It’s All About Having the Right Connections!
Have you ever wondered how your life might have turned out if you hadn’t met certain people along the way? Life is full of moments where you realize you’ve met just the right person at the right time.
When I finished school and high school, the big question was what I wanted to become. Horses were the only thing that mattered to me, and I really wanted to find something that would allow me to stay close to them. However, I constantly heard that you couldn’t make money with horses. That was partly true, though I knew you could sell feed or rent out stables, but that required an initial investment. I was also very good at painting, but I knew that wasn’t something to pursue. Painting a horse might get you a few hundred crowns at best.
I spent time at a youth center where you could take various courses, and I wanted to try everything. Eventually, I ended up in a leatherworking course, and while everyone else made belts and bags for themselves, I threw myself into making a bridle for my pony. That’s when I thought, after leaving school, that I could become a saddlemaker.
But how would I go about it, and where could I even start? There weren’t many saddlemakers around. At the time, I had my horse boarded at a man named Ole’s place, and for some reason, it came up in conversation that I really wanted to become a saddlemaker. “Well,” he said, “I know someone who might need an apprentice.” I could hardly believe my ears, but soon enough, we went to meet his friend.
It was right in the middle of Copenhagen, and I thought it was a strange place to be a saddlemaker—there weren’t many horses in a place like that. His shop was in a basement where he also lived. He had two windows facing the street, where he had hung up some bridles and other works he had made. His name was Helmuth Rasmussen, but I called him Ras, as his friends did. He was otherwise known as the Pony Saddler because he made a lot of harnesses for Welsh Mountain ponies and supplied a famous estate, among others. His work was amazing, and when he made small harnesses, he made sure everything was to scale and used special fittings to match everything perfectly. If he couldn’t buy something, he made it himself. He was incredible at his craft. When he wasn’t working, he built miniature carriages, exact replicas of the real ones. He had made a copy of the beer wagon used by Carlsberg and even one of the royal carriages. Additionally, he made bridles for those who participated in ring jousting, with shells covering the entire bridle and breastplate.
I was fascinated and eager to learn everything. To my delight, he was willing to take me on as a student, but I had to be on trial first, he said, because not everyone is cut out for the profession. After just the second day, he said I could stay because he saw how interested I was, and I quickly became very good at sewing.
I became a saddlemaker thanks to Ole, and soon, fate would favor me again.
One day, while working with Ras, he was visited by an old neighbor named Knut. Knut was friendly and talked a lot. He had lived next to Ras for several years, and his children, Leon and Lone, had spent a lot of time with Ras, chatting and watching him work. Now Knut was just visiting, as he had moved to Sweden and was working at a place called High Chaparral, where he was a bartender. He talked about the place, which was a western town, and mentioned that there were a lot of horses there. Knut thought I should come and work there because they needed a saddlemaker, he said, showing me some pictures.
I’m the type who loves experiencing new things, so we agreed that I would visit, if only to see what it was all about.
I visited in the fall with a friend, and I wasn’t disappointed. I really wanted to work there. Knut showed us around and had even arranged for us to have a horseback ride, even though it was off-season.
Knut then took me to the bank where the boss, Kent Erlandsson (son of Big Bengt Erlandsson), was sitting. Knut explained to Kent that I was a saddlemaker and that they needed one at Chaparral. “Alright,” said Kent, “then that’s settled,” and we agreed that I would start working there in the spring.
That’s how it goes when you have the right connections, and I’ve noticed throughout my life that this is one of the most important things you can have!
