Justine Nelson-Graham

Biography

Rawhide Braider, Leather Worker, and Saddle Maker.Born in the Magic Valley of Southern Idaho. raised around horses and other livestock. Justine has always been fascinated by the western way of life; particularly the tack and equipment that are unique to heritage. From childhood she sought to create the gear she observed around her.Often using whatever materials she could find to build tack for toy horses.

At the age of 15 she was introduced to the writings of Bruce Grant. His books detailed the process of braiding rawhide into functional horse tack She was hooked, and immediately took to braiding anything she could get her hands on. Shortly afterwards she also began working with and tooling leather. Eventually going on to learn saddlemaking and opening her own custom leather shop.

In 2015 she was able to begin to learn the process of taking a fresh cowhide through the curing and cutting stages and then braiding the resulting strings into finished pieces. She has continued to hone her skills in this craft.. helped along by many of the top braiders in the industry. This hard and exacting process continually provides her with fresh challenges which she finds very satisfying.

Always one to use the gear she builds on her own horses she is able to maintain a strict quality control over the pieces she builds. Working in both rawhide and leather gives her a unique advantage as she is able to combine elements of both crafts seamlessly into her finished pieces. Her work is as functional as it is beautiful and is sought by cowboys, horsemen and collectors throughout the west and even abroad.

She currently splits her time between her leather/rawhide shop and the Wyoming cattle ranch where she lives with her husband.