The People's Choice - Vote now!

About My Business

I twist New Zealand sheep wool into bespoke mecate reins which are used by working cowboys and horse riders all over the world. I also make rawhide, sourced from local farms, by hand and braid into fine horse gear such as bosals and romal reins. The woollen mecates are used together with rawhide bosals as a bitless system of training horses. The rawhide romal reins are used at the latter stage of training in the tradition of the "Californian Vaquero". I am a descendant of a rawhide braider and Californian bridle horseman who lived in Santa Barbara U.S.A. in the early 1920's and I am the only person in my family who is working in this tradition. I had to learn on my own, when I started, as I could find no one in New Zealand who knew about twisting rope. I now have resellers in U.S.A., France and Germany and sell extensively into Australia. I sell mecates to horsemen and women who compete at National level in The States and Australia. I have exhibited in New Zealand for over 14 years at National shows including National Fieldays, Equidays, Equitana and Equifest. I have sponsored National NZ competitions ranging from Polocrosse, Cowboy Challenge, Winter Olympics and NZ Cutting Horse Association. I am a sponsor of the "The Early California Skills of the Rancho" National event in the U.S.A for nearly ten years. I co-founded the NZ Vaquero Gathering event that promoted the horsemanship of the Californian Vaquero.

Why We Should Win The Peoples Choice Award

As a small business owner who has designed and developed products out of our special NZ wool, I believe in the unique qualities of our wool and to showcase this all over the world has always been my goal. I sponsor as often as I am able to in NZ and overseas. I have contributed to Polocrosse, Winter Olympics, NZCHA, and Cowboy Challenge within NZ and to the "Early Californio Skills of the Rancho" national competition, in the U.S.A. Please vote for my business as I work so hard to make what I make! It isn't about making huge amounts of money for me, but about making quality horse gear available to riders here and overseas. Simply put, I love to make! I have passion and drive to make high quality gear that customers can be proud of as they use it. I want the gear that I make to reflect the beauty of my customers' horses and give them individual style and confidence. My business directly supports myself and my children. Setting a great example and work ethic has directly impacted upon my three children who are, themselves, creative individuals. I feel very fortunate to have the support of many horse owners here and overseas who have brought my gear for years now. This encourages me to continue to strive to make the coolest and best gear I can. My mecate designs reflect the colours that I see in the bush, on the coast and through the Napier - Taupo road. Making a business using wool and rawhide is an un unusual thing to do, and it can be a messy and (as my son keeps reminding me) a stinky job! Working a hide with a spoke shave knife is not graceful work. Splitting and bevelling strings is very hard on your hands, however the finished braided rawhide product is something that can be handed down in families for generations. It is traditional within cowboy culture to make mecate reins out of horsehair, yet I choose to use wool as New Zealand has the best wool in the world. I am the only person making twisted mecates out of wool here in NZ and one of a few making woollen mecates in the world.