Mathew Murray was 10 years old when he knew what his life's vocation would be.
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While tinkering about among his father's bridles and saddles, he developed a love for leather work.
His work as a custom saddler has taken him all over the nation, including a major relocation to Wagga from the north of the state in 2011.
"I started making saddles in the backyard, and had a few orders but the leather kept going astray," Mr Murray said.
"We were living in Kooringal and it kept going to Kootingal, big bags of leather going somewhere else.
"I ended up with nothing to do, and I was just riding my bike around Lake Albert throwing business cards in any mailbox that had a horse [in the backyard]. Before you know it, a bloke walked in and ordered two."
It was that move that really launched his nationwide saddlery practice.
"Before we knew it, we were that busy we took over the Copland Street shop, and we were there for a long time," Mr Murray said.
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Now working from a home-based workshop in Lake Albert, the business has continued to boom.
"The demand hasn't stopped, we're still getting orders from all around Australia. Inquiries come in from everywhere," Mr Murray said.
There is a unique story behind every saddle Mr Murray creates. But even more distinct is the story of how it gets to its destination.
"We've sent them to the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand, in Australia Bramwell Station in northern Queensland is the farthest point we've sent it, that's as far north as you can go before Australia becomes New Guinea," Mr Murray said.
"We've sent them to Alice Springs, Tassie, even Cameron's Corner, on the boundary between South Australia and Queensland."
For some of the more isolated destination, a chartered plane has delivered the package directly to the recipient.
In others, it has been through a number of couriers and messengers before it finally arrives in the hands of the one who ordered it.
"It's off the charts, we've never lost or had one damaged in all those years," Mr Murray said.
In the end, the quality of its crafting means the saddle can withstand the journey without issue. That, at least, is a point of pride for Mr Murray.
"One of the first saddles I ever made, I've repaired it and sold it on just two years ago. It was still as good as the day it was made," he said.
"Like anything well made, it's easy to repair it."
Crafting a long-suffering saddle, Mr Murray said, comes down to intimately knowing its uses.
"It all comes down to knowing how they function," he said.
"You've got to be a horseman. I've been fortunate to grow up with horses, and I've still got them. I know horses, I could draw them as good as looking at them.
"Good horsemen have been around as long as time. Homer and Caesar wrote of good horsemen. There are things that they did that still work today."
It also comes down to learning the trade from the hands of the great masters.
"A factory made saddle is functional, but that's all it is. A custom saddle is something you hold onto, it's an heirloom," Mr Murray said.
"I've got one that's 74 years old, I collect the old ones a bit, put them up on my wall. It's the work of the great masters. I sit back and have a look at what they've done, there's a lot of wisdom in them that's just not around any more."