Saddle maintenance

[Pony Soldier]

As I work through my annual maintenance, I got to thinking. Every other year I bring my saddle in, warm it up and clean it from top to bottom. The raw hide gets a coat of varnish and the leather gets sprayed with a saddle cleaner, brushed and wiped clean. Where it gets wet and salty I treat it with saddle butter.

I have done this for a lot of years and wonder if I can do too much. My 100 year old saddle is still doing fine. All my pack saddles are done every 3 years. Too much? Just right?

 

[Skerhunter]

Saddles that get used a lot, we clean spring and fall. Ones sitting around get cleaned at least once a year. Good time to closely inspect everything and replace stuff before a wreck happens.

 

[burrohiker]

About once a year in the spring when it warms up, all our riding saddles get a healthy dose of leather cream or beeswax depending on the surface.

All my pack saddles are now biothane and that is fantastic. Minimal care involved other than rinsing cinches. Same goes for britchin, all biothane.

 

[Pony Soldier]

That's interesting in that I run a bunch of mares and that britchen is peed on multiple times during the day. Keeping that clean and pliable has to be a consious effort with wax and oil treatment.

I have never encountered biothene but that would diminish the probability on failure.

 

[Coues123]

I'm with burrohiker. This biothane britchen is about 30 years old. I had my saddle maker pad the biothane.

 

[Procision Arms]

Biothane is a pretty amazing leather replacement. I race standardbreds and pretty much every piece of modern harnesses are made from biothane or nylon. They’re way lighter than leather and require next to no care.

We put them on a horse that’s training 6 days a week, then hose them down and hang up to dry, with no other care. We have some that are 10 years old, and other than cosmetic issues, they’re fully functional. Some have at least 10,000 miles on the track, and outside of water and some dish soap, nothing else is required to keep them clean and functioning.

I’ve been swapping a lot of my riding/packing tack over time to biothane/synthetics, but the traditionalists look at you like you committed a cardinal sin if you don’t have full leather regalia

 

[Coues123]

I spent a whole day last week while it was snowing cleaning and oiling tack. I was thinking the whole time I should just swap all this out. Since I'm cheap, I'll use it until it wears out and then swap it.
The crowd that thinks it has to be traditional leather and attire is welcome to that opinion.
I use what works for me.
Chain hobbles can be a real eye opener for some.
I've used a chain for 20 years to stake my horses out by a front foot. Lays on the ground better and doesn't burn them if they get it behind a back foot. A swivel at the stake and foot keeps it from twisting up.

 

[6.5Express]

I try to di it twice a year but not all of the tack gets it twice just due to not having enough time. Early spring and again late summer / early fall.

Ive switched over to a lot of nylon and biothane on pack saddles and slowly transitioning the riding tack at least with nylon here and there.

 

[rayporter]

i keep a couple rolls of biothane around to replace any wear items.

 

[missjordan]

I clean my everyday tack once a year and the rest as needed


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk