Hitched Horse Hair

Our Work & Awards

Close-up of Mariposa Lapwai browband	Mariposa Lapwai (butterfly, butterfly) has been our most challenging, rewarding, and collectible piece. Ron's sterling silver pieces are his most complex work as he incorporated engraving to enhance the three dimensional roses and butterflies. The browband has 29 separate brazing steps, done in a strict sequence.

Shoni & Stetson (yep, the hat company...):

There's a new show in the western world. Women Who Design the West premieres in Cody, Wyoming, September 2010. It's an exclusive exhibition featuring women who design and create western craft. And Shoni has been invited to the show.

Stetson has endorsed Women Who Design the West and will be inducting each craftswoman into the Stetson Craftsman's Alliance. The mission of the alliance is to recognize and honor excellence across western craft disciplines.

Thea Marx has worked with Stetson for several years on this project. Thea also directs Style West, held at the same time. Both shows open, free to the public, at noon on Thursday and Friday, September 23-24, and at 10 a.m. on Saturday, September 25. The event closes daily at 6 p.m.

Website: www.womenwhodesignthewest.wordpress.com.

Upcoming Classes: We are always open to one-on-one three day workshops, taking up to two students at a time in our studio at Kettle Falls, Washington. Check the "Instruction" page of this website for more information.

Montana Academy of Living History: We will present two sessions on hitched horsehair in Deer Lodge, Montana, September 16-17, 2010.

First session: Find out what hitched horsehair is, a general description of how it is done, and display of finished products. This is an overview discussion. A question and answer period will be at the end of the session. This is September 16, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.; fee of $10.00.

The second session is an accelerated how-to and hands-on for beginners. Students will make a hitched horsehair key fob, having hands on experience with making pulls, the two knots used in hitching, and understanding drop, add, and standing pulls. The six row diamond, the basis for all geometric patterns will be hitched, but not completed due to time constraints. Class is limited to ten students. Please bring small scissors and a ruler. We recommend that people taking the how-to, hands-on session also attend the two hour overview session on Thursday. This session is September 17, 8 a.m. to noon.

For more information and to register: www.academyoflivinghistory.com; or e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Or call the Powell County Museum and Arts Foundation, phone number 406-846-3111.

Ron and Shoni Maulding are an award-winning team who have taken hitching to new levels. They collaborate on all their projects, though not always working on each project together. Shoni hitches horsehair. Ron produces the leatherwork and metal work, usually sterling silver, for the hitched inlays in bolos, buckles, necklaces, etc.

It is important to note that hitched horsehair is not the same as braided horsehair. Hitched horsehair is a series of knots; braiding is, well, braiding. Hitched horsehair will last generations, while braiding does not have the same lasting stability.

They believe they are the first to inlay hitching in sterling silver. The bezels are complex to make because of forming a relatively thick amount of metal to two arces of angles to its maximum capabilities, without fatigue of the metal. Ron, from an agricultural background, also works with wood, from longbows to furniture to all aspects of home building.

For their larger projects, they have four goals. The item must:
          * Be functional
          * Have a theme
          * Have a story
          * Be one of a kind

It is this criteria that set their Flight of the Nez Perce in 1877 apart from the other items at the 1999 Western Design Conference in Cody, Wyoming, when the ensemble won Best Artist in the Jewelry/Fashion category.

Hitching Tails is this side of their business.

Books

Their goals were for Shoni to learn to hitch, write a how-to book, and teach workshops. Hitched Horsehair: The Complete Guide for Self-Learning, copyright 1997, was the first book. It was followed by Hitched Horsehair II: Advanced Patterns and Inlay Projects, copyright 2004, written by Ron and Shoni. They set up their own publishing company, River Publishing

Magazine Articles, Radio, and TV

Their work has been featured in articles in Western Horseman, Fiberarts, Equine Images, American Cowboy, True West, Cowboy Magazine, The Leather Crafters & Saddlers Journal, Appaloosa Journal and Western Styles. The Horse Show with Rick Lamb featured the Mauldings in a radio interview which still occasionally plays. Northwest Profiles, a KSPS PBS TV program, out of Spokane, Washington, also profiled the couple in October, 2006. This feature still runs on KSPS.

The KSPS TV interview is on their website, www.ksps.org. Click on Local Productions; then Northwest Profiles; then Archives; then the alphabet letters "G-L"; then scroll down to "Knotted Up (Hitched Horsehair Hitching). This interview is also on YouTube - type in hitched horsehair. This interview is not an instructional video, but does show Shoni hitching and Ron doing silverwork.

Restoration Work

They have done restoration work for High Noon, Los Angeles, California; Fighting Bear Antiques, Jackson, Wyoming; Antiques of the Old West, Big Timber, Montana; Medicine Cap Studio, Port Orchard, Washington, and individual collectors.

Shows

Shows they have participated in include:

* Two person show and demonstration at The Appaloosa Museum, Moscow, Idaho
* COWBOY: Craft of the American West, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston, Texas
* Trappings of the American West, Sky Harbor Airport, Phoenix, Arizona
* Western Gear Show & Sale, C.M. Russell Museum, Great Falls, Montana
* Trappings of the American West, Flagstaff, Arizona
* Trappings of Texas, Alpine, Texas
* Beyond the 98th Meridian: Images of the American West, Dry Creek Arts Fellowship, Sedona, Arizona
* Traveling Exhibition, Beyond the 98th Meridian: Images of the American West
* Western Design Conference, Cody, Wyoming
          * Best Artist Jewelry/Fashion in 1999
* Art of Western Living, Desert Caballeros Western Museum, Wickenburg, Arizona
* Women's Work: Contemporary Gear by Western Women, Western Folklife Center, Elko, Nevada
* Cowboy Camp & Trading Post, Elko, Nevada
* Celebrating History & Art - Native Artists, Fort Spokane, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior
* Native American Artist Art Show, Kettle Falls Historical Center, Kettle Falls, Washington
* I See By Your Outfit That You Are a Cowboy, Sun Valley, Idaho
* Cowboy Classics, Phoenix, Arizona
* Spokane Western Art Show, Spokane, Washington
* Art on the Green, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
* Art in the Park, Boulder City, Nevada
          * Best of Show, Craft, 1994

How They Came to Hitched Horsehair

Shoni became interested in hitching when Ron was Hobby Director at Montana State Prison. Ron successfully revived hitched horsehair at MSP when he recognized the beauty of hitched horsehair and knew the almost lost art needed to be saved. When an inmate offered to teach hitching, formal classes were set up as part of the hobby program. From there it took off as dealers started buying from the inmate store or individual inmates.

Meanwhile, Shoni was laid off from her commercial beekeeping job due to drought and farm economics. She could not learn from inmates because of conflict of interest with Ron's job. By self-study of the information that was available outside of prison walls, inspiration, commitment and determination, hitching became her new passion.

Westerners

When asked where they are from, the answer is they are displaced Montanans and Westerners. Shoni is a 5th generation Montanan, with agricultural ties to ranching, farming, and commercial beekeeping. Her ancestral ties of Northern Shoshone and European blood and Ron's ingenuity and creativity show in their work, taking hitched horsehair into non-traditional objects such as a full-size Indian cradleboard, quiver, purses, and jewelry.

Inspiration and Grunt Work

They work with this definition of inspiration - divine influence, seen as the working of the Holy Spirit in the human soul. This includes the lightbulb ideas as well as the grunt work of seeing an idea through, including the tediousness of hitching, the fine sanding of wood, the attention to detail in the products they make.

Contact

Someday they hope to make it back home to Montana, even if it's in a coffee pot like Shoni's Uncle Pat. Meanwhile, contact them at the information below.