OklahomaHorses Magazine March 2022

March/April 2022 • OklahomaHorses 27 Your Complete Hometown Feed Store • Full Line Of Shawnee Feeds & Pet Foods • Work Gloves and Case Knives • Extensive Tack and Rope Selection • Fertilizer in Bags and Bulk SUPPLIES FOR: Animal Health • Welding • Fencing Products • Bee Keeping • Livestock Shows Seed, Chemicals, Lawn & Garden Mon-Fri 8am-5:30pm • Sat 8am- 12pm 205 N. Asa Road • Ada, OK 74820 Across from the Chickasha Travel Shop 580-332-5154 Ada Feed Center phone, and he ships most saddles that he builds. “My saddles are sold to customers in the United States and Canada,” Hole said. “I am having overseas inquiries, but no sales yet. Of all the saddles I’ve ever made, 80 percent have been for Gypsy Cob horses.” A draft horse originating in the British Isles, the Gypsy Cob is a very popular breed. Historically, they are used to pull the vardo, or gypsy house on wheels. Hole and his wife, Mindy, own a Canadi- an County ranch where they are renovating a 1951 house. They keep their 25 horses on the ranch. Hole also keeps bees there as well as behind his Yukon shop. “I’ve always had a natural talent for making things with my hands,” Hole said. His grandfather was a sawyer, who also had a farm, a big garden, and woods with trees. “I come from an agrarian background.” Although some people might think saddlemaking is a career lost in the past, custom-making saddles is as relevant today as ever. “Beef doesn’t come from the grocery store,” Hole said. “Beef comes from the ranch where a lot of men still ride horses to move the cattle. They have to have equip- ment to do that, and I make the equip- ment. My customers include ranchers, rodeo people, ranch hands, ropers, barrel racers, horse trainers.” “Doc”Hole was commissioned to create this tattoo drawing for a client. This is also the type of art he creates before beginning leather tooling on his saddles. Using a mechanical clicker press more than a century old, “Doc”Hole uses cooker-cutter-type dies to cut leather pieces for all saddles he makes. Using GRS machinery and bright cut western engraving, “Doc”Hole creates silver trim for saddles and jewelry.