{"id":461,"date":"2016-09-15T09:00:02","date_gmt":"2016-09-15T13:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/equestrianbootsandbridles.com\/?p=461"},"modified":"2022-10-24T18:54:38","modified_gmt":"2022-10-24T22:54:38","slug":"how-to-clean-a-saddle-ultimate-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/equestrianbootsandbridles.com\/how-to-clean-a-saddle-ultimate-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Clean a Saddle, the Ultimate Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cleaning horse saddles is an essential skill has a horseback rider. In fact, you should know how to clean all of your tack<\/a>. But in this post, I’m going to focus on how to clean a saddle and get it shining like new again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only does a clean saddle simply look a lot nicer – something you might need if you’re showing – but it’s going to increase the longevity of your saddle significantly.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leather saddles especially will dry out, weaken and then start to crack when they aren’t maintained properly.\u00a0Although synthetic saddles are very much designed to take all of that dirt and moisture much more gracefully, you still want your saddle to look black if it was originally black!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

P.S. For more info on how to clean ALL of your tack, click here.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s all covered here: English or Western, leather or synthetic<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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\"Step<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Whether you ride English, Western or something in between, I’m going to go through an easy and quick routine that works every time to get out all of that dirt and grime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, I’m going to tell you some tricks that will help your saddle become softer and look much newer than it has in a while.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, even if you use a synthetic saddle because you’ve realized the damage leather saddles acquire when they aren’t cleaned properly, I’ll go through how to clean these as well!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously this isn’t quite as vital but even a synthetic saddle doesn’t look great when it’s all dirty and gross. Plus it’s better for your horse and you if you’re using clean tack (and other accessories too!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to clean a saddle: Regular cleaning is the solution to all your problems<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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A common problem is leather saddles drying up, becoming hard and then cracking. I mean, without intervention, this is inevitable. The leather is slowly being damaged from the combination of the moisture and dirt that it’s continuously exposed to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A common problem I see is riders ignoring this slow decline. Then once there’s already been a pretty significant of damage, they spend hours trying to clean and salvage their saddle. This just isn’t the way to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know it can be annoying and I probably sound like your mother but you need to get into a routine of cleaning your saddle. The more often you clean it, the less time it will take per cleaning and your saddles will last you so much longer! In the long run, you’re saving time and money by just getting into this routine as soon as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would say that you should be cleaning your saddle for every 15-20 rides or every month – whichever comes first. So if you’re riding much more than 15-20 times a month, clean your saddle after that number of rides and if not, then clean it monthly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have a synthetic saddle, then there’s not really a time limit. But just for the sake of keeping it clean and preventing you and your horse from getting dirtier than you need to, I would say every 30 rides or once every 2 months, whichever comes first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The step by step guide to how to clean a saddle – for leather saddles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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What you’ll need:<\/p>\n\n\n\n