Welcome to the Horse Trap. My name is Johanna Work. I am a 5th generation cattle rancher in San Miguel California and an 11th generation Californian. I have spent my life around horses and cattle and began immersing myself in the Californio Vaquero and buckaroo style in my early 20’s. I was hooked from the beginning, appreciating how they made a point to take the time to show off their horses like art, which I believe is essential to honor these animals.

I am a single mom to two wonderfully wild boys and this entire business is dedicated to them. It was them who brought my horseback work to a brief hault and I had to find a source of income from home. I had always been drawn to leather work and working with my hands, and it was the year 2018, when I had my first son, I registered the horse trap brand and began selling my leather work. After crippling my hands tooling and getting hurt riding colts, I decided I needed another source of income that was not as straining. So in 2022 I began twisting cinches and playing with mohair. I have also recently been playing with silverware, upcycling them to pretty riding gear. My goal is to be able to build anything necessary to cowboy, and if I’m lucky, I’ll be around long enough to get ‘er whipped. I am mainly, trial and error, self taught, through Youtube and hard knocks, but I was determined to make beautiful things for horses and horsemen and here I am still enjoying every bit of it and looking forward to learning more and growing as a maker.

Thank you for stopping by and having a peak at my passion I hope you find something you like.

Happy Trails!