The history behind

About

Born into a cowboy family, Don Loewen grew up with a keen interest in horses and saddlery. At 14 years of age, his interest led him to make his first saddle. Having kindled a passion for the feel of leather shaping in his hands, Don, then 17 years old, set off for Saddle School in South Dakota where he honed his skills as a saddle maker and artisan. Life took him back to ranch life where he cowboyed in southern Alberta and at the Douglas Lake Cattle Company in B.C. Later Don spent time logging, in the B.C. forests.

In 1995 Don returned to his passion of saddle making, and he opened a home-based saddle shop called Don Loewen Saddlery. In March 2004 he decided to go from a home-based business to a storefront business in downtown Merritt B.C. located in the beautiful Nicola Valley.Don is married to his beautiful wife Jody; together they have six wonderful children and two precious grandchildren. Don’s eldest son has also learned the basics of the craft and has built himself five saddles of his own, four, of which he has sold.Comfort, durability and the ability to stay positioned throughout a full day’s ride, is what makes Don’s saddles so well known throughout western Canada. Besides saddles, Don has added several other high-quality leather products to enjoy the craftsmanship of leather crafting on a daily basis, such as notebooks, belts and traveller's notebooks. Not only is Don continuing his leather craft, but he is also teaching and passing down the art of saddle making to a wide range of people, from young high school boys to grown men from Sweden.