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| White yuck on the saddle but not the leathers! |
Oh my dear Stubben, you looked so much nicer when I pulled out out of the big box at Christmas! Honestly, this was the saddle I was most worried about. It lives under a cover and I don't ever ride in it (really should change that before show season starts). I had visions of a nest of baby mice all nestled in there eating away at the saddle stuffing. Way to think positive!
Fortunately I found no such thing, or any other signs of mice for that matter. Just a white haze over much of the saddle. Easy enough to deal with (certainly when compared to the idea of a nest of mice) but when this is all said and done I'm going to need to buy saddle soap again!
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| I wonder if the cat who did this was a good mouser? |
The dressage saddle fared better, with some panels thinking about being moldy but that's all. Unfortunately all the cleaning in the world doesn't help cat claw marks. I've been trying to wipe those off since the late 90s.
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| Can't resist the brass |
Even though it was saddle day, there was no escaping the brass. Have I mentioned how much I love my brass stirrup irons? Well, until I have to polish them. Still, not a bad job compared to when I used to drive. The amount of brass hardware on a show harness can be very unfun. And then you still need to clean and polish your cart! But that's another story.
Anyway, good news, no mouse chews on anything. We are still only down a bridle (I never liked that bridle anyway). And I made some important discoveries about my tack during the process (cleaning time is such a good time to do a thorough inspection of your stuff). First, the rubber treads in my stirrups are so old that they are starting to disintegrate. Second, I'm so glad that I never wore white breeches with those stirrup leathers that are on my dressage saddle! I bought them new when my sister shipped the saddle out last year and have never cleaned them. You wouldn't believe how much black dye came off just saddle soaping them! Like black black black! Not good! Sure am glad my schooling breeches are also black.
Overall, I'm impressed that two saddles that are 15 to 20 years old are in such good shape. Perhaps if I treat them a little better than I have over the last few months I might get another 15 to 20 out of them.
So now what? Well, still a few odds and ends to clean and inspect but the worst of it is done. I want to go over a few things with conditioner again, and then I need to put humpty dumpty back together again.
I sure hope I remember where all those keepers go.
My dressage saddle is a synthetic Wintec so I just have to hose it off and call it good. It makes me thankful that I can do that especially since at my last barn, the cats seemed to enjoy the privacy that the flaps of my saddle provided and used it as a urinal. Lovely. At least they didn’t use my helmet as a bathroom like they did to my friend! At Christmas I was given a HUGE lot of tack including a saddle. The saddle is just a cheapy a/p saddle that is too narrow for my OTTB but it’s still in pretty good shape. The girths are so buttery soft and it just shocks the heck out of me! They’ve been in a box in a basement for 40 years and are softer than some of my tack that’s been stored for a year!
ReplyDeleteA riding friend of mine, who has her horse in the arena stalls where I board, mentioned that a few mice were using her saddle as their private condo. She didn't see any damage, but your post has highlighted that there is the possibility. My horse is kept in the original barn and the barn cats hang out there; they don't wander down to the arena. In fact, they sleep in the tack room most of the time, so I guess little chewing critters know they are risking their lives if they enter. :-)
ReplyDeleteHer helmet?! Ok, it can always be worse! lol
DeleteThank goodness my barn only has one cat, and she is always locked outside the tack room. I'm glad your saddles weren't ruined by the mice!
ReplyDeleteGlad the mice didn't get to your saddles. They are destructive little critters. We get mold on our saddles too. Not usually in the winter, but we've been unusually warm so there is some. In the summer I keep a dehumidifier in the tack room and that seems to help.
ReplyDeleteDon't you love it when all the tack is clean and ready to go. I do. Guess it's because I've already given myself a pat on the back for actually cleaning the tack.
I do love seeing the tack all clean and shiny. In fact, I'm debating whether or not I want to bring it anywhere near horses right now. It just all looks so great (if I do say so myself lol).
DeleteI can't imagine how much of a pain cleaning a harness and a cart/buggy would be! I find it hard enough to get my tack clean for a show... : O Yay for synthetic saddles! Tho, I must confess, leather IS much nicer, and I hope one day to afford a good leather dressage saddle. At the moment I only have the one all-purpose and it's not the best of fits.
ReplyDeletebonita of A Riding Habit
Hi from Italy =)
ReplyDeletereally nice blog!
I love Stubben's saddles. they are really good.
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