Rodney Botfield, Whip Maker

Rodney grew up in Coonabarabran, NSW and now lives at Mummulgum near Casino, NSW with his wife Jenny, son Tom and daughter Katie, where they run stud and commercial Charolais cattle.

Rod has been making whips for over 20 years, tanning his own red hide and white hide from hides purchased from Casino hideworks. He uses red Kangaroo skins for his roo whips. Rod tries to secure the best hides available to ensure his whips are of the highest possible quality.

We knew that Rodney had made a shift from the building industry to whip making, and when we questioned him about this, he replied “I love a challenge in life, and when I started whip making I just took to it.” Recently he spoke with an aunt who at the age of 104(!) told him that there was a history of whip plaiting in his family – Rodney had been unaware of this interesting fact. Kent Saddlery is always confident to recommend Rodney’s whips and whip falls. They are a very popular sale item and when we travel, the stock workers are very keen to try them out! They usually purchase one, and we receive consistently good reports regarding their durability and quality.
Lyle and Helen