He dresses them for success By Riley Robinson
He dresses them for success
From the 2024 mountain workshop in Paris KY
On a back table in a corner of the workshop, there are neat rows of brass plates, each engraved with a name. If you’re there on the right day, the array of names might read as a who’s who of the horse world.
These plates will eventually get fixed to handmade leather halters, all trimmed and sewn and polished along Main Street at Quillin Leather & Tack. About a dozen employees, working on century-old machines, produce about 18,000 halters each year. Their work is sought after, not just at horse farms all over Bourbon County, but across the world.
“Quillin’s impact on not only Paris, but the Thoroughbred industry, is unmatched,” says Lauren Biddle, executive director of the Paris Chamber of Commerce. “He has become a worldwide brand.”
Ralph Quillin founded his leather business more than four decades ago, out of a corner of his house. By Ralph’s telling, he stumbled into the leather trade. After deciding to leave college for a year Ralph said, he got a job making custom leather sandals.
“I brought my ponytail back, and worked in the sandal shop, and hung out with hippies,” he says with a laugh.
Quillin loved working with leather, but it took some improvisation to figure out what would sell. In the early years, if a customer came in and asked if they carried a particular item, Ralph and his sister might sneak a glance, then say, apologetically, that the last one must have just sold. Then they would run to a catalog, figure out what the person had been asking for, and ensure they started carrying that in the store.
One popular sideline is halter belts for men and women, with the owner’s name engraved on the brass plate. They have become a fashion staple in the Bluegrass, and not just among the horsey set.
Eventually, the handmade halters, and the detailed craftsmanship, found a loyal customer base. But even after the leather business took off, Ralph had more ideas for business ventures, and continued to spin off new projects: a vacation rental and boat ramp spot; a restaurant in Lexington; and a craft brewery in Paris, with a big mural of Tom Waits. And all of that came after his time as a cattle farmer, and a whole career as a firefighter and paramedic in Lexington.
His ideas sometimes get pushback. When he brought food trucks to Paris in 2014, it wasn’t entirely popular, he says, especially with some local restaurants. But he saw the change as progress — if people were upset about new competition, they should up their game.
“He’s just a real energetic guy,” says Buckner Woodford, a longtime banker who’s known Ralph, and the Paris business scene, for decades. “And he’s always trying to do business the right way.”
Despite friendly nudges from his wife and colleagues that he can retire, Ralph says he isn’t done yet. While pandemic slowdowns ultimately shuttered the restaurant and brewery, he is keen to someday return to the food scene. He is thinking about writing children’s books. He put his name on the ballot for mayor during the last election cycle, but withdrew before election day, deciding to put his time and energy elsewhere.
Ralph jokes that his eventual tombstone will read, “He died in his spare time.”
“He’s [a] very confident, very creative, very generous guy,” says Pat Conley, a Paris journalist and friend. “But he's gonna have a good time.”
Lately, Quillin’s second location at 723 Main has been buzzing with renovations, as Ralph plans to add a showroom. He hoped to have the retail space ready before November when Paris hosted the Secretariat Festival, marking the 50th anniversary of the iconic horse’s arrival at Claiborne Farm. As part of the festivities, the town will formally open Secretariat Park, and unveil a huge bronze sculpture of Big Red.
Since this article was written, Quillin Leather & Tack has move both shops (1929 & 723 Main) to a single 9000 sq foot showroom and shop at 716 Main Street. "We've been in 5 locations, all on Main Street in Paris" Quillin shared "but this is the last move with plenty of room to grow the shop with a great Main Street Store front!"
The artist used a Quillin halter to make a cast for the sculpture, immortalizing it in the work.
“Anything I do, you know, I go for the gusto,” Ralph says. “We can do this, and why not? That’s always spirited me through.”
