Adam Tanner Leatherwork

Adam Tanner bareback riding – Double K Diamond Photography

Adam Tanner

story by Lily Weinacht

Many rodeo athletes find motivation to compete from the encouragement of the people around them. But for Adam Tanner from Tucson, Ariz., it was the opposite. “There were a lot of bareback riders that I looked up to as a kid, but my motivation was from people telling me that I couldn’t do it or that I’d never be any good at it.” Adam proved them wrong and went on to win the bareback riding at numerous rodeos and even became the GCPRA Bareback Riding Champion in 2011. He had originally considered tie-down roping, and coming from a ranching background, many of his family members team roped. “But it’s a lot cheaper to carry a gear bag around,” Adam explained.
While Adam, 36, was rodeoing from junior rodeos to high school, he took eight years off from the sport while he went to college and started his family. He returned to compete in 2003, joining the GCPRA and competing on the Turquoise and California Circuits until 2008. At the opening GCPRA rodeo of the 2008 season, Adam broke his back getting off his bareback horse, but it was several weeks and several rides later before he discovered what was wrong. The disc between his L4 and L5 vertebrae was exploded, but Adam was riding again the weekend after the 2008 GCPRA finals and broke his back a second time. His injuries were topped off by a broken leg from a motocross accident, resulting in a two year hiatus from rodeo. In 2010, encouraged by his rodeo buddies, Adam went to a local rodeo on Labor Day weekend and rode his first bareback horse after two years. He ended up placing and came in strong in 2011, winning the year-end title for the GCPRA.
In addition to his rodeoing, Adam worked in media sales for 12 years. As a hobby, he taught himself leatherwork, but he says, “My hobby started making enough to pay taxes on, so it turned into a business for me in 2002. It’s been a full time business with a retail location for almost two years now.” Tanner Custom Leather is situated in Tucson, but Adam’s products have gone national and worldwide, even as far as Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Australia. He is the owner, manager, and employee all rolled into one, making saddles and other tack. His greatest profit, however, comes from purses, belts, wallets, other small items, and he also does repair and a large amount of custom work.
When he’s not working in his leather shop or competing at a rodeo, Adam is frequently with his two teenage sons, both of whom competed in junior rodeos but found their passion in baseball. “My oldest son, Wyatt, just graduated from high school, and he’s planning to major in business at the University of Arizona here in Tucson. Garrett, my younger son, will be a senior next year, and he’s been offered several scholarships to go play baseball.”
Looking at his future goals, Adam says, “With my business, I’d like to see myself with three or four employees to get the work done quicker. In rodeo, I’d like to win another championship or two before I retire. I’ve been in the GCPRA’s top three in the standings for the last seven or eight years, and I’m their Bareback Riding Director this year. I love the camaraderie between all the guys, and riding good bucking horses. I’m always trying to reach that 90 point ride – you never want to stop until you’ve ridden your best one.”