High end leather car - teach me the way!

[flyingfishgirl]

Hi everyone! First post but I lurk frequently.

I recently bought 2 new saddles - one jump with calfskin, one dressage with buffalo.

These are my first ever quality equipment. I’m used to soaking $15 bridles in olive oil for days on end. And these saddles are so delicate! Barely touching the calfskin with my nails leaves a mark and gripping too hard leaves temporarily waves.

What I’m doing so far - I have fleece covers for them and they rest on padded racks. The cover stays on until I’m at the mounting block and is back on asap after I get off. After every ride I clean well with feibings. I plan to lightly condition with balsam once a month.

How does this sound? Any other tips/tricks? I need them to stay in perfect shape lol.

[Posting_Trot]

The buffalo hide saddle should be quite a bit sturdier than the calfskin one. Buffalo hide is tough–my dressage saddle has a buffalo hide seat and flaps, and it’s now 15 years old with a lot of use. The black color has faded in places but the leather itself is in fabulous condition. For your dressage saddle, I’d say just go ahead and use it–it can take longer for buffalo hide to break in.

Calfskin, though, as I understand it, is a lot less durable. Personally, I’ve never owned a calfskin saddle so I don’t know how best to care for it. A seat saver is a good idea. It would make sense to check the manufacturer’s website to see if they have specific information on how best to care for their leather products.

Enjoy your new saddles!

[four2farm]

Each brand generally recommends a saddle care regime, it might behove you to see what products they recommend. I like Fiebings for dyes and restoration products.

I actually prefer Effax for cleaning and conditioning. The Passier lederbalsam is also very nice.

I have just had a couple new products suggested and I am always looking for a better way. Congrats on your new saddles!

[four2farm]

Also seat savers are meant to save your seat not your saddle. A seat saver can actually double the friction on the seams of a fragile saddle. Riding in anything that has an inside seam like jeans will also damage your pommel and seams. Unless a seat saver is merino wool and kept scrupulously clean any dirt or dust will be ground in, causing damage. Same with riding after sitting on a dusty tack trunk, etc.

[flyingfishgirl]

So keeping it clean will be ultra important it sounds like. I just looked it up, the leather is actually calf nappa. Not too sure what the difference is.