Richard Foreman 

Biography

Richard was born and raised in a small town in Illinois, where few would expect to find a future cattle rancher and rawhide braider. At 22 years old he began packing and guiding for big game hunts in Idaho, where he learned his love for working with horses. This love led him and his young wife, Cheryl, to work for cattle ranches across the west. In 1993 he ended up on the ZX Ranch in Paisley, Oregon. His time on the ZX ranch ultimately led to his passion for braiding rawhide tack. He had humble beginnings, initially starting to simply have the gear he needed to start training horses. His first bosal he made was made from borrowed tools and guidance from an old timer buckaroo on the ranch. This first bosal still hangs in his home to this day. But he didn’t stop there. He turned a necessity for tack into an art that he would trade and sell to supplement his meager buckaroo wages. Eventually he would acquire his own tools and style and travel to trade shows where he made a name for himself. Richard eventually settled in California and worked for an old cattle rancher till he was offered the opportunity to start his own cattle ranch. With a ranch and a young family he became too busy to practice his art. But when the 2020 pandemic began his youngest son, Cooper, left for the Marines and his oldest son and his wife, Cole and Ruby, returned to help work on the ranch. Their need for their own tack encouraged him to  crack open the books and used his newest resource, the internet and YouTube. He crafted a fine bosal and riata while helping his son and his daughter-in-law build bosals for themselves. These were his first rawhide work in 15 years. Now that he’s older and wiser, he is refining his craft with more patience and for his enjoyment, hoping to bring his rawhide braiding to his local cowboy community.