New saddle - how best to treat it?

Skippys Mum

Skippys Mum

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My shiny new saddle arrived yesterday. The fitter wasnt particularly specific about what to do with it so I'm wondering whats the best thing to treat it with. :cool:
 
Depends on the saddle I guess. when I bought my Prestige I was told to clean it as normal with saddle soap but not over condition it. Seems too many people put too much oil and stuff on their saddles
 
On a similar vein. A saddler told me the best way to break in a new saddle is to go for a 2 hour walking hack ie straight not working on a circle. Sounds plausible True?
 
It's definitely the best way to get a saddle to settle, I always have my clients ride in the walk for 10 minutes before allowing trot where the saddle is generally subjected to more demands in terms of stability of fit. It's not really breaking it in as such, it's much more about the flocking.

I don't know the products that cremedemonthe is recommending but I am quite sure they are very good ones. I also like Oakwood Conditioner, but other good ones include Effax Lederbalsam and the Leather Therapy conditioner. I never recommend oil of saddle soap on leather for various reasons, just keep it clean and condition enough to keep it supple and not dry, but not enough to leave it all soggy.
 
Although thinking about it, I'd recommend yes, if you can, two hours in walk, great, but not all at once! You need to get your horse used to a new saddle, starting with 30-45 minutes and building up to long rides after a week or so.
 
Lol I wouldn't like to say if she meant all at once. I suspect she did. Its not the one I am buying a saddle from so can't check exactly what she meant. Thanks for the advice.
 
Depends what leather is used to make it. I just bought a new dressage saddle that's made of calf leather and was told to only use the products that the saddle maker provided as calf leather should be treated differently to other leathers.
 
Actually it's not the calf leather that needs different treatment in itself as seat and knee pad leather is frequently calf leather, it's the fact that it is usually very thin, often only a mm or so, and glued to a thicker leather underneath in these types of saddles. Both these things - thinness and the glue - are the issues. The glue can easily delaminate if you use anythig too oily so, yes, always use the product recommended by the manufacturer if there is one. Before I became a fitter, years ago, I had a Prestige Paris D and only used the very strange, thin, Prestige conditioning liquid.
 
sbloom said:
Actually it's not the calf leather that needs different treatment in itself as seat and knee pad leather is frequently calf leather, it's the fact that it is usually very thin, often only a mm or so, and glued to a thicker leather underneath in these types of saddles. Both these things - thinness and the glue - are the issues. The glue can easily delaminate if you use anythig too oily so, yes, always use the product recommended by the manufacturer if there is one. Before I became a fitter, years ago, I had a Prestige Paris D and only used the very strange, thin, Prestige conditioning liquid.
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I didn't know that, thank you :) I think the flaps on mine are two thinner pieces of leather glued together to form the flap. It's very soft leather, softer than anything I've felt before. I'm actually terrified of scratching it lol.
 
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