Winterize your saddle

We all know that we need to clean our saddles and winter is the best time. Most of us don’t ride in the winter and those of us who do usually ride bareback when it gets cold. So over those cold winter months here is the proper way to get rid of those pesty squeaks and preserve your saddles....

Johnson says there are three main steps to winterizing any leather. Whether it’s saddles, bridles, or breast collars, the steps are the same - clean, condition and seal.

CLEANING

First of all, take a stiff plastic brush and clean the dirt off. Dust gets in the fibers of your saddle and acts like sandpaper. Use a rag to remove the fine particles. Once you have removed the dust and dirt from the surface, get a bowl or a bucket of water and a rag, and really wash the saddle off. Don’t be afraid to get your saddle wet, because you want to flush the dirt and oil out of the leather at this point. With saddles, the oil is best displaced using water in conjunction with soap, but not saddle soap. “Saddle soap is the worst thing you can use,” he said, “It contains fat and was intended for harnesses.” So - are you wondering what to use? A bar of Ivory soap, according to Johnson. Lather your rag with plain Ivory soap, and apply it to your saddle until there is a thick, rich later. Then, flush your saddle with water until it runs off. This brings up the oil and washes it away. “When you have no oil left, that’s perfect.”

CONDITIONING

Let your saddle dry overnight, and oil it the next day. Johnson recommends two oils. One is Lexol, which is easy to find, inexpensive, and gentle to your saddle. Lexol contains agents that help the oil absorb and not cling to the surface and, as a result, leaves less oily residue. The other is warm, 100% Neatsfoot oil, and not a Neatsfoot oil compound which contains motor oil. Also, Neatsfoot oil must be warmed - he uses a crockpot - to activate the ingredients. He warned to never use any food product to oil your saddle, such as corn oil or bacon grease often used in the old days. These products encourage bacterial action. “Leather is flesh, It is nothing but dry flesh, dry meat,” he said. “As with any flesh, materials with bacterial action will eat it away. It does the same to your saddle.” Let the oil settle and spread through the leather overnight.

SEALING

He recommends Leather Sheen, a flexible spray wax, by a company called Feibings, and Leather New by Farnam. These sealers keep oil in and dust out.

“Never, never use a spray finish with a lacquer base,” he warned. The lacquer will only wear off where you sit or in spots where the saddle is rubbed, and the rest of your saddle won’t effectively absorb any more oil. If you are riding and your saddle gets wet, let it dry gently. Don’t dry it in the sun or in front of a heater because the heat will crack it. Since the water has displaced your saddle oil, you will need to repeat the cleaning steps discussed above.

STORAGE

If you are storing your saddle for the winter, it is essential to store it on something the shape of a horse. “Sawhorses or stall doors will allow the skirts to curl, and you can never uncurl them, and that will rub the horse,” he said. Make sure the stirrups don’t touch the ground because that bends the fenders. Ideally, you should put a broomstick through the stirrups to keep them twisted, and hang a 10-or-15 pound weight from the stick to keep the stirrup leathers flat. Storage temperature isn’t crucial. “Your saddle will warm slowly with the temperature,” he said. But don’t take it from freezing temperatures into the house. “A fast thaw causes condensation, which causes acidity,” Johnson said. He advises to keep your saddle covered and protected from dust. “Oil attracts dirt, which even with a sealer will work into the pores, and it’s an abrasive, like sand. Dust tears your saddle apart,” he said. In some parts of the country, mold and mildew can be a problem. Johnson says the best preventative measure is “keep the saddle dry.” “Most people fail to recognize a white powder on their saddle as mold,” he said. “A green paste around your rivets is also mold that is reacting with copper,” Johnson added. To remove the mold, clean your saddle. But before you condition it, apply white vinegar - three to five applications - and this will take care of your mold problem, he said. Be sure to apply the vinegar heaviest in the moldy areas. Then, proceed with conditioning and sealing as usual.

Dusty Johnson owns and operates Pleasant Valley Saddle Shop in Loveland, Colorado. Among a myriad of things, he is a saddle maker, author, and instructor of his own saddle-making schools that are attended by students from all over the world.