<\/p>\n
LAS CRUCES \u2013 Victor Hermanson doesn\u2019t collect accolades or reviews based on his craft, even though he could.<\/p>\n
Hermanson is a gifted saddle maker who lives on the outskirts of Las Cruces. Hermanson is self taught, and he would rather spend his time passing his knowledge to others than collecting industry accolades.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are things like that where you can enter competitions and get judged on saddles,\u201d Hermanson. \u201cI really just like the idea of interacting with people and making a product that can better their life. Throughout the years, I\u2019ve learned that if you ride horses and you have a bad horse or a bad saddle, it\u2019s a pretty miserable experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Customers seek out Hermanson for his 35 years of experience and his ability to fit the needs of competitive rodeo cowboys, ranchers and people who want a high-end display piece.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t do it the same way as everyone else and sometimes my students don\u2019t continue doing it the same way,\u201d Hermanson said. \u201cI do it the traditional way, but I lay in the leather ground seats where I carve it to fit the rider. My custom saddles are about the fit of the rider and the horse and the discipline.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hermanson, who grew up around horses on a Montana ranch, built his first saddle as a 12-year-old.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told my parents I wanted to build a saddle, and they bought me a tanning kit,\u201d Hermanson said. \u201cI told them that it wasn\u2019t good enough. It was just a toy. So they bought me a tree and some leather. I had a knife, and I built my first saddle on my bedroom floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
After serving in the Navy, Hermanson found himself in Bishop, California, where he established a school to teach others his method.<\/p>\n
He moved to Las Cruces in 2005, where he worked out of a few locations before building a shop on his property near the Rio Grande in 2006.<\/p>\n
He used to teach as many as 15 students at a time, though COVID-19 has forced him to reduce numbers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty in-depth and pretty intense,\u201d said Wayne Wise, a professional rodeo announcer who took Hermanson\u2019s seminar last November. \u201cThere is quite a learning curve from someone standing there helping you versus doing it on your own.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wise said he found Hermanson after a Google search for saddle makers. He drove from Texas to Las Cruces for Hermanson\u2019s five-week seminar, staying on-site in a bunkhouse for students.<\/p>\n
Wise said he still reaches out to Hermanson as he begins to work on his first saddle.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been in the leather business on the side for a long time, and I wanted something to take it to another level,\u201d Wise said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I really wanted to get out of it was a basic idea of how to build a saddle,\u201d he said. \u201cOne of my main concerns was that I could never get the ground seat in right. People never see it, but it\u2019s a very important part of a saddle.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Hermanson\u2019s passion is focused on teaching others, he remains busy building saddles.<\/p>\n
His saddles range from a basic setup for $2,250 to $10,000, which was a saddle for a Western pleasure competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of like the fashion show of horse riding,\u201d Hermanson said. \u201cIt was mostly high-end silver on it with gold inlay. You can get a lot higher than that, but nobody uses them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hermanson was close to building a saddle for actor Robert Duvall, but never got the go ahead. He has built saddles for Roy Yates, who held the record for the longest slide in the reining discipline.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of the different disciplines require different things,\u201d Hermanson said. \u201cTeam ropers don\u2019t want a bunch of swing in their stirrups. They will stand up and shoot and they want to have more stability. For cutters, they want really narrow fenders, so they have to have more freedom of movement. Reiners want a seat where they can stay in the saddle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even during a time where business has slowed, Hermanson will still talk potential customers out of a sale if their horsemanship skills aren\u2019t up to par.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of times, I will tell them not to put this much money into a saddle because you don\u2019t need it right now,\u201d Hermanson said. \u201cThey could have buyer\u2019s remorse because they aren\u2019t ready for it. You want to treat people with respect, but you also want to help that person get to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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