Harness Supplier

LAUNCHING THE MID-OHIO EXPO AND CONSIGNMENT AUCTION  

Careful planning and a good deal of footwork turned a challenge into a success.    By Lynn Ascrizzi  When one door closes, another door opens.   That old saying pretty much sums up what John Raber, owner and operator of Hillside Harness Hardware in Millersburg, Ohio, had experienced last year.   It all started when Weaver Leather, LLC, a leather goods manufacturing, distribution and retail business based in a 300,000-square-foot facility in nearby
Accessories Harness

NEW LIFE FOR THE WORN AND BROKEN

Missouri leatherworker’s one-man, tack repair shop is keeping him busier than ever   By Lynn Ascrizzi  Each day, when Bruce Martin greets the sunrise in rural Hartsburg, Missouri, his first chore is to head out to the barn to feed his team of Haflingers, Jim and Bud. Then, he walks back to the home he shares with his wife, Judy, to have breakfast.   Later, at around 8 a.m., Monday through Saturday, you’ll find him working at Show-Me Harness Shop, his tack repair business located only 25 feet from his residence. There, in a well-equipped 900-square-foot workspace, which occupies part of a larger building, he keeps more than busy until about 7 p.m., restoring, rebuilding and refurbishing Western and English saddles, harness and other tack.  “There is more saddle
Harness Supplier

TACK SHOP DEALS IN ALL THINGS BIOTHANE®

Coated polyester strapping is a popular choice among Amish communities in Millersburg, Ohio — and beyond By Lynn Ascrizzi A line of Petz Product assembled dog leashes, ready for someone's Fido. If you visit Millersburg, Ohio, you’re in Amish Country, plain and simple. The village, centered in rural Holmes County, is part of the region’s wider Amish population — the largest in the world — an area where folks seek
Harness

Celebrating 100 Years of Exceptional Harness Making

Bowman Harness is sustaining a living heritage tradition A driving horse, decked out in leather harness that features a Deep Curve Breast Collar made by Bowman Harness of Millersburg, Ohio, pulls an Amish buggy. By Lynn Ascrizzi The folks at Bowman Harness, Ltd. of Millersburg, Ohio, don’t put much credence into talking big or taking on airs — they’re too busy doing. In fact, the four-generation, collective family enterprise has
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N&A Harness Shop: Celebrating 30 Years

Noah Miller and son, Vernon Miller, team up to bring the family business into the next generation By Lynn Ascrizzi The harness workshop run for three decades by Noah Miller in Millersburg, Ohio, along with help from his growing family and a lot of local community good will, is a testimony to how much can be accomplished by consistent effort, a cooperative spirit and keeping things simple. “We started from
Harness

M.D.Y. Horseshoeing and Harness Shop

MDY's standard driving harness is of the type you'd see at work on a day to day basis. It's made from Biothane.Photographs Courtesy of M.D.Y. Horseshoeing and Harness Shop Old World Work Ethic By Nick Pernokas In the rolling hills of Northern Indiana, just outside of Middlebury, is a harness shop that epitomizes the work ethic of the Amish craftsman. In an area long known for fine woodworking, leatherworking and
Harness

A Niche In Time

Smucker Harness is stitching its way to success by focusing on the carriage-driving market By Lynn Ascrizzi The pocket-sized community of Churchtown, Pennsylvania (pop. 484), is one of those places you might drive right by, in a wink. But there, set along Route 23, amid a smattering of local businesses, vintage and modern homes and picturesque farmland, is the neat-as-a-pin, busy workshop that is Smucker Harness Co. The small business,
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Freedman’s Family Tradition

Fine Saddles and Harness By Gene Fowler [gallery type="rectangular" ids="1046,1048,1051"] The worlds of leathercraft arts and equestrian culture are blessed with many a legacy enterprise. But few combinations of those worlds can boast a family tradition that goes back six generations and two centuries. In fact, there may be only one. David Freedman, of Freedman Harness in Toronto, traces his family business back to Warsaw, Poland. There, David’s great-great-great-grandfather, Mordechai
Harness

48th Annual Harness Makers’ Get-Together and Consignment Auction Coming to Ohio

By Lynn Ascrizzi This summer, Hillside Harness Hardware, Ltd., owned and operated by John Raber of Millersburg, Ohio, will be hosting the 48th Annual Harness Makers’ Get-Together and Consignment Auction, to be held Thursday, July 20th through Friday, July 21st. “This is a responsibility,” Raber said of the bustling public event. He expects to attract at least 500 folks to his family’s homestead and workshop. This sort of get-together, planned