3 minute read
At Larkins Leatherworks, Just Bring It
At Larkins Leatherworks, Just Bring It
By Emma Boyce
From the street, Larkins Leatherworks, an unimposing yellow building in the heart of Marshall, looks quiet and small. The numbers on the door, 8302, hang slightly askew, but once inside, the energy shifts.
Larkins owner Maryalice Larkin Matheson-Thomas stitches a new zipper into an old tall boot. A row of other boots lean against the table, next in line. Her partner, Kai Holle, sits across the room at a large desk, dissecting a saddle. A third assistant sews a strap back onto a horse blanket. The one-room building is abuzz.
“I’ve been in the horse business since I was a kid, so I’ve always had my hands on leather,” says Matheson-Thomas. She’s an east coaster, but she speaks with the cool, nonchalance of a bygone cowboy. “When I was in school, I made my own clothes because I didn’t like what was on the rack.”
It’s a sentiment that seems to sum up Matheson-Thomas and her many accomplishments, equestrian and otherwise, quite nicely.
Although Matheson-Thomas had the vision for a leatherworks store in Marshall some thirty years before Larkins came to fruition, the location and the people at her side have been worth the wait.
“I was taught how to stitch leather by hand and then I ended up getting these machines. Slowly but surely [Larkins was born].”
Matheson-Thomas first opened working alongside Luke Berg, the equally talented son of famed saddle maker Slim Berg. Matheson-Thomas learned from Berg and after his departure, Kai Holle stepped into the role.
“Kai’s interested [in leatherworks] and he’s talented,” she said, “We both kept schooling ourselves in saddle making and that’s how we got big. That, and there’s a demand for it.”
Now, halfway into its third year, Larkins has been a learning experience for both Matheson-Thomas and Holle, one that has taken them from the mountains of Montana and Wyoming to Smithville, Texas. It’s also home to Capstone saddlery, where both Kai and Maryalice took a class in saddle making from Capstone owner Carol Patty and Adam Ellis, owner of his eponymous saddlery.
“Our motto is you bring it and we wing it,” Holle laughs. It sounds like a joke, but part of it is true. He has seen everything from camel saddles to civil war relics to even a medicine man’s belt from Africa.
On an average day, one can find the pair altering bridles, repairing broken halters, patching worn boots and horse-gnawed blankets, but they also make their own leather goods from scratch. This includes everything from beautiful nosebands and bridles to elaborate stallion gear. Recently, Matheson-Thomas started offering custom chaps.
Larkins also has started offering custom Adam Ellis saddles for around $3,500, half the price of its French counterparts like Devoucoux or Antares. Larkins measures the saddles to fit both horse and rider. If the horse changes, as they often do, the wool flocking inside allows for future altering when necessary.
