PrintThe Bow-Legged Cowboy
Photos by Shannon Drawe
Texans Dennis and Beverly Riney have been married for 42 years, and it seems everything they’ve experienced together has been fodder for their dream, The Bow-Legged Cowboy.
The rustic furniture and gifts store opened in 2004 at a location Beverly likes to call “the north tip of the DFW triangle”: nine miles west of Denton, Texas, on Highway 380, a main artery between North Texas and New Mexico. The Rineys started traveling this route in the 1970s to buy pottery, rugs, and other artifacts on Indian reservations and at galleries. They amassed a fine collection and briefly considered opening a store early in their marriage, but the idea was put on hold while they raised their son Blaine, now grown.
When the dream was back on, they built it smack on the side of a busy highway. About an hour north of Dallas and Fort Worth, The Bow-Legged Cowboy stands sentinel as an estimated 20,000 cars a day pass by. “It was the smartest thing I ever did, building the store off 380,” Dennis says. “Sometimes it takes years for people to finally stop and come in, but eventually they do.” Inside, the store, which Beverly runs and Dennis designed and built by hand out of cedar logs, showcases works by artists from New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and the Midwest. There are bronzes by sculptor Ann Ayres, carved gourd sculptures by Arlene Anderson, whimsical Indian art by Mark Kluck. There’s also furniture made from naturally shed antlers; leather upholstered furniture; and blankets, throws, and bedding by Pendleton Woolen Mills.
About 35 percent of the store’s inventory is made by Dennis himself, who sold his skylight manufacturing business 13 years ago to pursue furnituremaking. “The type of furniture I do, the wood pretty much speaks for itself,” he says. “If you don’t like cracks and dents, you won’t like my furniture.” The Bow-Legged Cowboy has its own workshop and sawmill on premises, with an acre and a half of cedar and mesquite logs ready for Dennis to turn into beds, tables, fireplace mantels, bookcases, bars, gun cases, porch posts, log entryways, slab wood pieces, fence stays—almost anything you might fancy in wood.
We caught up with the Rineys at The Bow-Legged Cowboy, where Dennis was in the workshop out back, and Beverly was minding the store.
Cowboys & Indians: Dennis, you’re self-taught, but your father was a master wood carver.
Dennis Riney: He was an unbelievable woodworker. He could do anything with wood or metal and turned out really fine pieces using exotic woods like walnut and rosewood. He made a bedroom set out of tiger maple, which we still have. He always tried to get me into the workshop to teach me what he knew, but I was never interested. He died in 1998, and I didn’t get interested in woodworking until two years later, so I never apprenticed with him.
C&I: So what finally sparked your interest?
Dennis: Well, I’d always wanted a sawmill. We built a home in Ruidoso [New Mexico] and I decided I’d make a fireplace mantel for the house, so I bought a portable sawmill and made one out of a 30-inch-diameter alligator juniper that was on the property. After that, I made a log bed from juniper and sold it.
C&I: Tell us about the materials you use.
Dennis: We use native Texas woods such as cedar, mesquite, pecan, and pine. We’ve even used hackberry for occasional tables, and bois d’arc wood, which is extremely hard and dense, to carve candleholders. Sometimes people bring their own wood such as walnut. You’ll find the prettiest wood just lying in someone’s yard for years.
C&I: When you’re not working wood, you’re working cattle, right?
Dennis: I raise longhorns. I’ve got about 15 now. We have a 25-acre ranchito about 10 miles northwest from Krum. It’s near the old Chisholm Trail.
C&I: Have you designed your own home with the same Western-eclectic style that shows in your store merchandise?
EnlargeBeverly Riney: Every home should have a story, and ours is filled with things that tell the story of our travels. If I had to put a name to it, it would be “antique, cowboy, and Indian eclectic.” We built it about 10 years ago, a ranch-style home with Saltillo tile floors. We’ve got pottery and baskets from some of the reservations we’ve visited in New Mexico over the years. There are hides on the floors, and I like to use skins on the tabletops. I like a lot of textures and weavings, and I’ve mixed family heirlooms like a wonderful grandfather clock made by Dennis’ father with new pieces by friends and family members who are also gifted artisans.
C&I: You’re an interior designer by trade. How do you incorporate some of the collectibles and art from your store into a customer’s interiors?
Beverly: I find out first what their likes and dislikes are, what their interests are, and have them show me the collections they have or the pieces they love the most. If they’re a couple, I find the common denominators. I usually make a list of things that can be rearranged, grouped, or highlighted in some way. Some have great old portraits or pictures of family that can be framed and put into a photo gallery. The Bow-Legged Cowboy carries some horn and wood frames of different sizes that work really well for displays like that.
People often ask me for a relaxed rustic look. Rustic doesn’t have to mean ragged and splintered; many people prefer high style, but they still desire an earthy feel created with weavings and rugs, natural colors, a mix of woods, and, perhaps, leather or buckskin. I love to use blankets and throws in plaids or geometric patterns in greens, browns, golds, and reds for warmth and texture. I’ll hang interesting Western art if it’s ranch style or a lovely mountain landscape if it’s more lodge; I might even put a hide on the floor. We have caribou hides and cowhides in the store. A large hide on a bed is wonderful, or on the back of a sofa or draped on a bench. I like to use hides to upholster an old chair, and the smaller hides are good to hang on a wall. My favorite way to use small hides is on the dining room table. Bring in your crystal pieces and your nice china and your beautiful serving pieces, even pewter, so there’s lots of sparkle. The combination is gorgeous.
Sometimes I’ll bring in something whimsical from the store, such as folk art, antlers, or ropes. I just mounted some white-tailed deer antlers for towel bars in a stone house out here. They make great hardware for chests and cabinets, too.
We have some fabulous mirrors in the store that are wrapped in cowhide or surrounded by antlers. I often put them in people’s entryways. We have coat racks and hatracks made of wood and antlers that are perfect for entries, or I’ll use an antler lamp or cedar wood lamp with a sheepskin shade for soft mood lighting. You want to keep the light soft so it sets the tone.
FYI: The Bow-Legged Cowboy, 16450 U.S. Highway 380 W., Krum, Texas, 940.482.5683, www.thebowleggedcowboy.com.
