Cordell Kelley: 10 Year Old Whipmaker

Earlier this year, my son Cordell took an interest in learning how to make whips. After lots of plaiting practice, he made a whip for himself . At that time, he was still 9 year old, beating the age I started plaiting by about 4 years.

In September, he was given an awesome opportunity. A long-time customer of mine needed a sizable order of Florida cow whips and he needed them much sooner than my back-log would allow. I asked him if, for the sake of time, he would be interested in having Cordell make the whips. After sending him a sample whip, the fellow ordered 4 more!

Ather reason we are very excited about this order is because  all the whips are destined for a cattle ranch in Cameroon, Africa! According to our customer, this will be the first time whips have been used herding cattle on this ranch. I am hoping we will get some photos of the whips in action in Cameroon. Cordell plaited the whips and we got them mailed out in the nick of time.

As you might imagine, words can hardly express the feeling of being a father and having a son that genuinely wants to learn your craft. Making whips has been very rewarding for me on a number of levels and what my son is doing now is just icing on the cake.

Because of his age, Cordell has many other priorities at this time and only takes order for his whips on a limited basis; I handle the order details and business transactions on his behalf.

Merry Christmas!

-Rhett

www.cowwhips.com