News
Heisler opens saddle business in Bottineau
Scott Wagar
11/18/2014
On Bennett Street there is a small white work shop that looks as ordinary as any other residential work shop in the neighborhoods of Bottineau; but, inside this shop is an extraordinary business in the city that has seen success throughout the world.
The business is called Custom Saddles and Tack and it is owned and operated by Don Heisler, a renowned saddle and tack maker which crafts every inch of his merchandise with his skillful hands.
Heisler came to Bottineau from Alabama where he was employed with Pro Saddlery where he taught saddle making classes and conducted the specialty work on the company’s saddles.
In April, in what one could call karma, Heisler and his wife made the decision to move to North Dakota.
“My wife and I moved home and really back home. I’m originally from Egeland and my wife Glenda (Rosberg) grew up in Bottineau,” Heisler said. “Last year, Glenda’s family home here on Bennett Street went on the market and we purchased the home.
“I had really retired from saddle making in Alabama,” Heisler added. “But when we moved back home I decided to do it part time again.”
In Heisler’s backyard is his saddle and tack shop and it is filled with everything he needs to custom-make his saddles. He crafts around three saddles a month or 36 a year, and specializes in what customers want in a saddle. From ranch to western saddles, and everything in between, Heisler can craft any type of saddle or tack.
“Most of my saddles go to ranchers,” Heisler said.
He also specializes in children and adult saddles, along with saddles for males and females.
When it comes to how many saddles he has made, Heisler is uncertain of the number because he has crafted a large number of them; but, he estimates the number is over a thousand.
His saddles have been ordered and sent to many different areas in the United States, Canada, Australia, Hungary, France and other locations.
The majority of the saddles are sent to areas in the U.S.
“There are areas of the country where more saddles go then other places,” Heisler said. “A lot of my saddles have gone to Sun Dance, Wyo.; College Station, Texas; an area in Michigan where I sell a lot of saddles and Utah were I sell more saddle than any place else.”
This summer he crafted chaps for a Mounted Drill Team at Texas A&M, which is located at College Station, Texas.
At the present moment, Heisler has saddles he is preparing to make that will be sent to Michigan, California, Alberta and Australia.
He also has a saddle going to the Napa Valley area of California.
“I make a lot of saddles and gun rings for mounted shooters in that area that do mounted shooting competitions,” Heisler said.
Oddly, Heisler has never sold a saddle in North Dakota, but with his move back to his home state he hopes to change that scenario.
“I don’t think I ever sold a saddle in North Dakota,” he said. “All over the world but not one in North Dakota.”
In all the years Heisler has made saddles, he has never had to advertise his product once. Individuals just call him through the work they have seen of his hands that has the ability to master leather in a priceless and artistic manner.
His work is so well known that he has been featured in the publication, “Western Horsemen.”
The good name Heisler has received as a crafter of saddles and tack also lies in the quality products he utilizes in his pieces. Heisler purchases only the finest leather for his saddles.
“I use high quality, heavy domestic hides only from America and Canada. The hides from these countries are thicker, more blemish free, disease free, insect free, which are things that can blemish leather,” Heisler said.
“So, you get a lot nicer, cleaner hide and it is also more consistent type of hide,” Heisler continued. “My saddle trees come from a guy in Tennessee who makes them from Southern Yellow Pine. It’s a durable type wood.”
Once the wood and leather work is completed, Heisler engraves the saddles with images his clients would like to have on their saddles. He uses specialized tools for his engraving, which is an art in itself and holds his personal signature through the art work he does on each and every saddle.
Heisler has enjoyed his time making saddles.
“It is kind of fun and a bit artistic to take a piece of leather and turn into a saddle,” Heisler said.
“There is always something in the leather that jumps up and gets you. It’s a great natural product.”
Outside of saddle and tack making, Heisler also restores old saddles, some of which date back to the 1890s. He also creates leather covers for cell phones, books, photo albums and appointment books.
Individuals, who are interested in Heisler’s saddles or other leather works, can call him at (701) 228-3519, or e-mail him at donjheisler@gmail.com.