Looking at used blue ribbon saddles. Most of them are light colored, & I would really prefer a darker/chocolate type color. Can I use hot oil to darken the leather significantly? It’s OK if it takes some time, just will it get there?
What about Hydrophane?
Call the people at Blue Ribbon and ask them. Their saddles are top quality and you don’t want to mess this up.
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I would call Blue Ribbon, too. I carefully darkened my Blue Ribbon saddle with oil so it’d match my older headstall, but it became more of a rich chestnut color, not the dark, chocolate color option you see in the show pen.
My barn friend has a Kathy’s/Sterling custom saddle. She wanted the chocolate color and when it came it wasn’t dark enough; it was just… brown. So she sent it back and they re-dyed the leather.
So I guess that as far as I know, if you want a truly dark, chocolate saddle you need to have it professionally dyed.
Oiling is with a shot. I heat my neatsfoot oil and then use to tooth brush to work it into the leather. Let it sit in the sun for a few hours and then repeat.
