Gene Kirkendall won first place and best of division at the 2010 California State Fair and best of show at the 2010 Lake County Fair. Courtesy photo.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A very good friend and local businessman, Gene Kirkendall, former owner of C-K Supply has taken up leather working as a hobby.

Aided and abetted by his good friend Don McCowen, Kirkendall took this new hobby very seriously. A few years ago the two men handcrafted a saddle for the Lake County Rodeo as a raffle prize.

Kirkendall has continued with his passion for leather work and this past summer he won first place and best of division at the 2010 California State Fair.

Coming back to Lake County, Kirkendall won best of show with the same beautiful saddle at the Lake County Fair.

The saddle is a 15.5-inch built on a Bowman Roper Timberline saddle tree made of cottonwood, rawhide and resin.

The leather comes from Hermann Oak Co.; hardware is from Jeremiah Watt and the stirrups are from Ron Mewes Manufacturing.

Kirkendall took approximately six weeks to complete the saddle and although it is a beautiful work of art, he states that it’s far from good enough to capture the Saddle Maker of the Year Award.

“I have to give special thanks to Don McCowen for teaching and introducing me to the art of leather crafting; also to Pedro Pedrini (2008 Saddle Maker of the Year), for showing me the true finesse of saddle making,” Kirkendall said.

Pedrini is located in Marysville and owns the Western Leather Academy. To win the Saddle Maker of the Year, saddlemakers must be invited to a show in Wichita Falls, Texas, by the Traditional Cowboy Arts Association.

Once invited, saddlemakers are judged by your peers for this and many other prestigious awards. Pedrini has won several such awards over the years.

A closeup of the detail on the stirrup on a saddle crafted by Gene Kirkendall. Courtesy photo.