Dolphinlover~ wrote:@wibeke: Thanks so much <33 Yeah I am very glad that my trainer put me on Megs one time after a lesson. After that she started putting me on him for lessons because she really liked me on him. We needed to find a horse that could take me to that "next level" and I think MegaDeal is the one <3 I really feel like we are a perfect match. It feels awesome to click with him :3 He is a real sweetie, even though he makes nasty faces on the ground xD
It is a lot of fun ;D That's funny that you found your saddle by accident x) Trainers seem to be really good at finding their students the perfect saddle huh? That is an amazing price 8D Even though it was dry and had a rip in it, it sounds like you really fixed it up nicely :3 Especially for it to feel like butter!! Good for you <33
My saddle <3:
http://s944.photobucket.com/albums/ad28 ... Saddle.jpg I have a few questions for you...Where do you keep your saddle? Do you have a saddle stand? What do you put it on when you clean it (if you don't have a stand)? What do you use to clean it? What type of oil did you use? Sorry for all of the questions, but I am debating whether or not to get a) a saddle stand and b) a special type of oil to oil it. Right now I have this Lexol leather cleaning stuff that I use for my tall boots but I was considering buying some other special stuff for my saddle. Thanks for your help
That's awesome! Sounds a little like Major and I. He's a stubborn, 27 year old quarter horse who refused to trot more than a few, insanely slow, strides for my friend. My instructor got frustrated, told me to hop on and see what I could do. I hardly expected him to have such a nice, big trot and his canter was incredible. I never would've ridden that horse if it wasn't for that, and now i ride him every week. Instructors are weirdly good at finding the exact right horses [and saddles!] for their students, even if you never would've thought to do it.
We were at a horse convention thingy and my mom told me as soon as we got there that there was no way in heck we were buying a saddle. I just about died when she agreed to buy it. xD
It's amazing what a bit of cleaning does for a saddle. We were both really surprised at the result when I was done cleaning. xD
Wow, that was a really good find. I really like the color of it and it looks comfortable. It does look like it's in really good condition, too, it'll last you a long time. ^^
I keep my saddle in a small room in my house where we also keep the x box and my turtle. Just keep it in an area that's not damp [don't store a saddle in the basement, it'll crack and the dampness will ruin the leather] and away from any doors that might blow in cold air or with windows that are open a lot. I don't have a saddle stand, though I've been meaning to buy one for a while. I've heard that those old towel racks work really well for them. I just put it in a saddle bag and lean it up against the wall or on top of a weird bean bag foot rest type thing. Both of those can be bad for the saddle though, so be careful. A saddle stand is probably a good investment.
For cleaning I usually use either a chair or the bean bag thingy. Chairs are good because you can rest the saddle on them, [just don't let it fall!] though you might want to put a towel down just to avoid scratching up the bottom of your saddle.
And I don't have tall boots another thing I really need to buy! OTL] so I'm not entirely sure what you use on them [though that might be oil, I can't remember], but neatsfoot oil is really good for saddles. You paint it on with a paintbrush once every month or so and it makes the leather really nice and soft. I use it on mine and now you can pretty much roll the leg flaps up into a ball, and it helps the seat be a little more tacky so you stay in there rather than slide around.
And for cleaning I use Belvoir tack cleaner. It comes in a spray bottle and it saves a lot of time because all you need to do is spray it on and wipe it off. It takes me around 5 minutes or so. You normally use that everytime you ride to keep the leather from wearing down/drying out/all sorts of other annoying things.
A product that's probably good for your saddle is probably leather CPR. I can't tell what it's like from the picture, but if you feel that the saddle is a little dry [used saddles tend to be when you first get them as they sit around for a while] it helps make it feel nice and new again. After that you can use it to get rid of oil build up and when you want your saddle to look pretty and shiny. Just keep in mind that it makes the leather more slippery, so you don't want to use it too too often.
But with saddle cleaning you just need to try a bunch of different things and see what you prefer. I like my cleaner because the spray bottle makes it easier for me, but it also comes in creams and gels and solid bars, and a whole variety of different things. Some people think you need to oil a saddle constantly, others once a year at most.
A good thing to do is to just go to a tack store and say you just got a saddle and want cleaning supplies. They can usually point you in the right direction, you might even be able to bring in your saddle so they can get a better idea of what it needs.
Aaand holy crap I rambled on. So sorry! xD
That way it's cheaper for the horse owner, right?
