What is everyone’s favorite product for tack care (excluding super popular picks like Lexol and Effax) and why?
Mine is Colorado Leather Balm!
I love the CLB because it is all natural and doesn’t contain any sketchy ingredients. All of the ingredients are sustainable. It smells amazinggg and makes your hands and tack super soft. Their slogan is “Good for leather, Good for you.” I’ve even known some of my rider friends to use CLB in the winter when their hands dry out!
Unlike many popular products, it’s difficult to over condition your tack with this. The CLB doesn’t contain oils (leather doesn’t lose oils as it ages as much as it loses fats) and instead contains tallow, or beef fat. I can definitely tell the difference when I oil my tack vs use the CLB.
It is fairly expensive but you barely need to use any. It soaks in really well to the leather.
You can get one of two scents. The orange scented one if my favorite. The scent is very subtle but still noticeable. They also make a citronella scent to keep bugs away. I have not noticed any issues with mold with either scent.
For you Voltaire fans, it reminds me of the Hercules balm, but this has a bit more of a solid consistency. Like the CLB, the Hercules also has tallow!
What is your personal tack care routine?
Daily Routine: I wipe my saddles off after every ride. Once it is dry, I cover my saddle with a fleece lined and waterproof saddle cover. My girths, older TSFs, get hosed off and the seams get cleaned with a rag to remove any built up sweat. I hang them up on. hook to dry. My schooling bridle, a cheap Nunn Finer Elena, gets hosed off and rubbed down with my fingers until the water runs clean. If it’s a particularly hot and sweaty day, I’ll pull out a toothbrush to get all the built up sweat off. If it’s REALLY bad, I pull out my Passier bridle cleaner spray. My bit is a leather mullen wrapped in SealTex so I check it for chew marks and spray it off until all of the alfalfa bits are gone. I wrap my bridle after each ride, especially in the summer so the keepers don’t shrink, and hang it up. I like to make sure that the reins aren’t dragging the ground. My saddle gets put on the saddle rack, either on top of my supracor pad or bareback pad to protect the panels, and the dry girth is draped over it, underside up.
Deep C/C Routine: Everything comes home for treatment. I don’t have a set schedule for conditioning, as some months my tack gets beat up and others it stays in pretty good shape. I deep clean about once every 5-6 weeks. For the saddle, I first wipe off any dust with a microfiber rag. Then, I scrub everything with Dr Bronner’s castile soap because it doesn’t contain glycerin. I take a toothbrush to the seams and stitching and a slightly larger brush to the flaps and panels. I don’t wear gloves so that I’m able to feel anywhere that there is buildup. I always rinse the soap off before it is able to dry. I use a wet sponge and wipe, wipe, wipe, rinsing the sponge after every wipe in clean water. I let my saddle dry before I begin the conditioning. I like to use Leather Therapy Restorer on the leather areas that are stiffer or dryer, and CLB on the areas that are in better shape. It is very important that I apply a little at a time, I don’t want mushy leather (yuck!). I rub in both products with my fingers in small circles. I will usually do a layer or two, depending on what the leather needs. Once I’m satisfied, I set the saddle on a rack in a room with AC, away from any heat sources or direct sunlight.
For the girths, I do the same thing for cleaning, except in the summer I spritz a TINY amount of ACV on them and let it dry after cleaning to kill any bacteria or mold spores. ACV is drying, so I make sure to thoroughly condition afterwards. I like Effax Lederbalsam for the underside of the girths and a very light layer of CLB on the outside.
For my bridles, follow the same cleaning routine as the saddles. I totally take it apart and sometimes stick rounded pen caps under some of the keepers that I know have a tendency to get tight after a deep cleaning. Once the bridle is totally dry, I take the caps out. I like the caps because they are the perfect size for my bridles and they don’t scratch of damage the leather. My dressage show bridle, a Schockemohle, gets conditioned with the tiniest amount of CLB as it doesn’t dry out much at all. If the calf reins are in use, I will use Leather Therapy on those. My showing figure eight, a Pure Harmony, gets a very light spritz of the ACV as well because for some reason it tends to mold a dash faster. The leather is super soft but not super thick so use conditioner sparingly. It doesn’t even get conditioned each use because it will become floppy. The schooling bridle, a Nunn Finer Elena, gets scrubbed like it’s got the plague. It gets sprayed with ACV as well, a bit more than the others because it stays in a tack room without air conditioning. The leather is definitely not high end buttery but strong Bartville leather, but it isn’t stiff like a lot of low end bridles. I typically condition the straps with lexol conditioner. I have found that for this specific piece of tack, the Lexol is the best for conditioning but not making it floppy. The padding gets nothing 75% of the time.
For my 5 point, an HDR, I scrub with castile and condition with lexol or CLB, depending on what it needs. For my B+R 3 point, I power wash the elastic (lol ik) and then scrub the straps with castile. It rarely needs conditioning. It’s actually a bit over conditioned from the previous owner. For my Nunn Finer raised 3 point, I use castile and Lederbalsam. For my other raised three point, I use castile and Lexol.
The crystal browbands get cleaned with a Dazzle Stik. It’s a jewelry cleaning pen. This thing is my holy grail for the sparklies.
Stirrups go into the dishwasher. Leathers get the same treatment as the saddle.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
I realize I have a breastplate problem. Yes I have more.
