Mark Dahl :: bit & spur maker :: Deeth, Nevada |
|
Mark Dahl grew up as a cowboy in the cattle ranching
community of Starr Valley near Deeth, Nevada.
From an early age, he loved to ride and
train horses. Dahl had always been fascinated
with silver-mounted bits and spurs, so
in 1982 he decided to try his hand at silversmithing.
It was a daring decision considering he
had five children and another soon to join
the family.
While in high school, Dahl made a couple of pairs of
spurs and he was a good welder, but had
no formal training for his new occupation. He relied on his natural
artistic instincts, his working knowledge
of cowboy gear from his days as a buckaroo
and rancher and his innate ingenuity.
Dahl also relied on trial and error. Some things worked better than
others, so he tried to repeat the successes
and improve upon his failures. Soon he
was selling his bits and spurs to neighbors
and family members. Word of mouth brought
him business from afar. Dahl now has customers
willing to wait years until he can fill
their orders.
Though beautiful works of art, everything Dahl builds is also very
functional. He strives to please the senses
with his creations. The jingle bobs on
the spurs and the crickets on the bits
delight the ears. The silver is cool and
smooth to the touch. Horseman often say
the mouthpiece tastes good to the horse.
And, of course, the bits and spurs he creates
are lovely to look at.
top | back | home |
|
Contact Information |
|
|
Mark Dahl :: spurs
|
Mark can be contacted as follows:
top | back | home
|
|
