Lazy L Ranch Co. Tack Shop on East Second Street wants to be a resource for the community — horse tack, rodeo gear and even fresh beef. 

The shop held its grand opening Aug. 23, but owner Shana Klassen is no stranger to her customer base. The former owner of Way Back When Photography, Klassen would take photos in the rodeo circuit, something she still does on occasion. “Now that we have the store … there’s not enough hours in the day to fit it all in.”

They’re also busy raising cattle. You can purchase beef from the Klassen family farm through Lazy L’s website. The beef is hung for 21 days and raised the old way. Rather than using trucks or four wheelers they go on horseback, they still brand with a fire, “we still like to do things kind of old school … we’re a small farm, we’re not very big at all, but we still like to do things the old way,” Klassen said.

Klassen has had an online store for awhile, she said, and while at Jake Clark’s Mule Days she and her husband were talking to the owners of Sulphur River Saddlery and an off the cuff conversation about buying from the company set the ball in motion.

“We took the idea and just kind of rolled with it, just tried to find things people really wanted. Thankfully, we have lots of friends in the horse community … that supported us and that we kind of kicked the idea around to and gave us some advice here and there, like, ‘Heck yeah, we would need to find this thing or that thing,’ or, ‘Man, if you carried this, that’d be really good,’ and so we really do try to support the community,” Klassen said.

She added they have friends who will go to Billings every time they need certain horse related items. If they see a product several families need or even one, they try to fill that need. It’s not possible every time, she said, but they try to meet the need in the community.

“We’re big horse people, we love going to the mountains, we love hunting, we love doing a little competition here and there, a little rodeo,” Klassen said, adding, “This is just kind of something that we’re passionate about, the equine community here, and the horse community, and we just really want to help, try to give back a little bit to and do something good for the community, and keep stuff right here.”

Through the shop the Klassen family wants to build relationships and help each other get things accomplished quickly, she said, if they can help someone else’s business and showcase the talented people in the area that’s important.

Saddles have been the most popular item, particularly ranch saddles and mule saddles, Klassen said. A good ranch saddle allows all around use, “you can do a lot in them, so if you rope for fun on the weekends you can rope on the ranch in it.”

The saddles sold at Lazy L are handmade, some by a maker out of Texas and at the local level by Rudy Yoder of Silver Spur Saddlery. Powell’s new tack shop aims to sell quality, affordable saddles and also offer consignments for those who want a quality, used saddle. 

In addition to selling the carefully crafted and beautifully detailed saddles that range from utilitarian to more luxurious, Lazy L also offers saddle sizing. Klassen would originally fit saddles for free and as she gained experience she began charging $50 at the store and $100 for a fitting that requires travel. A saddle fitting in downtown Powell may seem strange but the nearby public parking lot allows plenty of space to pull in with a horse trailer. 

“Saddle fitting has been fun, it’s always a learning process. I definitely don’t know everything about it, it’s like trying to be a meteorologist …  you’re not going to learn every single thing about it, but there’s so much that goes into it, and I really do try,” Klassen said. “The more I learn, the more I try to help educate other people and really try to get them in a saddle that fits good, and that has been a very requested service.”

But Lazy L still has more to offer. The store wants to work to accommodate rodeo youth so they have begun carrying a line of ropes made by E4 Ropes, a family owned business based out of Texas.

“That’s a little bit different, it’s not just something you can get at Murdoch’s or Bomgaars, their ropes are a little bit, I don’t know, more personalized, handmade … we’re trying to get some things in more like some rodeo things in too,” Klassen said.

In the coming year, there are also plans to accommodate area youth participating in 4-H with the goal of having a 4-H closet where kids can find high quality used items they may not otherwise have the budget for. 

“We just are really, really praying that the community is patient with us. Um, we’re trying to bring in a lot of things that people want and need,” Klassen said.