How many businesses today are in the same building for 60 years? How many have had just 3 owners in that same time frame? Welcome to Ben’s Saddlery in the charming western town of Wickenburg, Arizona. As the sign says out front, “Tie up, Come In, Swap Stories.” That’s just what people have been doing since 1949. There used to be a corral out in the area that is now a parking lot, and there was always water for your horses. The only changes now are outside where cars and pickups are parked instead of horses tied up (though they are seen there on occasion.) Inside the shop not a lot is different than it’s been since Ray Bybee started the saddle repair business in 1949. Ray trained a young man named Ben Billingsley for a good many years and then sold this business to him in 1978. Bruce Meier trained with Ben for 5 years and then bought the business himself in 1988 – and still works at building and repairing saddles, boots, and any other leather product that needs it.