Kent Saddelry

Needless to say, with the nearest town of any size 5 hours away, there are not many chances to go shopping here in the outback. In light of this fact, the travelling salesman is a breed of entrepreneur that is still alive and well and doing a booming business across the Territory and beyond. During the dry season, hawkers travel across the country moving from station to station peddling their wares, catering to the folks who lead this isolated lifestyle.

Last night we got our first hawkers of the season here at Walhallow. The good people from Kent Saddlery, Lyle and Helen Kent rolled into the station just before sundown in their truck full of goodies. The Kents spend four months out of every year driving their RV rig across Australia, starting at their shop in south Queensland and working West. As the name implies, they specialize in horse tack, all handmade in their workshop, although they carry everything a stationhand could need- work shirts, pocket knives, candy (“lollies”), beautiful handmade belts, and more. When they arrive at a station, they open up the sides of their truck and set out several folding tables of merchandise. Most of their wares hang fixed to the inside of the trucks fold-out walls and everything they sell is packed efficiently and conveniently in pull-out bins.

Now, before I continue, let me remind you that a. I don’t get out much, b. I’m a girl. So yes, I did a little shopping. I bought a saddle bag, ferrier’s roll, fly veil, and a stock whip – all very Australian purchases (and useful! – or so I am telling myself). American saddlebags are two bags that are connected and tied onto the back of the saddle using the saddle strings. Australian saddlebags come separately and clip onto D rings, since Australian saddles don’t have strings. I only bought one, large enough for some food and my camera, which I plan to balance out with a water bottle on the other side. Now I have no excuses for not taking photos! A ferrier’s roll is a piece of leather with pockets for all of the basic horse shoeing tools. It rolls up into a tidy bundle and buckles closed. It’s far more portable than a shoeing box and way more accessible than stuffing everything into a bag. Now my floating tools will all have a convenient home. A fly veil is a leather band with leather strings that you strap to the brow band of your horse’s bridle. The strings hang down its face so that when it shakes its head they swat at the flies. My poor fly crazed Candid will love it. And finally, the stock whip. The one I bought is about 8 feet long, made of kangaroo leather with a handle that is wood and leather. Fonzy, the chopper pilot, is adamant that every good ringer should know how to handle a whip and should always ride with one. At the moment, I am worthless with a whip. I tried cracking one earlier this week and succeeded only in wrapping it around my head. I’m not quite a natural.

In the course of making these purchases I got to talking with Lyle and Helen about the differences between American and Australian saddelry and work wear. Lyle asked to see some of my gear, so the next morning I brought over some of my embroidered pearl snap shirts, my wildrag scarf, the classic Western hat, and of course, of course, my gigantic, blinged out belt buckle. They do not wear belt buckles like mine in Australia. At some point, the conversation turned into dress up, which turned into a photo shoot, followed by an interview. So suddenly I guess I’m going to be in the 2011 Kent Saddlery catalogue as the Walhallow Yank and proud owner of a Kent Saddlery stock whip. Oh boy.