Making spurs grew from a hobby to a full-time job for Russell Yates of Rotan, Texas. Although Yates still manages his family’s ranching and farming interests, he became a full-time spurmaker in 2000.

 

Once described by Texas Monthly magazine as “one of the state’s preeminent traditional cowboy artists,” Yates has garnered a prominent reputation among Western artists and collectors, partly due to his spurs receiving back-to-back Best of Show awards in metal works at the 2007 and 2008 Trappings of Texas exhibits at the Museum of the Big Bend in Alpine, Texas. In addition, he is the past winner of the Adolph Bayers Spurmaker of the Year Award from the National Bit Spur & Saddle Collectors Association.