I got a new saddle over the summer and it is SO squeaky. I think the squeak is coming from where my boots make contact with it.
I clean after every ride (boots and saddle) but it’s not making a difference. I tried not cleaning it a few times to see if that made a difference (maybe soap residue was causing it?) but that actually makes it worse. I’ve even swapped out my stirrup leathers and that made no difference.
My boots are not new, and this doesn’t happen when I ride in my other old saddle.
I use Feibing’s yellow saddle soap, then buff with a dry soft towel.
Any tips to stop the squeak, or does it just need to be broken in more (it’s already been a couple months, 4-5x/week, I thought this would be done by now!).
If it really is contact to contact (which you can test by riding in half chaps where the inside isn’t leather but fabric instead) then maybe apply talc? I’ve never tried that: I don’t know if it would work with leather, but it does work with other materials. But try the half chaps first. Most squeaky saddles I’ve run into aren’t worried about the boots. It’s internal.
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Have you tried conditioner instead of soap? Softening the leather a bit might help.
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Yes, I’d try conditioning the leather the next time you clean it, or maybe using a heavier balsam product and letting it soak in for several days before buffing it. (Effax Leather Balsam is what I have in mind).
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Been there. Take saddle conditioner, oil, or the concoction of your choice and work it into those crevices and slots on either side of the gullet. And I mean way into. And also every other place on the saddle where leather meets leather that you can fit a finger or a cotton swab into. Be aggressive.
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I’m dumb, I never considered that it was saddle-on-saddle squeaking (I’ve never had a new saddle before! 
). Thanks for the conditioner recommendation too, I will pick that up. Thanks everybody!
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Check back in after you give it a good try (maybe several tries - condition, use for a week or so, condition again, etc). It’s good info to have, whether it works or not, and what you used!
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I purchased a used saddle once that had been over-oiled quite significantly, so the flaps were pretty much stuck together. Put it on the horse, climbed aboard that the thing started making noise. Spooked the hell out of my (new to me) horse and he took off running and bucking, still being chased by the noisy thing on his back. I finally got him to stand still, but every time I went to get off, the darned thing squeaked again…
I’d never been so happy to see the barn owner’s husband come tootling down the driveway to do evening chores, and rescue me!
I talcum powdered the heck out of that thing and it did shut up… but by that time we were both highly suspicious of it and were happy to send its on its way to a new home.
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I would agree with cleaning the saddle flaps of the saddle soap, then applying a different product to them. Conditioner, Lexol, something liquid, rather than a waxy, rub in product that may be leaving a surface residue that “grabs” the boot tops slightly to make the squeak. Fingers should slide easily across the flaps without any drag, when you finish conditioning.
You can turn saddle over, put talcum powder into all leather- to-leather touching places if conditioning flaps doesn’t help. Do the flaps first, see if it fixes things. This will save you cleaning talcum powder off pads and horse if saddle doesn’t need it!
I did the talcum powder under my western saddle and it DID fix the squeaks. However I was generous (excessively so!) with the talcum powder, and it sifted back out onto the saddle pad for a LONNNGG time after. My friends had a lot of fun with “arrived in a cloud of dust” jokes! Ha ha
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Wouldn’t talcum powder end up drying the leather? Also, do you actually mean real talcum (as in the stuff that has asbestos in it) or do you mean baby powder (which is now largely cornstarch)?
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Posting Trot I did this quite a while ago, so it probably was the “bad” baby talcum powder. No lawsuits about it in “the old days.” I could see cornstarch working in place of real talcum powder. Still is very poofy, so don’t apply too liberally like I did. Ha ha
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I’m back to report success! I did exactly this - liberally conditioned the underside of the saddle with Effax Leder balsam and the squeak was about 90% gone. A week later I applied more conditioner and have had two squeak-free rides since. I’m so relieved lol - thanks to all for the suggestions 
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