Whether you are the proud owner of a new custom made saddle, and or have been a saddle owner for many years,or whether your saddle is new or used, the care remains basically the same. Good quality saddles are made to last a life time. Most of us saddle makers view our work as a work of art. We take a great deal of pride in our work, not only in the lasting beauty of what we make but also in the functional use that it provides. There is nothing man made that can replace the look, feel,and utility of good old fashioned leather products. Leather has never been out of fashion and probably will remain very popular for many years to come. Now having said all that, leather does eventually wear out. Some parts of your saddle will need replacing in time. So now how do you take care of your investment?

First let's talk about how to transport and store your saddle. A good sturdy saddle rack is probably the best way to store your saddle when not in use, preferably in a dry rodent-free environment. I usually put the saddle pads down first and then set the saddle on top of them. However if your pads are wet with sweat, rain or both you will need to lay them out to dry first. If you store your saddle in the tack room of your horse trailer(that's ok) and at least that will likely be rodent free(mice love to chew on sheep skin). However a word on caution here, in damp and humid weather or if your horse trailer leaks it may cause mold to accumulate on all of your tack, and if it gets bad enough it will be hard to get it off.

In some cases it may also leave dark spots all over your tack even after it is cleaned. Storing saddles in your trailer when they are wet will also add to this problem. So a dry tack room is the best choice if your equipment is wet and or it is humid weather conditions. If your tack room is not mouse proof, and you can get a rope over a rafter, you can put a loop thru the hole at the front of the seat coming up from the bottom of the saddle and loop it over the horn, and then put the other end of the rope up over the rafter, and winch the saddle up out of the reach of rodents. Its not fool proof but it sure helps. If you want to get fancy you can poke a hole in coffee can big enough to get the rope thru it and slide it up the rope close to the rafter as this will make it difficult for rodents to come down the rope.

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make is they lay their saddles flat on the floor, sheep skin side down when transporting or storing saddles. If you don't have a saddle rack in your trailer, or you are hauling them in the back of your pickup, then the best option is to put your saddle pads down first and then stand the saddle up on its nose being sure that fenders , latigos and etc. are not all kinked up.

This is especially important if your saddle got damp or wet while being used because if you store or transport it in any way that bends the leather out of its natural position, and it dries that way, it will have a strong tendency to stay bent That will not help the function, use and appearance of your saddle.

If you can't tip your saddle up on its nose, for example because you have to haul it in the trunk of a car. Then the best way to haul it is again lay your saddle pads down first, and then lay the saddle upside down on the pads where your saddle rests on the horn and the cantle. Then fold the stirrups and fenders inside of the sheep skin area being careful not to create any more bends than necessary. Then as soon as possible take it out and store properly.

Well enough for that part. Lets talk about cleaning and taking care of your saddles and tack. Lets face it,. saddles and tack get dusty,dirty, and sometimes just plain grimy. Sweat also attracts a lot of dirt too. I like to use liquid glycerine (leather new or by a few other names) to clean my saddles and tack. The first step is to clean off the loose dirt and dust, This can be accomplished by using and air compressor, or a fox tail brush (not to stiff) your don't want to scratch your saddle, anyway remove as much of the loose dirt as possible. In the stirrups where mud, and you know what else tends to gather there, I use a dull knife to gently scrape off as much as possible even wetting it some to soften it up a little if necessary.

The back side of stirrup leathers, fenders, and back cinchas may also need a little scraping. Be very carefully not to cut the leather. Now I apply the leather new ( available at most tack stores) by spraying it onto a piece of scrap sheep skin and then scrub it into the leather thoroughly. You may need to go over it a few times until all the surface dirt is removed. A soft cloth or sponge will also work.

If the saddle leather is old or dry and after cleaning with leather new, I will apply one or more coats of lexol to the leather and then go back over with a coat of leather new again. The reason I go back over with one more coat of leather new is because lexol tends to leave the surface a bit streaky. After your last coat of leather new, let it dry and then buff with a piece clean sheep skin or soft cloth. If you want more shine than what you get with this process then you can apply a coat of tan coat, its a product made by Feibings. It's available at my shop or at most tack stores. One thing I don't do is apply neatsfoot oil to old leather.

Repeated applications of neatsfoot oil tends to darken the leather and on very old leather I feel, it seems to me that it doesn't help at all. In some cases I think it even makes the leather break down faster. That is why I use lexol on older leather. I do use neatsfoot oil on new leather the first time to bring out color on provide some life to the leather but after the initial application, I don't use it again. Note: when cleaning the stirrup leathers, in order to get to the part that is not visible, pull the stirrup leather up as high as you can and then clean and oil with lexol if needed and then pull it as far as necessary the other way until you can see where you have already cleaned, and finish the job.

Please be careful not to pull the stirrup leather out to far so that you can not get it back to where it needs to be. If you do, it might mean a trip to your friendly saddle maker. PS. I am going to give you a hint here. If you are worried that you might go to far as you pull the stirrup leather out, tie a piece of bailing twine in the last hole in the stirrup leather and let it hang so that you still have something to pull it with in case it gets to far up into the tree. This doesn't mean you can pull it all the way out and expect that you can just pull it back thru by pulling on the twine. It probably won't work.

If you have a suede seat in your saddle, about all you can do is brush them off real good. Don't put any liquid cleaners or oil on them. There are some suede cleaners available that might work. I've never had a lot of luck with them. However they are available at some leather clothing stores.

Please note - I have mentioned some brand name cleaners and oils that I use. If you have another brand that you are using with some success , great. There are several good products on the market. Use what works best for you . Although I have been a saddle maker for almost 30 years I don't claim to have all the answers. So if you have found something that works well and want to share it with our readers feel free to send it to me or e-mail, and we will publish it at some future date. Please be sure to sign it so we can give proper credit. Also if you have any particular question that we have not answered here, you are invited to send the questions to me via the mail or use e-mail. You can get my contact information from my web-site info at the end of this report.

We are planning on putting an interactive page on my web site in the future so we can have a forum for on going questions and answers that all of our web visitors can benefit from. In the mean time I hope this has been informative and beneficial to you. Your comments are welcome.

Best regards and happy trails, friends,

Jack Wright
Wrights Saddlery
www.wrightssaddlery.com
208-741-1511