“Everything has to flow,” the maker posited. Metaphors aside, Guillory’s bits start at $1,250 and come with a wait, but in addition to premium customer care and hand-forged functionality, they also feature intricate, eye-catching silverwork. The horse knows where you are the whole time you’re riding and, you know, it’s hard to find that in a bit nowadays. “The time that he takes to put the craftsmanship into his bridle, the way it forms the horse’s mouth and the weight and the balance in it, and the way it leads up the reins into your hand. “You don’t hook a Toyota up to a living quarters trailer,” Lovell continued, using the metaphor to help explain the worth of Guillory’s work. “I have one or two people that I really trust to make spurs and bridles and, when you get something like that, you cherish it. “His work means so much to him that the craftsmanship that goes into it, really, it’s an art,” said Lovell, who now owns multiple pieces from the maker. Guillory points out that, side-by-side, his works and Israel’s won’t reveal much comparison-Guillory sank his teeth into the works of iconic maker Adolph Bayers for product inspiration-but he aspires to his hero’s ability to live a life that speaks for itself, especially when it comes to his work.Īccording to Lovell, it’s a goal already attained. He’s my hero.” Guillory fashions his one-piece spurs from plow bolts. He was one of those guys that they’d say would show up at a cutting with a horse loaded in the back of his truck, and end up winning the whole deal. It was nothing of a shop, but he’s a legend. John’s in his 80s now, and he’s in the Ben Johnson Cowboy Museum. “About 20 years ago, a friend said to me, ‘I’m going to take you to meet John Israel.’ I went to his shop in Hominy, Oklahoma (here in Louisiana, there wasn’t nobody to go see), and he opened his door to me. He has a robust, varied, and often elite client list, but he remains deeply rooted in tradition, with a sincere appreciation for cowboy cred. Good stories are what inspired Guillory to start building for the working ranch and cowboy crowd, which, in the last few years, has caught the attention of ropers. “So we talk about things, and we share some stories and then it moves on from there.” “I can’t connect to it like that,” Guillory said. He’s had opportunities to mass-produce his product but, so far, he has no interest in it. That personal connection with his clients is an aspect that drives Guillory in his pursuit to make the best cowboy gear he can. “So when he sent me that bit, he wrote me a little letter, talking about how close he was with his grandpa and what it means.” He built me a buckle two or three years ago, after my grandfather passed away, and it has my grandfather’s brand on it,” Lovell explained. “The bridle I just got from him has my grandfather’s brand on it. Read: As Fate Would Have It: Lovell and Eaves Win 2020 PRCA Team Roping World Titles in Inspiring Fashion “Now, I live through the guys I build for,” Guillory said of how he justifies his complete departure from living life horseback.įor World Champion Header Colby Lovell, the statement rings true. Finally, he was in the finals at the Futurity-I think he came out in 13 th that year-and he needed spurs for his herd helpers, and those were the first four pairs of spurs I sold.”īouget’s constant encouragement and help building a client base ultimately led to Guillory selling his horse and committing himself entirely to his craft. “I bought my first cutting horse with Bob and he knew I had a passion for spurs. “There was a trainer by the name of Bob Bouget down on my end and he taught me a lot about horses,” Guillory said of the man he credits with his beginnings. In his 20s, however, he came across both via an introduction to cutting. The son of a butcher, Guillory grew up horseback, but without horsemanship or an obvious path to becoming a maker. “I think there’s one other guy who might make spurs.” It’s mine,” JB “Barry” Guillory quipped about being a lone Louisiana bit and spur maker.
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