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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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Hangin’ On the Moon Spade Bit

Bit

$21,200

Every cowboy loves a pretty cowgirl, so Flaharty decided to fashion this spade bit — titled Hangin’ On the Moon — around the pin-up girl, an icon of the West since the 1940s. This cowgirl was inlaid using three distinct colors of gold as well as fine silver, which was also used to inlay the moon. The bit cheeks are relief engraved with sculpted scrollwork and the spade is relief engraved with a flower bud inlaid in gold. Despite being a challenging design that took Flaharty out of his comfort zone, producing this bit was “such fun,” he said.

Additional Images

Hangin’ On the Moon Spade Bit
Hangin’ On the Moon Spade Bit

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For the Ladies Spurs

Spurs

$8,600

Built with the ladies in mind, Flaharty gave these spurs — named For the Ladies — smaller bands and a medium shank to better fit a woman’s boot. Inlaid with fine silver stripes and featuring 18-gauge sterling silver filigree scrollwork and 14k gold flower buds, Flaharty also engraved the rowels to match the silver flowers.

Additional Images

For the Ladies Spurs
For the Ladies Spurs

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For Starters O-Ring Bit

Bit

$7,400

Flaharty started colts in his younger days, and the first bit he would put in a young horse’s mouth was an O-ring snaffle bit, which is “great for starting out and giving direction,” he said. Naturally, Flaharty felt an O-ring bit was a fitting choice for his first TCAA exhibition as well, so he created this bit called For Starters. On the circumference of each O-ring, Flaharty sculpted leaves, then inlaid fine silver stripes to add dimension. Within both rings he mounted sterling silver conchas, each one bearing the TCA logo overlaid in 14k gold.

For Starters O-Ring Bit

Troy Flaharty

Hico, Texas

Troy Flaharty was raised in a family of Western performance horse trainers. In high school, he roped calves and competed in rodeo, 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, fundamental bit-making workshop. After college, he rodeoed, cowboyed, ranched and trained horses in Kansas and Oklahoma, 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 & Western Heritage Museum. He entered the TCAA Emerging Artist 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.