Surfboards to Saddles
by Garry McClintock
Garry McClintock
Native South California folks have opportunities like not too many others afford, but how does one get from the waves of the coast to the slopes of the mountains? From surfboards to saddles. And why would you want to and what do they have in common?
Riding waves and riding horses doesn’t really seem to share any common traits period, but when you stop and think, they are alike in many more ways than you can imagine as long as you take the time it takes to see and feel the similarities.   Being out in the elements and enjoying the forces of nature is where we start.  Our year around climate offers the chance to be outside for most of the time of the time that we have, especially along the coast where mild is the word. Growing up with waves breaking outside your front door encourages even lazy people to get out and away from everyday duties. Being on the ocean with a board between your legs is very much like the freedom of being in the backcountry with a horse between your legs. Having nothing but the creation around you and enjoying all that offers, brings a sense of appreciation for all that man has not created. What greater sense of awe is there than watching a sunset or a sunrise with the clouds rolling in or rolling out, taking in a deep breath of air, misty from an offshore wind? The rise and fall of the swell as a set approaches, or the heat from a  horse  working his way along a trail that seems to be climbing to the heavens, and the rhythm his hoofs make as he walks, trots and gallops, the crashing of a wave as it breaks on the shore and the seagulls calling out when he finally makes a score.
You have to catch waves and horses too, but if you are crafty you can have them catch you. Once you are up and into the wave you stand with either your right or left foot forward, goofy foot or regular, right or left handed. When you turn it is around your back leg with your front leg to follow through. On a horse it is the same, when you want a right turn, your right leg drops back and your left leg pushes him through, so you do turn around your back leg. On a horse the turn is the same for right and for left, but on a board it is only the same if you change your stance. To come to a stop on a horse you sit back and a board will stop too if your heavy in the rear. You walk forward and the board will go faster, if you lean forward your horse will step up the pace. To climb up a wave you need momentum, a horse likes that too as he likes to trot down a gully and back up the other side.  I know it is becoming easier for you too see what saddles and surfboards have in common, you have too take them time to think and imagine while you are there. If you have a regular stance on a surfboard you are probably right handed, you stand with your left foot forward, while you are in the saddle holding onto your reins with your left hand you tend to have your left foot a little forward, this is exaggerated with some more than others. When you are sitting a horse effectively you are standing as much as sitting, only part of your weight is in your butt and the rest is down your leg so as you guide your horse along it is very much the same as guiding your board.
One of the hardest things of surfing is paddling your self back out to catch another wave, riding the self propelled horse enables you to use less physical strength and be in a wave all the time, even when you are older and not as strong as you once were. Horses have their own personalities and tend to move a little differently depending on how they are built, their conformation, so the ride you have will depend on them , something a little out of your control, with waves they too are all a little different from the next one, and out of your control, causing you to have evaluate and adjust to the conditions of the day. The satisfaction one receives from dealing with the circumstances that come your way while riding a surfboard or sitting a saddle are exactly the same, it feels so good to make it through a wave as it is breaking ahead of you and come out the other side before it breaks on you, riding through the brush on a trail that doesn’t exist brings the same type of exhilaration as you come to obstacles and work your way around them or through them, whatever the case may be it brings a lot of satisfaction when you get there. It’s more about the ride along the way, rather than just getting there.
For me it has always been about the gear you use, the art that goes into making either surfboards or saddles. As a kid making surfboards was just entering the foam era. I can’t tell you how excited I was when my dad bought for me my first custom board, an eight foot, eight inch, Dewey Weber with lime green rails and a two inch balsa wood stringer down the center. I still get goose bumps thinking about it. What a thrill! I was about 12 or 13 years old in Junior High school, taking wood shop and making fins with the sunrise in them. Our teacher would not let us build boards, cause he didn’t know how, so we did what we could at home. What a blast, they weren’t much but we sure had fun trying. After the ninth grade I didn’t get much done because my father moved us out to the desert so he could play golf, and the only waves out there were waves of sand blown in by the wind, but there were horses. I got to ride a little, but was to busy chasing girls, and too stupid to realize that most of them were out riding horses. I did learn to like riding them, but never thought I could have one of my own. It wasn’t until after high school and college that my feet were in my own saddle.
One of the greatest thrills of surfboards and saddles is the “Safari” you go on to get to a new area. Packing up all your gear and heading out on the highway for a new adventure, camping and being out there away from it all is something than gets into your blood. It was on one of these adventures that I first had a chance to get excited about leatherwork. We were in San Blas, Nayaritt, Mexico a point break in a jungle village south of Mazatlan, a great surfing area that raises mosquitoes the size of bats, here on the plaza in a little shop I visited a gentleman who made sandals, belts and handbags. That is the kind of job I want to have, I says to me self. This is where it happened for me, the saddles and surfboards all came together, where the surf meets the turf.
So now what do I do, well for the rest of the two month trip I bought leather and began to make things, a harmonica case, a scabbard for a machete, a belt and a pair of sandals got my blood flowing.
Upon arriving back in the states I was broke and had no means to change to much, but the desire and the direction were there and the need to leave the crowded city was pulling me to the mountains, one of the differences about riding horses that stayed with me was how long you could do it with out wearing out and the places they could take you and the gear you could have to make you comfortable on a overnight trek. I remember being back in the mountains of San Gorgonio with a heavy back pack on my back drudging along a mountain trail and encountering a couple of mountain maidens skipping along with all their gear on the back of a burro having a blast and laughing along as we could barely make it up the trail, and all we could see was the path in front of us. I says to me self, “that’s the way to go”, and it wouldn’t be long until I would do it  their way. I started remembering how good my feet felt in boots and placed in stirrups, how much you could see from the back of a horse, backpacking would soon be something I used to do. So surfboards and horses were going to be on my mind as I quit going to college and started stamping leather. More to come next month...