Perhaps the most famous bit and spur company in North America, Tom Balding Bits and Spurs in Sheridan, Wyo., has an incredible following in the Western riding world. Tom Balding, the man behind the business, is dedicated to precision and perfection, but he also has a lighthearted side. What started as a simple bit repair for a neighbor has flourished into a high-profile business with a following that includes some of the very best in the western riding world.
Behind the Scenes
Balding’s store, office and manufacturing location are all on one lot in Sheridan. The manufacturing area includes a parts room with endless rows of yellow drawers filled with parts of different shapes and sizes. The filing or sanding room nearby houses various different sized belts—a surprising variety.
“It’s important to have the right size sanding belt for the right type and size of metal,” he says. “If you only have a few, then one might try to cheat and use the incorrect one, which will result in a less precise finished product.”
Completing the tour of the manufacturing, Balding shows off his white 1965 Ford Mustang.
“The closest I will ever get to owning a Mustang,” he says with a smile.
Balding’s home in Sheridan is a completely refurbished 1910 farmhouse that he purchased in 2000. There, he has an electric one-wheel apparatus that he rides around his property, often on a conference call. His transportation, whether on one wheel or four, brings him great enjoyment.
The Road to Wyoming
Balding grew up in Ontario, Calif., where he worked making exhaust systems for hot rod race cars, welding sailboat parts for Hobie, and was employed as a certified aircraft welder for the U.S. government. In 1980, he escaped the hustle and bustle of city life by purchasing a small house on a parcel of land in Ucross, Wyo., a town with a population of 25 at the time, just outside of Buffalo, Wyo. He quickly built a corral on his property, and started a carpentry job.
On his first day of the job, he began asking around about where he could buy a horse. Balding purchased an unbroken filly for $300 named Mila, and he had to rope her to get her home.
“I bought a book for $1.50 on how to break and train horses, and it was my bible,” says Balding.
He heard about a local bar where cowboys hung out on Saturdays, and he went there to ask them for advice.
“One day I says to one of them, ‘My horse is kicking me, what do I do?’ or, ‘I can’t make it walk,’ and they all laughed at me. They all thought I was nuts,” he says with a grin. “Then one day I rode that horse to the bar, tied it to the gas pump across the street, and went into the bar to tell everyone that I rode my horse there. The whole bar emptied out to see!”
Balding volunteered his services for branding cows at local ranches aboard his self-trained horse riding bareback, as he wasn’t keen on putting a saddle on his horse.
Building Bits and Spurs
While doing various odd jobs, such as leather working, shoeing horses and carpentry, a neighbor asked him to repair one of their bits, and that’s when the lightbulb went off. Balding realized that he could turn his precision welding knowledge into a business within the world of horses, where his passion centered.
When asked what makes his bits and spurs stand out from the rest, Balding has a simple response.
“Better quality materials,” he says. “When I was in the aircraft industry, I had the opportunity to work with high-quality metals. I also knew how to weld stainless steel to the mild steel, which nobody had done before in the bit world. It did take me a while to figure out how to weld the small dots of stainless steel to get them to be uniform.”
In the early days of his bit making, Balding attended horse shows and asked riders what they were looking for in a bit. The common theme was that a bit shouldn’t pinch, which prompted years of intense designing, resulting in the unique stainless steel ball on his bits.
“Feel is of the utmost importance,” he says. “And horses like the taste of the steel mouthpieces with a copper inlay.”
It’s quality and uniqueness that sets the Balding’s products apart.
“What I do now, I can’t scale,” he says. “Everyone wants something of high quality, yet unique.”
Customization has been key to the business, he explains.
“For instance, with a spur, the taller you are, the longer your legs, so the longer the shank needs to be,” says Balding. “The shank is an important part of the spur. You need it to be comfortable, and there are literally thousands of combinations of shank sizes and rowel points.”
Currently, the company is working on an app on its website where clients can build their own bit and spurs online. The app allows customers to see the final product in 3-D before ordering.
This, combined with his loaner program, which allows potential clients to take bits home to try out before deciding what to buy, increases customer satisfaction, which is highly important to him.
Tom Balding Bits & Spurs have been endorsed by a number of top horseman, including NRHA trainers Andrea Fappani and Shawn Flarida, NCHA trainer Phil Rapp, NRCHA trainers Todd Bergen and Chris Dawson, and many more.
“I don’t want someone to spend their hard-earned cash on a bit or spurs and not be happy with them,” says Balding.
“When my clients receive their purchase, I want them to feel like it’s the best Christmas present they’ve ever received. I want them to get goosebumps when they open it.”
This article about Tom Balding appeared in the Summer 2024 issue of Western Life Today magazine. Click here to subscribe!
