About Zachariah’s Leathercraft

Handcrafted Custom Leather Work

Zachariah Gray Chamberlain – “Zach” – does some of the finest custom leatherwork in Texas, a state known for fine leather.

Discover about Zachariah’s Leathercraft. Zach who began doing leather work at age 12, knows leather and loves discussing his favorite subject. His knowledge of leather, leather products and the use of them comes not from books or training videos, but from experience. Zach and his brother, Dallas Cody, were raised on a small horse operation near Amarillo, Texas, where their father, Richard Chamberlain, is a writer/photographer and former editor for the American Quarter Horse Association magazines America’s Horse, The American Quarter Horse Journal and The American Quarter Horse Racing Journal.

From a young age – indeed, before they even started school – Zach and Cody were working with horses and cattle. They grew up following their dad around the country doing stories about Quarter Horses and Quarter Horse people, going to ranches and racetracks from the West Coast to the East Coast and from Texas to Wyoming; cowboyed on ranches in the Texas Panhandle, Central Texas and the rugged plains of eastern New Mexico; packed horses on camping trips in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming; and worked at racetracks, grooming and exercising racehorses for professional trainers. The two even joined the Big Apple Circus to spend a season taking care of horses under the big top.

At age 11, Zach – with Cody, but without the help of their dad – broke his first horse, a mare called Alpo. On his own horse, Zack rides a classic A-fork saddle, the kind that old-time cowboys rode on the trail drives in the late 1800s.

In addition, Zach loves canoeing, backpacking and camping, and has made numerous leather articles for use on the trail and in camp.

Zach and Cody also have been around motorcycles all of their lives. When they were little buttons, their dad used to take them on his bike, a Kawasaki 650 CSR. Zach now has two scooters of his own, a near-race-ready Harley-Davidson 883 Sportster and a 96-cubic-inch Harley Dyna Bob.

Zach has taken all that experience and puts it into each and every piece of leather he works, whether he is cleaning and repairing saddles, making tack such as bridles and halters, other leather goods such as spur straps and romals – or chaps and saddlebags, to use on horses or motorcycles. It does not stop there, however. Zach especially loves tooling and carving designs in leather, and custom-makes belts, suspenders, purses, wallets, guitar straps, rifle bags, pistol holsters, cell phone holsters, business card holders, cowboy chaps, biker chaps, and just about anything else that can be made of leather. He has even designed custom-made motorcycle seats and saddle bags.

As Zach says, “Imagination is our business.” If you can describe what you want in leather – or even give him something of an idea of what you think you want – Zach can make it.