BLACKFOOT — After being around the business most of his life and being the owner/operator of Riverside Boot & Saddle west of Blackfoot for more than 40 years, Brian Waters finds few surprises in his business.

But then, there was that one idea his son had a few years ago.

“About five years ago, my son started installing snow plows on trucks,” Waters said. “I told him no when he asked about it, but he did it anyway. Turned out to be a good idea.”

The business began more than 60 years ago in 1963 when the Waters family was still living in Mackay. Brian’s father, Derrald Waters, ran the railroad depot in Mackay at the time.

“My dad was what they called the railroad agent,” Waters said. “Half of the building was living quarters where we lived, and the other half was where my father worked.”

In about 1963, Derrald started selling saddles part-time out of a garage he had bought. A couple of years later, he added boots. Then, in 1968, knowing they were going to close the Mackay depot, Derrald was transferred to Blackfoot, and with him came the rest of the Waters family.

“When they closed it, Dad bought the depot and moved it to Blackfoot and opened this store,” Waters said. “The story I was told was that when they raised the power lines so they could get the depot past them, they ended up cutting off the power to Arco for most of the day.”

Waters doesn’t remember the exact timing of all that but estimates it was between 1973 and 1975. Once the former Mackay depot was in its current location, 72 West Highway 39 near Blackfoot, and all the work was completed, Derrald started operating Riverside Boot & Saddle out of the building.

A decade or so later, Waters bought the business from his father. He has expanded the business steadily over the years, starting with a 6,000-square-foot addition to the original building in 1987, bringing the total to 12,000 square feet.

While the interior features some of the things one would expect, such as saddles, boots, horse equipment, tack, hats and Western wear, the operation added a trailer business to the outside. Riverside Boot & Saddle also sells and services all types of trailers, including flatbeds, cargo, toy haulers and livestock trailers.

Then, in 2005, Waters launched Riverside Trailers in Jerome and added a Riverside Trailers location in Caldwell in 2014. Those two locations specialize in trailer sales and service, and don’t have the boots and saddles business that the Blackfoot location has.

“Those were two parts of the state I just felt weren’t being served very well,” Waters said of the two locations.

More than 40 years since he bought Riverside Boot & Saddle from his father, Waters is now looking at the next generation. He said his three sons all work at the operation, and he has started looking at selling the company to the third generation of Waters.

He expects something to happen in the next couple of years, but doesn’t believe selling the business to his sons means he is going to retire.

“Every day somebody asks me when I am going to retire,” Waters said. “I tell them I don’t know when I am going to retire, but I know I will work 40 hours a week.”

Waters estimates he has worked 60 or more hours a week for the past several years. Riverside Boot & Saddle is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The store is closed on Sundays.