Joey Wenger grew up in his parents’ Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania tack shop and was surrounded by dedicated horsemen. So it came as no surprise to anyone when, at age 19, the youngest son of Steve and Cindi Wenger started creating his own leather headstalls and reins for several outside companies.

“I wanted to build something that was related to the horse industry so I could ride and compete and be self-employed,” Joey explains. “In 2001 I added saddle making to my repertoire and hired a guy from Texas to teach me how to put them together.”

His first “line” of saddles included simple training saddles Wenger made for his parent’s tack shop. Those are still offered today as the company’s price value brand.

Growing up Wenger was fortunate to have the opportunity to rope with some of the industry’s greats like Robbie Schroeder, JD Yates and Gary Wells. Wenger soon realized the professionals were using saddles he had never even heard of, like Bruce Chaney and Billy Don Hogg. Meanwhile, his parents showed pleasure horses.

“When I began making saddles I noticed that there wasn’t as much of a focus on fit in the pleasure saddles as in the roping saddles and I wanted to help try to change that thinking and focus,” Wenger says.

Joey says a lot goes into the making of a saddle. You start with the saddle tree of course and then a couple sides of leather. From there you add a lot of glue, some stitching and time along with several other materials. Much of the work is done by hand. Wenger Leather Works has cutting and sewing machines to prepare the parts, but it involves a lot of hand work to put them all together.

“Its not just me, I owe a lot of what we do to the guys that help and work for me. We have some great silversmiths and toolers that help on all the saddles,” Wenger explains.

In 2009 Joey started his own business, Wenger Leather Works, and has dedicated his life to making the very best saddles that he can produce.

The average retail price of a Wenger work saddle ranges between $1,800 and $2,195. A show saddle starts at $3,295 and can go as high as a person desires, depending on tooling, silver and extras.

Recently Wenger Leather Works has become a diamond sponsor for the Premier Paint Sires program. The program presented by InStride Edition seeks to enhance the breeding prosperity of American Paint Horse Association registered stallions by creating an elite event that showcases the offspring of a limited group of distinguished color breed stallions. Wenger Leather Works gave $1,000 gift certificates at each of the three shows and will be awarding a work saddle to the overall winner at the third leg of competition, the Iowa Breeders Futurity later this month.

“Mike Hachtel talked to me at a show where he was judging and I liked the concept,” Wenger says. “I had been looking for an organization that would help gain us a lot of publicity and I think the idea along with the format is great.”

Claire Binkowski, who helped create the program says they are proud and grateful to have Wengers as the official saddle maker of the Premier Paint Sires.

“Their support has been instrumental in helping us make this program one of the elite futurities for APHA stallions and their offspring,” she explains. “Integrity and a commitment to excellence are essential to the success of the  Premier Paint Sires and we are proud to be partnered with a company who embodies the same values.”

When Wenger isn’t building saddles or at a rodeo you can usually find him at Williams Grove Speedway on a Friday night for Sprint Car Racing where he helps out on the wrecker crew.

Next month Joey will be at the Quarter Horse Congress where Wenger Leather Works will have a booth for visitors to examine his products.

You can contact Joey Wenger directly at (717) 752-5902 or visit JR Wenger Saddlery online at http://www.jrwengersaddles.com.