Luan LaLonde works in her shop at home in Vancouver. LaLonde makes some of the most sought-after horse tack in the world.
Owner and craftsman Luan LaLonde has been making tack professionally for over 15 years, selling items out of her showroom in Vancouver.
Finding quality horse tack can be a hassle for riders no matter where they might live — but not in Clark County.
The equestrian folk of Clark County have been spoiled for more than a decade-and-a-half by internationally renowned tack maker Luan LaLonde of Luan’s Leather.
Although having never advertised in any formal manner, LaLonde’s loyal clientele stretches to the far reaches of the world, with riders in Australia being some of her biggest fans. Her work has been featured in a number of local and national magazines: Cowgirl three times, Horse Shooter two times and Amber Marshall once.
Although having international reach and countless accolades, LaLonde has kept her craftsmanship sharp and her business approach simple. She describes her tack making, and the business that was born of it, as an “overgrown craft project” and is content keeping it that way.
“It was never supposed to be a business,” she said.
Trial by error
LaLonde started “playing with leather” around 1993. This evolved into her making tack for her daughters who were both riders. Over the next decade, spurred on by curiosity and a self admitted inability to “just sit around” during her free time, LaLonde honed her skill through “trial by error” by working on various projects for her daughters.
Along the way, others in the equestrian community began to notice and would compliment her daughters — her eldest daughter was Rodeo Queen of Clark County — on their horses’ tack and inquire as to where they got it. To this, LaLonde said (with an eye-roll), her daughters would often volunteer their mother to make tack for them.
Aside from any annoyance at her children’s willingness to have her make tack for strangers, LaLonde knew she might be onto something.
So, when she retired from over 30 years in the dental field in 2003 — she still uses some of her trusted teeth cleaning tools, but now for tack making — LaLonde had already made up her mind to start a business and applied for a business license the very next day.
Why riders love her tack
LaLonde’s path to success shouldn’t be described as just “errors,” but rather — adjustments — and attention to detail.
At first she would buy already treated leather, but wasn’t getting exactly what she wanted from it; now she buys untreated leather, “half a cow” at a time and treats it with a conditioner and oil of her own design. She only uses stainless steel because of how well it handles the ever-fluctuating elements of the Pacific Northwest and only uses Austrian, Swarovski Glass Crystals because the high lead content makes them durable and maintains their sparkle.
LaLonde is also adamant to never compromise quality for quantity. Luan’s Leather is appointment only as she wants to spend time with each person and does not want them to feel rushed when they lay out the groundwork for their tack design.
A lot of times, she said, her visiting patrons will come to her with an idea of what they want, but by the time they’ve left — after chatting and seeing the shop — it’s completely different.
Content at work
LaLonde has seen first hand that if she pursued it, she would have success with a brick and mortar shop. After learning from and working with her mother, LaLonde’s eldest daughter and her husband now own a shop and work full time as tack makers in Bend, Oregon.
LaLonde remains content working from home on what she describes as a good “empty nest filler” and has no reservation about quitting if she ever ceases to enjoy it.
“If it’s not fun, there is no reason to do it,” she said
