Hi,
I just bought my daughter a new SouthBend (used to be Rocking R) training saddle. I really hope it fits her horse!
About the roughout:
If the fenders need oiling, how can we oil the back without getting fingerprint / oil marks all over the roughout?
Natural wear and tear is fine and looks good. But greasy oil spots would be awful!
Donât touch the rough out side with oily hands - simple. Keep one hand clean. And oil the backside.
I am presuming OP means some kind ot Neatsfoot oil or compond. I would find another product, some kind of non-oil conditioner to apply to the reverse of fenders. You might need to apply conditioner several times to soften.
Oil is heavy. It will come right thru fender to the rough out, as well as getting greasy on other stuff. Once applied, any oil is hard to get off, especially if leather gets saturatedâŠ
Go with a conditioner first, aplying in several coats, with drying time between applications. See what fenders feel like then. It does take using time to get fenders real soft and flexible. You can always go back with oil if you are not happy. But you canât get oil removed once it is applied, it has to wear off. Personally, I hate how oily leather feels on my hands. Just like any other petroleum product, not meant for skin, which is what leather is. Olive oil has a totally different feel, result on leather, even though both are âoilâ products.
I never had oil come through the back of the fenders to stain the roughout on mine-and I had two of them- and used Pure Neatsfoot, lightly applied with a long handled paint brush with the saddle flipped upside down until completely dry. That was decades ago. There are many other choices in oils out there and Pure Neatsfoot is still a good choice for the stouter, more durable leather used in good quality Western saddlesâŠas opposed to French calfskin in a Jumping saddle where Neatsfoot would be way to heavy and Olive Oil would be a better choice⊠Just use Pure, not the compound and donât touch it or flip it over until itâs completely soaked in and dry. Run a dry cloth over it just to be sure. Oil absorbs better when both the oil and the leather are warm, outside in the sun in a warn day is great. Whatever you use, stick to a saddle oil, not a conditioner which has other stuff in it that sometimes sits on top instead of soaking completely in.
Absolutely you need to oil the underside and be sure you pull the fender down and oil the leather where in runs over the bar and take the stirrups off and oil in between where the leather rubs togetherâŠlook at it, youâll see what I mean. LIGHT coats. Do it once a week for a few weeks to allow everything to absorb and not glop up. Maybe once or twice a year after that.
I too have never had neatsfoot oil soak through a fender to the other side. Itâs leather ⊠not paper.
Guess you never hung around with those who think if a little oil works, they can save time putting on LOTS of oil just once! I just hate saturated leather. Ha ha I have not found leather conditioners failing to absorb well, especially using the warm leather, warm day timing suggested above for oil.
Unless youâre trying to keep the color the same, why not oil the rough out too? That way it all darkensâŠ
I work at a tack shop and oil saddles all day every day. We oil all parts of the saddles and theyâre all fine.
If you do that, then you wonât have rough out anymore.
Sure, you can kinda help it out by using a wire brush, but itâs just not the same once itâs been oiled or conditioned. You lose the original rough out.
Thatâs incorrect. As the last part of the my previous reply states, âWe oil all parts of the saddles and theyâre all fineâ. Iâve done my personal saddles, customer saddles, and ones that we have in the shop for sale as well. The oil does not turn roughout in to smooth leather. Friction does, however, and I can bring that back to its original state in an afternoon. All the saddles we build (mostly rough out ranch saddles) are dip oiled as well, their rough out is always fine.
Didnât say it turns it to smooth leather. But it is still ânot the sameâ as unoiled left-alone roughout. It just doesnât seem to have the same grab.
I will never touch the rough out side on my saddles with oil. I want to preserve the original rough out.
Iâve NEVER had it ruin my rough out, the grab hasnât changed because of oiling on any of my saddles. Not a single one of them. Nobody who has us clean and oil their rough out saddles have ever said anything about the grab being different, from weekend warrior trail types to pro rodeo guys and 1d barrel racers. Not a single saddle weâve oiled for them has come back with a complaint.
Personal preference on that. But a wire brush does wonders to restore rough out unless itâs completely worn smooth from years of use on fenders or seat.
OK< we will get some neatsfoot and be verryyyyy careful!! (and we wonât make the mistake of putting a lot at one time!!)
We also got a wire brush but this is weird roughout. Itâs smooth roughout.
Arrgh, I just got a rough out saddle. ALL rough out. And it is confusing on how to care for it.
Thanks for any help!
Well, I called the saddle maker and the answer is: oil the rough out! And in fact, he said, it was already oiled before I received it and shouldnât need it again for awhile.
I would not have guessed it had been oiled. Looks like all the new rough out saddles you see in a tack store.
He suggested pure neats foot oil (no neats foot compound) or extra virgin olive oil. It seems rough out absorbs oil readily and thus folks over-oil it, thinking it is really dried out. He uses sheepskin to apply a very, very light coat.
I still have my other questions in case anyone stops by this thread, lol!
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