All stories have a catalyst that sets them in motion. Sometimes, you have to dig a little to find it. For Elkhart, Indiana chap maker, Jeanne Spears, it’s pretty cut and dried.
“Everything in my life tracks back to an $18 pony,” remembers Jeanne.
Jeanne’s dad hauled livestock part time, which meant that he was around a lot of horse sales. On Christmas in 1961, he brought home a two-year-old stud colt. The colt was small enough for Jeanne to get on. He was also big enough to buck her off.
“I kind of learned to ride, and kind of didn’t,” laughs Jeanne.
Jeanne was bitten by the horse bug, and to pursue that she joined the local 4-H club when she was 10. In 4-H she became good friends with another girl. Her new friend had an aunt that tooled leather and she let the girls play with her leather tools. Jeanne was mesmerized by the patterns she could
