding the open range. Her Dad, didn't want anything to do with horses, so when this horse crazy girl finally met up with Dean at the boarding stable where they both were keeping their horses, it was a match made in heaven!
Dean served 21 years in the U.S. Army, and as service families do, we moved many times always with our dogs and horses in tow. Our last duty station was Fort Riley, Kansas. Once we arrived in Kansas, we realized that we enjoyed the beauty of the Flint Hills and the abundance of hay and water, something that can be in short supply in the west! After serving in Iraq, Dean returned to Fort Riley to serve in the job of his dreams...First Sergeant of the Commanding Generals Mounted Color Guard. There, he spent his long days with horses and Soldiers and even had the honor of riding with his troop in the Inaugural Parade in Washington, D.C. Once he decided it was time to retire the uniform, we bought our farm outside of Riley, Kansas.
Since then, it has been a busy couple years as Dean went to saddle school in Montana and started our business. We enjoy meeting every one of our customers and really enjoy working with them to build their custom saddle, repair and clean tack, shoe or break and train their horses.
What started as a couple with 3 horses, has grown to a herd of 6 and now has Angus cows, three dogs (two heelers and an Aussie), a leather shop and an actual Kansas Volcano!
