VOA标准英语2011-Woman Saddles Up in a Man's World

Nancy Martiny has made it in a man's world. She started making western saddles as a hobby but there's now a three-year waiting list of people lined up to buy her designs.

Martiny builds her saddles from the ground up, eventually carving¹ and stamping intricate patterns into the leather. She works in a field that's been dominated by cowboys for years, but that's never bothered her.

Martiny is no stranger to working with men. She grew up on a ranch², working cattle, riding and roping.

"From whenever I was a little kid I was always doing what the men did," she says. "And then, as I got older and rodeoed and then, producing rodeos, I've always worked with men."

So it never occurred to her that she couldn't build her own saddles, something that men -- cowboys -- usually do. Something that comes as a surprise to many.

"They think you have to big and strong to build saddles but you don't," says Martiny. "You have to have a sharp knife."

And you need an artistic³ eye for carving and stamping designs into the leather.

 
VOA - S. Babits
Nancy Martiny builds her saddles from the ground up, eventually carving and stamping designs into the leather.
"It's more of a finesse⁴ thing than a strength thing. If you're trying to overpower your leather, you're going to get in a wreck⁵ and you probably haven't done it right."

Carving elaborate patterns into the leather is a skill Martiny first learned as a teenager, while watching her father tool leather.

"So when I was 15, I talked him into helping⁶ me start tooling," she recalls. "And then I kind of took his tools and made myself a belt and of course my friends at school wanted a western belt and it kind of started just like that."

Martiny created belts and purses for a few years until she met Dale Harwood, one of the best saddle makers⁸ around. Her husband at the time owned some Harwood saddles and convinced the saddle maker⁷ to make Martiny a tree - the skeleton for a saddle to which the leather is attached.

"I'm sitting here with this tree and I guess Dale decided⁹ that he didn't want me to ruin this tree you know," she says, "and we conned¹⁰ him into helping me with my first saddle."

Martiny had tooled saddles before, but she'd never built one. So she'd work on the leather design at home and then she'd go to Harwood's shop for advice.

 
VOA - S. Babits
Many of Nancy Martiny's saddles are simple with the rough part of the leather exposed. Others, such as the one in this picture, sport ornate flower designs.
"He'd walk me through things and I'd make little notes and then I had my little notebook after I got through this first saddle."

That notebook became her holy grail of sorts.

"I got my nerve up and I started on a kid's saddle and look at my notebook and when I'd get in a real wreck I'd call Dale and, when he had time, he'd help me and I'd get through. Well, I got them saddles built and then somebody would say 'Hey, why don't you build me a saddle?'"

That's how Martiny got into the saddle making business. Now some 20 years later, her customers usually find out about her by word of mouth. She doesn't have a shop. She lives -- and works -- in the Pahsimeroi Valley near May, Idaho, on a ranch that's been in her husband's family for 120 years. Most of her customers are ranchers, cowboys and cowgirls who call the area home.

"I guess that's part of my success as a saddle maker and why men don't hesitate to order a saddle from me," she says. "Because a lot of people who order from me know me or know of me, and know that I can rope a little bit, you know and when we're talking about horns I know what you're talking about, and fitting your horse."

Many of her saddles are simple with the rough part of the leather exposed with a tiny bit of tooling. They're meant to be ridden. Others have silver and intricate flower designs.

"I want a plain saddle to be considered beautiful just as a full-flowered saddle, so if someone says ‘Oh, your work is beautiful,' I want that to mean all of the work. I hope that's what it means. That would be my goal."

Martiny is constantly working on other projects as she builds saddles. She makes chaps, bridles¹¹ for horses and lately, purses. While Martiny might work in what many would consider a cowboy's profession, she says that doesn't mean she can't make something more feminine once in a while

1 carving   

n.雕刻品，雕花

参考例句：

• All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
• He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。

2 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

3 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

4 finesse   

n.精密技巧，灵巧，手腕

参考例句：

• It was a disappointing performance which lacked finesse.那场演出缺乏技巧，令人失望。
• Lillian Hellman's plays are marked by insight and finesse.莉莲.赫尔曼的巨作以富有洞察力和写作技巧著称。

5 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

8 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 conned   

adj.被骗了v.指挥操舵( conn的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Lynn felt women had been conned. 林恩觉得女人们受骗了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was so plausible that he conned everybody. 他那么会花言巧语，以至于骗过了所有的人。 来自辞典例句

11 bridles   

约束( bridle的名词复数 )； 限动器； 马笼头； 系带

参考例句：

• The horses were shod with silver and golden bridles. 这些马钉着金银做的鉄掌。