I’ve had a CWD for my horse for about 6 years and I noticed the back of the seat is drying out so badly because it cannot absorb anything I put on it. It looks like there’s some kind of seal on it preventing it from absorbing anything, like a weird, plasticky shine on the back 1/4 of the seat. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to remove the seal from the saddle? The rest of the seat is beautiful and it’s making me so mad because I’ve tried scrubbing the seal off to no avail.
Any refs would be amazing!
Thank you!
Do you have any pictures?
Call CWD😀.
I’ll take pictures tomorrow! Do you think you have any recommendations? It’s like a line from soft leather to sealed
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Thanks! I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced that, myself, so I’m unfortunately not sure what would help without seeing it. Have you tried contacting CWD or a local saddler who might know? I wonder if it is an issue with the finish, though I’ve never heard of finish causing expensive leather to not absorb oil and drying out the leather underneath.
That is really strange, I’ve never seen something quite like that!
It almost looks like the finish is worn off of the seat area (away from the cantle). I had a really weird issue several years ago with one of my ancient Courbettes that seemed like that was the issue (the seat looked dull and tough and formed a seatbone pattern after riding), but after a really deep cleaning and conditioning, it went away and never came back. It was the weirdest thing! The cantle on mine never did this, though. I never did find out what the issue was, I assume some dirt/sweat got worked into the leather somehow and the thorough cleaning brought it out. I’ve never seen the finish actually prevent leather from absorbing oil/product and cause the leather underneath to dry out.
I wonder if this was somehow finished incorrectly or the leather was a bad batch. I think it would be worth discussing with your CWD rep or a local saddler, this is baffling!
I’m just going to throw this out there. I got bad advice on a new Voltaire that caused it to bleed dye and stain all my light colored breeches, which I like to ride in on hot days. I bought some Resolene and painted it on. It had a sheen like yours, and with wear, it rubbed off where I sat. I ended up removing it with acetone and a magic eraser. Someone may have added that coating to the seat. You could try removing a small patch of it with acetone (nail polish remover) if you are brave.
I don’t want to be the source of bad information for you. I’m sure you can find tutorials on YouTube by people who re-dyed their saddles and had to remove the seal first and re-apply after dying. There are many videos posted by hobby leather workers also.
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That’s exactly what I was thinking, whatever was on the entire seat before was worn out from my riding in the front area. But you can see how dry it’s gotten and I don’t treat the back of the saddle any differently than the front when cleaning and conditioning/oiling. I think I’m going to try acetone on the back side of the cantle and see if I can get the finish off. Thank you for the response!
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I’ve read that acetone might be the trick! I think I’m going to try it in the back of the cantle in a small spot to see if the finish will come off. The area is already Bone dry so I don’t think it’ll hurt it anyways
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Good luck! I hope it works for you!
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