Needed:
Saddle Soap (Your favorite brand), I use Fiebing's Saddle Soap and Mink Oil
Pure Neatsfoot Oil (not Neatsfoot compound)
Soft rags and sponges
Clean old towels
Pliers
Hole Punch
Steel wool or Brillo pads, plastic abrasive pot sponge
Silver Polish
Soft shoe brush, soft toothbrushes
1. Take apart the bridle or saddle you want to clean. Remove stirrups, and stirrup leathers for English saddles as well as girths and girth straps. You may not want to take stirrup fenders from the western saddles, as these can be difficult to put back on. You may need to use the pliers to gently pull open buckles that are stuck. (Hint: Only work on one piece of equipment at a time. It can be frustrating to try to reassemble a big pile of bridles or saddles.)
2. Put a generous amount of saddle soap on a sponge or rag—I prefer a rag about the size of a small face cloth. If your soap is a hard glycerine type bar, you may need to soak it for a while in warm water. I prefer to use Fiebing's Saddle Soap paste or Fiebing's Mink Oil paste, in the can, as it is moist and scoops out easily. It comes in yellow, white and black, but most feed stores only sell the yellow, which works fine on everything. They also sell a liquid and a bar form of the glycerine soap, and liquid Mink Oil. I find the paste easier to use. The paste and the liquid soap are good because they require little or no water for use. Water is not good for leather, as it can make it swell, dry out and leave water stains. Rub the leather parts of the equipment vigorously with the soapy cloth. The goal is to get the soap into the pores of the leather and to clean out accumulated scum. You may need to use a plastic abrasive sponge to scrape off accumulated horse sweat scum from leather parts that have lain against the horse's skin. The saddle soap can also be used to clean off metal parts and bits. (Hint: I do not recommend putting paste on suede saddles, saddle seats, or knee rolls on English saddles.)
3. After rubbing well with soap, wipe off excess with clean, dry towel. I use a toothbrush or toothpick on areas with tooled leather, to rub in, or pry out soap stuck in the tooling.
4. Pour a generous amount of Fiebings Neatsfoot Oil, or spread Mink Oil on a cloth and vigorously rub the oil into the leather. Pay particular attention to dried out areas, or stress areas—bends where the cinch strap folds over the metal rigging D ring, or cheek pieces or leather reins fold over the bit rings. I usually put extra neatsfoot or mink oil on these places, or anywhere that I note friction or wear of the leather. Be sure to oil the underside leather parts of the saddle and bridle as well—especially the places where the leather may lie against the sweaty body of the horse. Continue to rub in oil to any place that feels dry, hard or brittle. Leather should be supple and waterproof. The only place where I use oil sparingly is the saddle seat. I use a little, rubbed well in, and then dry the seat thoroughly. Many people do not oil the saddle seat or anywhere that your pants or riding chaps come in contact with the saddle, as oil residue will stain your riding apparel. The US Pony Club manual recommends painting the oil with a paintbrush only the underside of the saddle, not the top, and then rubbing it in, and wiping off excess. (Hint: replace any worn or cracked leather, especially leather that holds the cinch to the saddle, reins, and stirrup leathers. The most important parts of your equipment are those that hold the saddle and bridle to the horse. Imagine how you’d feel if they gave way while you were galloping down the trail, in order to decide whether you ought to replace them.) Note also that the US Pony Club manual recommends oiling the saddle before using the saddle soap. Their reasoning is that you should first condition your saddle with oil, and then use the soap to seal the oil into the pores, and to clean off excess saddle oil so that you won't get your riding pants or western chaps dirty. Plus, the the saddle shines up nicely after soaping. The oil may give the saddle a dull finish.
5. After oiling the leather, I usually let it sit overnight before wiping off excess oil. This gives the oil a chance to penetrate the leather. Then using a dry clean rag, rub and buff off excess oil. Re-oil any places you missed. The goal is to waterproof your leather and make it flexible, but not greasy. At the end of the oiling process, I use a white terry cloth towel to thoroughly wipe down and burnish the saddle. If there is a lot of excess oil on the towel, I continue to burnish. A good horsehair shoebrush helps to shine up leather equipment too. (Hint: I do not use Neatsfoot Compound, even though it is cheaper, because I have heard that the compound rots the stitching in the leather.)
6. For bits, stirrup irons and other metal parts, you may need to wash them in a basin of soapy water, then rinse and dry thoroughly. You may need to use the steel wool or Brillo pad to scrape off rust or accumulated dirt. For badly rusted items, you might try a rust removing preparation, following directions on the can. Do not let the rust remover touch any leather items. You may have to replace items that are hopelessly rusty. Be absolutely sure that you have rinsed and dried bits thoroughly after cleaning. You do not want to make your horse sick! (Hint: Some people put their stainless steel bits and stirrups in the dishwasher, probably not with their dirty dishes. )
7. Polish silver with silver polish as you would any jewelry item, but take care not to let the silver polish soak into the leather , as it may discolor your saddle or bridle. I use the silver polish sparingly, and rub or brush the silver with a soft rag or soft toothbrush. Some people recommend moistened baking soda, or toothpaste to clean silver.
8. After tack is clean and oiled, reassemble the item before starting on another piece. You may need to use leather punch for repairs. (Hint: Put it back together correctly, stirrups adjusted for your feet, cinch and bridle correctly fitted to your horse. It’s a time consuming nuisance to reassemble tack when you are trying to saddle up.)
9. Hang tack carefully on racks. Do not leave it lying around to be destroyed. (Hint: I hang my neatsfoot oil rags on my headstall pegs and drape the bridles over these.)
Final hint: If you have a badly mildewed item, you might consider using Murphy’s Oil Soap. I once restored an old English saddle that came from the floor of an old barn. The saddle was absolutely green and gray with mold, not to mention the smell. I used almost 16 oz. of Murphy’s (undiluted), but the saddle came clean and supple like new. No one could believe it was the same saddle.
Here's two helpful tips that came in from Jennifer Curry:
1. Since the oil soaks ion you really need to clean the saddle prior to oiling. Sometimes I soap again afterwards and buff.
2. If the bits are rusty enough to require steel wool they definitely need to be examined for smoothness.
I like Murphy's too.
I like Murphy's too.
