Owner of 'Dark Horse Collection' turns passion for horses into jewelry

CLEARWATER BEACH, Fla. - Nine years ago, Deborah Ryland stood at a major crossroads in her life. 

"I was kind of burned out. I was kind of questioning where I was going to go," she explained. "I was laying on the back of my horse in a pasture, and his tail just kept flipping up."

Ryland has had experience with horses her entire life. That day, her horse’s tail hair sparked an epiphany.

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"I just jumped down, instead of feeling sorry for myself," she said. "I'm going to go back to the barn, and I'm going to cut a little piece of hair, and I'm going to make a piece of jewelry out of it."

Nine years later, horse-hair jewelry is now her full-time job and passion. She designs and creates each piece of jewelry. 

"I’ve made over probably 20,000 pieces of jewelry with these two hands," Ryland said.

Ryland runs The Dark Horse Collection, creating bracelets, earrings, necklaces and other pieces of jewelry. Most of her business comes from working at Clearwater Beach’s Pier 60 local market. 

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"I have a lot of repeat customers. They come back. They look for me. They're wearing my jewelry, and they come up and say, ‘look I got one of your pieces,'" Ryland said. "It’s very flattering."

It’s also very challenging for Ryland. With the homemade nature of her business, she said it requires a ton of patience, explaining that a measurement that is wrong by one millimeter can completely ruin a piece. However, she said it’s those trials that have helped her hone her craft. 

"The more I made them, the better I got. My skillset got better," she said. 

In the short term, Ryland is preparing for an annually busy holiday season. In the long term, she wants to continue to get better. Ryland is hoping to make belts next. 

To see her collection, click here.