|
 My life was pretty average until I discovered the sport of rodeo. It
was the same old 1..2..3 (school, Navy, work) until my rodeo days
in the early 1950’s. Rodeo became my professional life for a number
of years before settling down and marrying in 1964. I continued to
calf rope and my wife Sammie was active in the horse show circuit
riding cutting horses. We opened the Fort Bend Saddlery in
Rosenberg, Texas in 1965. I decided to make bits and spurs shortly
after opening the store. I wasn’t satisfied with the balance or
styling of the bits that were on the market and most of the spurs
wouldn’t hold their shape or fit a boot right. Who would know the
tools of the cowboy trade better than a cowboy? That’s the way I
felt.
After the Navy, I worked in an aircraft machine shop in California.
That job gave me enough savvy to make prototypes of my bits and
spurs. Many hours were spent in a stall at my horse barn figuring
out the right configuration, the correct balance and leverage of
each component piece. The mechanics of each product had to be right.
The late great
 Windy Ryon (who had an innate ability to look at a
product and tell you immediately the sales capability of it) looked
at my samples and said “Roy, you have a winner. I want all I can
get.” He was instrumental in helping me get started. I moved my
family (wife and three daughters) to the hill country of Texas in
1970 and opened a “state of the art” investment casting foundry.
When my knees started bothering me from all the calf roping over the
years, I took up team roping and really got hooked on it along with
manufacturing my bits and spurs. Those were great years. Sammie and
I were very fortunate to have had the opportunity to enjoy all
aspects of the horse world that we loved so much and, at the same
time, make a living selling our products to horse enthusiasts all
over the world.
Sure we have also had some “not so great years” like when I started
casting oil field parts in the early ‘80’s. The oil industry went
bust in the mid ‘80’s, and took me and a lot of others down with it.
I was left picking myself up, dusting myself off and starting over.
As a matter of fact, I’ve had to pick myself up and dust myself off
several times.
My latest product is the “Roy Cinch”. My uncompromising
commitment
to the quality of design, materials and workmanship is what
established my bits and spurs as a leader in their field. The same
commitment applies to my cinches.
 There is no other cinch on the
market that can compare to the beauty or the functional capabilities
of the “ROY” cinch. As a special bonus, if a Roy Cinch wears out,
then send it back to me and I will refurbish the buckles and
restring the cinch for a nominal fee.
I don’t know where my story will end. I hope it will end after
showing a whole new generation of horsemen what quality is all
about! Sometimes I think the trouble is that Americans have learned
not to expect high standards and quality because they are so rare. I
hope to change that with my products - THE ROY CINCHES.
God Bless America!
Roy Robinson
|
