From: laurie lange
Hello Jessica
I really am enjoying your list! I was wondering if you had any tips on treatments or leather products that can keep my bridles and saddles in good shape and help prolong their life? so to speak? Laurie Lange
Probably the single most important thing you can do is begin with good-quality leather -- that is, leather that comes from Great Britain, Germany, or the US. Good leather is made from good-quality hides that have been bark-tanned. This leather will handle routine cleaning and oiling well, and last virtually forever if properly maintained.
Keeping your tack clean is one of the best ways to prolong its life; keeping it stored properly is the other.
Tack cleaning usually involves two steps: cleaning with a damp sponge and glycerine saddle soap, and reconditioning with neatsfoot oil or a commercial leather dressing. How often you need clean your tack will depend on its condition. If you ride daily, then a daily wipe-down, a weekly cleaning, and a yearly thorough reconditioning is usually a good idea.
Some kind of regular replacement of vital oils is necessary. Saddle soap alone is not enough -- once you have cleaned the leather, you need to replace the oils that were removed in the cleaning process. Neatsfoot oil is preferable to other oils, but neatsfoot oil will darken light-coloured leather. So if your tack is London-colour or one of the blonde shades so popular in the Western world right now, you will be better off with a special waxy conditioner that won't darken the leather (ask at your tack shop, or at a shoe repair shop). Whatever you use, though, avoid petroleum oils! They will harm your saddle; clogging the pores of the leather and rotting the stitching.
There are also a number of "all-in-one" combination cleaners and conditioners on the market, and some riders find these convenient.
Storage: tack covers are very useful. Dust and dirt grind into saddle leather and can eventually cut the fibers; keeping tack covered can protect it from dust, dirt, and scratches. Air circulation is also critical -- store your tack on racks.
Temperature and humidity: tack needs to be kept in a cool, dry place. If you keep it at the barn, be sure that the tackroom is not icy in the winter and hot and damp -- or hot and dry -- in the summer. Temperature extremes will damage leather. Excessive heat will remove the necessary moisture from the leather, drying the fibers and making them brittle. Dry leather will crack, and those cracks cannot be repaired. Dampness is an invitation to mold, mildew, and rot -- that "green tack" look that can develop over one damp weekend! But don't panic if you come home to find a green saddle and bridle. Mold and mildew can be removed with a mixture of water and ammonia, or water and rubbing alcohol; then, when the tack has dried naturally, you can clean and condition it as usual. Mold and mildew look dreadful, but too-dry leather is actually MUCH worse.
If your tackroom at the barn isn't suitable, you can keep your tack at home -- but be careful to keep it cool and dry. Don't store your tack in the garage if it will be subjected to temperature extremes there. A designated "tack closet" IN the house will be much safer.
If you take good care of good tack, it should last a lifetime.
Jessica
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