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National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum ®
Troy Flaharty
Bit & Spur Maker

Troy Flaharty

Member

About the Artist

Artwork
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Artwork by Troy Flaharty

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Monarch Butterfly Lady’s Spurs – #20

Spurs

$18,425

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Flaharty’s daughter, Rio, inspired him to build these spurs. She loves butterflies. These are a two-piece spur with no welds — the shank is riveted onto the band. Flaharty wanted the butterfly to appear like it was landing onto the band. He made the 23K red gold to try and match the color of a monarch. He also sculpted the steel scrolls and used sterling silver for the inside scrollwork. Two-tone bluing, yellow gold flower buds and sterling silver TCAA logo complete the contrasting colors.

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Monarch Butterfly Lady’s Spurs – #20
Monarch Butterfly Lady’s Spurs – #20
Monarch Butterfly Lady’s Spurs – #20

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Bit – #22

Bit

$14,625

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For this bit, Flaharty was honored to be asked to collaborate with TCAA silversmith Beau Compton. “I really wanted my art to be the steel/metal work,” Flaharty said, so he forged out a billet of 4130 and 15n20 steel into Damascus and cut these Las Cruces cheeks out of it. Everything is Damascus except the mouthpiece and chains — the chain connectors, stirrups, rein rings and clevises are all Damascus. For the hood and clevis beads, Flaharty used a Japanese technique called “mokume gane,” which is very similar to Damascus except non-ferrous metals are used. He chose sterling silver and copper. Every cowboy, cattleman and rancher likes a good rain, so Flaharty made a raindrop pattern on the hood.

“Of course, Compton killed it on the conchas,” he said. “Sterling silver, red gold flowers and yellow gold stems and buds make a beautiful pairing with the Damascus.”

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Bit – #22
Bit – #22

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Leather, Steel and Silver – #21

Steel, Silver and Leather Flat Art

$4,600

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Flaharty really wanted to make a piece of steel/silver flat art for the 2025 TCAA show. “I’m always blown away by TCAA emeritus saddlemaker Cary Schwarz’s pyrography artwork,” he said, “so I wanted to make it the focal point.” This is Schwarz’s interpretation of a Joe De Yong sketch. Steel frame and sterling silver scrollwork.

Leather, Steel and Silver – #21

Troy Flaharty

Hico, Texas

Troy Flaharty was raised in a family of Western performance horse trainers. In high school, he roped calves and rodeoed, leading to a rodeo scholarship to Fort Scott Community College in Fort Scott, Kansas. While attending college, he was introduced to bit and spur making at a two-day bit-making workshop. After college, he rodeoed, cowboyed, ranched and trained horses, all the while making usable bits and spurs for cowboys, ropers, barrel racers and horsemen. In 2010, Flaharty was exposed to the artistic aspects of bit and spur making while attending a TCAA workshop at the National Cowboy Museum. He entered the TCAA Emerging Artists Competition in 2015, and the following year received a TCAA fellowship. Flaharty became a TCAA member in 2023. He resides in Hico, Texas, with his daughter, Rio Belle.