Horse Tack Review

Double H Ranch Saddle Shop

Mark Howes has a goal: "To produce moderately priced and well made working cowboy gear." Howes has been around cattle and horses all his life. As a boy, he spent summers wrangling on a dude ranch in Grand Lake, Colorado. The ranch had lots of old saddles needing repair, and Mark was given the "opportunity to fix them." Without any assistance, he tore the saddles apart, made the necessary repairs and put the pieces back together. From the dude ranch, Mark went on to work several cattle ranches. He developed a feel for the function of the gear used by horsemen and cattlemen. With his understanding of the relationship between horse, gear, and rider, he began creating his own equipment. Later on, he left the cowboy country to enrich his artistic abilities with schooling in the arts. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and continued his studies in Europe and later Australia. As so often happens, the ranching life called him back, and, in 1976, Howes became foreman of his in-laws ranch near Kaycee, Wyoming. He purchased adjacent land and went on his own in 1982. Throughout these years he continued his leatherwork and sculpting when time allowed. His life on the ranch provided the inspiration to create sculptures of life in the West. He began to be noticed for his creative talent, and custom orders for saddles and sculptures flowed in steadily. As time went on his leather work became the main family income, so, in 1986, he changed occupations. He sold the ranch and most of the livestock and moved his wife and three boys to Fort Collins, Colorado, where he opened a custom tack shop specializing in old-time working-cowboy gear. Howes now has a flourishing saddle business, and has recently embarked on a new venture - LaPorte Forge Horse Brand Bits and Spurs.

Number of products made by this manufacturer: 1