Cleaning Horse Saddles
Posted by Tyler Wilmas | Filed under Recreation & Sports
Taking care of your horse saddle is critical. The leather and metallic parts can quickly deteriorate if not properly maintained. Saddles are a pretty expensive purchase, so in order to protect your investment you want to care for your saddle properly on a regular basis.
Cleaning your saddle on a monthly basis will help keep maintenance minimal and prevent the hefty job of undoing long term neglect. If you use your saddle on a more regular basis, you may need to tend to it more frequently.
Saddles have a long lifespan in general, but if they are not cared for they can rot and deteriorate rapidly. It is also always important to use some sort of leather oil when caring for your saddle once you have cleaned it. This will help to preserve the leather.
You can straddle your horse saddle over a fence to scrub it. You may use water and a mild soap to begin cleaning, but do not soak or saturate the leather too deeply. You can use a medium soft brush to scrub the leather, but be careful not to shred or tear it.
You do want to take your saddle apart to clean those hard-to-reach places. Crud can collect in cracks and areas between saddle parts. You do not want your saddle to become a petri dish of funk that can make you sick, your horse sick or just plain reek a foul odor. Be diligent with the sanitation of your saddle and you will save yourself the grief of a nasty fungus ruining your riding time.
While you are scrubbing the main part of the saddle, soak the detached metal parts that are safe to soak. You will be finishing these later. Do not leave them soaking longer than it takes to clean the rest of the horse saddle. Do not soak any leather!
Remember that the horse is in contact with the underside of the saddle, so do not forget to clean this part as well. You will also need to clean all straps and harnesses and any metal pieces that are connected to the saddle core. Be sure these are allowed to dry before the saddle is stored to prevent rusting.
Once you have cleaned all of the parts of the saddle you should oil them, both the leather and the metal. Apply an even coat to the entire saddle and wipe any extra drips so that they do not dry and stain your finish with odd markings.
Once you have oiled your saddle and thoroughly dried off all of the leather and metallic parts, it is time to reassemble your saddle, Hopefully, you have kept careful track of all the parts that you detached. Do not leave any parts out when putting it back together or the saddle may fall apart or fail during use.
Taking Care Of your horse saddle will prolong it’s usefulness. You are working to keep up it’s looks and it’s functionality. Rust and rot can break down a saddle and have a negative effect on you or your horse’s health. If you tend to your horse saddle on a regular basis, you should have no problems keeping it in great, usable riding condition.
Article contributor, Tyler Wilmas, is a horse connoisseur and has many quality saddles for sale in his feed supply shop. To learn more about horse tack and other horse issues, read more of his posts online.
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