Thoughts From the Tack Room

Leather & Materials Care and Safety

"Intermediate"
Thoughts From the Tack Room
Everything You Didn't Know About Cleaning Tack
Submitted by Jewel, 1/16/2009

Was busy in the tack room doing spring cleaning and thought it might be fun to share some newly acquired knowledged with the rest of you. I have recently had the opportunity to do some dressage training on a four-in-hand team of Holsteiner horses being readied for the World Championships. Of course a lot of the work had to do with driving and so harness was involved. I learned a lot and one of the things that I learned had to do with cleaning saddles and bridles.

I'm sure all of you have done the saddle soap and oil thing, as have I for many years. Well the lady driving the team showed me a different way to clean tack and having tried it, I have to tell you this is the cat's pajamas.

Instead of saddle soap and water, it was recommended to her by one of the top European harness makers that all the tack be washed in warm water to which Mr. Clean liquid detergent had been added. Tack could then be dried and either polished (harness) or oiled (saddles, bridles, etc.) as the rider/driver required. I was extremely skeptical to say the least but I am here to tell you that this method of cleaning tack not only results in very clean leather to oil, but a reduced incidence of mildew on your leather if your tack room is at all damp in the wintertime.

I had a newly acquired dressage saddle which I loved and hated. Loved because the seat and ride were terrific but hated because the leather was very stiff and slippery. One cleaning in the Mr. Clean mixture and I was able to oil this saddle, actually have the leather absorb the oil instead of sitting on top of the wax and the end result is I adore my new saddle. Try it out - it's amazing.

I had also purchased (finally) a custom made reiner/equitation saddle and it arrived with SaddleLac on it. Makes the leather show ring shiny and slippery as hell. Was very unhappy with it and horrified because I had paid huge dollars for it. One cleaning again removed the Saddle Lac , let me re-oil the saddle and it too is now a very happy ride for me. Would love to hear from anyone else out there who tries this as to your results. I am very impressed.

Another tip for all of you to preserve the life of your horse's boots is to wash them in Zero and warm water. It preserves the neoprene (you can do cinches in this too), as well as the velcro, makes your boots clean and I guarantee you won't believe the gunk that comes out of your boots -- especially Sports Medicine boots and the like that have neoprene linings. Soak them in a mix of warm water and Zero in a big pail for half an hour or so, scrub with a soft nail brush or the like and rinse in warm water. Will make them look new again. If you are having trouble with scurfy skin under your boots - a. don't leave them on your horse so long and b. add a cap of Mr. Clean to the mix and it will kill the bacteria that is contributing to the scurfy skin. This information was passed along to me by a representative at a horse trade show selling extremely high end European jumping boots but it works equally well for sports medicine boots, bell boots and any other boots you have with velcro and neoprene. You can wash your leather backed, neoprene lined boots in this as well , just oil the straps after.

Hope this means you will all be cleaning your tack better.

Happy Trails.

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