by Liisa Andreassen 

Jay Adcock has been fascinated by rawhide for as long as he can recall. It all started with his grandfather who was the first of a long line of folks to help him learn the trade. The first piece he made was a saddle bag made out of a boot top – that’s a long way from a bridle set that recently sold at the National Cowboy and & Western Heritage Museum for $21,500.  

Honing his craft 

Adcock grew up amongst a ranching family in Oklahoma and also had an uncle who did rawhide work.  

“It always intrigued me,” he says. “It was those braided knots. They really got me.” 

At the age of 14, Charley Chambers, a rancher and cowboy taught him to make a rawhide quirt – a small whip used by cowboys. Fast forward a year or two and he was invited to spend a week with Frank Hansen, a well-known Oregon braider. While there, he made his first set of reins.  

“Frank really taught me the basics,” he says.  

He also worked for a local, but world-famous saddle maker, Clayton Hughes. After high school, he traveled to California and found work on various ranches across the country.  

“I just kept messing with rawhide and braiding,” he says. “I found I could always sell or trade something. I had the rawhide bug bad.”  

He then returned to his home state of Oklahoma to live in Osage County where he continued to study different gear and hone his craft. His designs are mostly inspired by early California gear and also by the work of other top braiders.  

“I really like to study old gear and make it more refined, but with the same function,” he says.

And, as for supplies, he makes all of his own. He gets cowhides from local ranchers and processes them all himself. That’s not to say, in a pinch, he won’t buy rawhide from someone else if it’s necessary, but for the most part, it’s all him.  

In 2000, Adcock attended the High Noon Show in Mesa, AZ. While there, he was exposed to a wide range of higher-end gear. And so, he was inspired to step it up a notch – or braid – as the case may be.  

As his notoriety grew, so did his customer base. He was quite thrilled to be asked to make five reatas for Tom Selleck in the 2003 movie, “Monte Walsh” about a Wyoming cowboy.  

In 2006, he was awarded the Academy of Western Artists Braider of the Year and now his primary market is the National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA) as well as private collectors.  

What’s next?  

While he doesn’t have a brick-and-mortar sales outlet, he sells his items on social media and also does the occasional trade show. Mostly, he teaches workshops at those shows and he says he hopes to start teaching more – out of his home – and then see where it goes.  

“So many people have asked me to do this,” he says. “I just need to figure out how to organize it all.”  

Adcock is also the creator of a leather cream/conditioner formula for items such as reata, hackamores, quirts, reigns, hobbles, and even custom “cowgirl” jewelry. So, what’s so special about it? 

He says, “A little goes a long way and it’s just stood the test of time.” 

Today, he’s a full-time braider and lives with his 11-year-old daughter, Ella. 

“That’s my life these days,” he says. “Going to basketball and softball games and braiding out of my workshop which also doubles as my dining room,” he laughs. “I love it all.”  

He also has a son who lives in Surprise, AZ working in the solar panel business, and a two-year old grandson.  

Adcock’s top-selling products these days are reins, hackamores and quirts – in that order.  

When asked if he has a favorite piece he’s made over the years, he quite simply says, “The next one. There’s always the hope that it will be just a little bit better.”