Tack care

I used that stuff for 4 decades (along with most of the hj old timers). It was the BEST.

But it was in an era where our choices were a bar of glycerine, neatsfoot oil, kao-ca-line, hydrophane and lexol. So it was the best of the bunch. But we have a few more options these days and the options are not bad so I stopped making it a few years ago

I only have 2 bridles… but I like the idea!

Um, I just died looking at that. I really want that.

Right now every discretionary penny I have is being used for lessons so I can’t have it, but wow, putting it on the list.

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https://www.mcguinnfarms.com/

Yes, their website is from the '90s but I promise the quality is probably the best you will find in this country.

Girth and bridle get wiped down after every ride, saddle about once a week? I do try to wipe off billets each ride since they get sweatier and gross. Bit gets cleaned every ride, taken completely off/ soaked and cleaned every other or so.

The best thing for boots is the Effax Boot Cleaner - doesn’t over condition and soften them but takes the yuck off better than anything else I’ve found.

This is beautiful and I would love it, but the private barn where I keep my horse doesn’t have a logical space for such a thing and it would be very very dusty after day one (a drawback of the aisle being loose soil with mats down). It’s gorgeous though!

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Yes it does take up some space. Thank you!

Bit, bridle and girth wiped down after every use with water and a spritz of saddle soap to get off the sweat and dust mix, saddle cleaned once a week. Everything conditioned occasionally.

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This sounds an awful lot like some of the ‘grease’ I remember using in a BNT barn. I never made it myself, but it was bacon grease from the farm mixed with a melted bar of glycerin. It smelled awful and would stay on your hands forever, but that tack had the most glorious patina.

For all I know they’d throw in bacon grease or what ever was on hand. But I think not because if they had the mice would have been more interested. AIR, none of the tack was ever moused, and it was all stored on racks in the barn aisle.

Oohh… bacon grease. I have a jar of that and a jar of rendered tallow… I might have to look up some DIY recipes! Lol.

I can give you mine. I do a ratio of 50% tallow 25% beeswax 25% coconut oil.

Take the grease/tallow and render it again in a crockpot on low. You will want to do this 2 to 3 times, to really soften the tallow and completely remove debris or gristle - strain through a sieve or cheese cloth each time you render. Set aside. Don’t skip this step, even if you have rendered tallow from the store.

In a double burner melt down the tallow first. Stir often until the tallow becomes liquid. Then add beeswax - you can soften the beeswax ahead of time by putting it in a waterproof container and submerge in hot water. You’ll want to stir often and make sure everything is incorporated - beeswax can take a while to melt down.

You’ll want to add the coconut oil last - it has a low burn point and won’t take long at all to blend in. You can then use an immersion blender to really emulsify all the ingredients, but don’t do it for too long or you’ll get whipped tallow butter :joy:

It won’t hurt to buy a fragrance oil you like - it’ll take a lot to overwhelm the smell of tallow. I think honey or vanilla complement the tallow scent, but my favorite of the ones I’ve made is a cinnamon-orange. The orange fragrance didn’t really come through, but I put about 1 tbs of cinnamon into the mix and that darkened the mix some but has a great scent.

Make sure your ingredients don’t have added water. Tallow has a decent shelf-life, but additional water can make it go rancid.

BTW, I played around with that recipe above, and also tried one that has 50% tallow, 25% beeswax, and 20% castille soap shavings (I also did one that used tallow soap shavings) 5% oil of choice (I used coconut oil). I liked that one too, but it doesn’t penetrate like the first recipe does. It’s more of a finisher/ buff conditioner than a leather reviver.

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One thing I’ve recently starting doing, and I guess it causes no harm, is using a sheepskin grooming mitt on my saddle.

Since it’s rather dry here there’s a fair amount of dust that can be picked up on tack, so I just wipe it down with my mitt (not wet) and it collects all of the dust. So I guess I dust my saddle like you might dust a house? Seems like an ok way to remove dirt.

I do that after every ride and condition as needed. Can be weekly, biweekly, etc. Depends on use and weather, mostly. I clean the bit and wipe down the bridle (just a damp cloth) after every ride. I also use my “dusting” method on my boots.

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You can also use the mitts used for applying self tanner. They’re lined in a kind of plastic so your hands don’t get coated. Someone was marketing them in Flordia for riders but you can get it cheaper from amazon.

Some great ideas here!!! Keep’em coming! You are inspiring me to take better care of my tack!!

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@CanteringCarrot a friend gave me one of these years ago when she got out of horses, she gave me a huge box of horse stuff: https://equijumpltd.com/en-us/products/devecoux-conditiong-mitt

I had no earthly idea what it was at first. I texted her and we had a good laugh over my naivety. :joy:

I use it all the time, especially in the winter. In the winter my tack cleaning routine is a little different because there’s no hot water down at the barn and I’m not exposing my fingers to 15F weather!

Ah yes, I have one of those! It came in my Amerigo leather care kit. I do use that one too. The one I use for “dry cleaning” is just a LeMieux sheepskin grooming mit, the Amerigo one is for “wet” cleaning or conditioner, if that makes sense.

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