White Pine Boot & Shoe Service has had a busy year.
Lloyd Walker, owner of the business, recently has had many customers coming to
him for leather work, but not for their boots. This past year Walker has built 10
saddles, more than he ever has.
“People just started wanting them,” Walker said. “They like
the thought of having them hand made.”
Chesley Tracy, who lives in Cache Valley, has gone to Walker
for his repair services and was impressed to find out he now builds saddles.
“He does great work, I would buy a saddle from him if it is
anything like the boots he did for me,” Tracy said.
Walker learned to work with leather by moonlighting for a shoe
repair shop while he was a police officer in Provo, Utah.
“The boot repair is the backbone of the business, I’ll stop
anything to work on boots,” Walker said. “But now I will make saddles on
order.”
Each saddle takes 60 to 80 hours of work, a detailed task.
“I won’t hurry when I build quality is important because my
name is on it,” Walker said. “I am going to do the best work I can.”
Walker has been working with leather for more than 40 years
and, at the age of 75, is still working full-time in the shop in Richmond,
Utah. Cache Valley and Southern Idaho residents frequent Walker’s shop.
“Something I have learned over the years is that people
don’t do business with businesses,” Walker said. “They do business with
people.”
Walker’s business has a lot to offer, along with repairing
boots and building saddles, he also builds chaps, spur straps and other leather
goods.
Saddles that Walker has built or collected line the walls of
his shop.
“I just love saddles, I find one that I like and I collect
it,” Walker said. “I just like the whole cowboy mystique.”
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