BOZEMAN — Just off Main Street in Bozeman is Black Sheep: A local leather goods store, full of chaps, saddles, and other custom gear.
"Cowboys are my favorite people to work with," said the owner of Black Sheep Custom Leather, Brian Esslinger.
From a young age, Esslinger said he loved art and design and dreamed of opening his own shop — he just didn't know what type of shop.
Watch Esslinger create saddles from start to finish:
While working as a cobbler at a leather store in Salt Lake City, he asked his mentor to show him how to build saddles.
"One night, we were in his shop, and we were carving something together, and he looked over and said: 'Brian, if you want me to teach you how to build saddles, I'll teach you how to build saddles'."
Since then, Esslinger has been making custom leather gear in Bozeman.
"Here I am, 17 years later," he said.
And, Black Sheep has been in this very location on Wilson Avenue for the past 14 years.
The retail space is small yet detailed — full of belts, a few sets of chaps, knick-knacks, and more.
Esslinger is a leather craftsman. He said he enjoys making "anything a western cowboy would use or wear," but first and foremost, he's a saddle maker.
"I'm not a cowboy," he said. "I'm a saddle maker."
He explained that a custom saddle takes around 50 hours to build — and that's just a plain saddle.
Esslinger designs original artwork for every customer, every time, and steps like carving, dyeing, and antiquing the leather greatly increase the process.
"I work hand in hand with them on what we want this thing to look like," he said. "And then, I try to make their vision come to life."
Esslinger said there's also little to no room for error when he's carving leather.
"I have to be tuned in to what I'm doing, not just daydreaming," he said. "You only get one try."
Esslinger described the artwork detailed on his saddles and other custom projects as traditional, western, and floral.
"It's not a masculine-feminine thing," he said. "Flowers are just cool."
All Black Sheep products are built with leather that's tanned and made in the U.S.
Esslinger said that around 75 percent of his customers are locals and cowboys who come back to keep working with him for all their leather needs.
"This shop exists because of the locals," he said.
