I keep the saddles in the trailer because it is insulated, if not heated. That nips the mould issues in the bud.
I’m contemplating hanging hooks to bring leather bridles and haters inside. Would that help to keep the leather in better condition?
I don’t want to schlep my saddle back and forth, but bridles I could manage.
After reading that museums displaying leather items recommend keeping the relative humidity between 30% and 70% to minimize drying and cracking on the low end and mold and mildew on the high end I started hanging a dehumidifier bag in my trailer’s tack room. Of course the tack room isn’t well sealed so frequent bag replacements were needed. But it seemed to help with the tack I stored there.
I also did the same at a barn where I boarded that had individual boarder tack lockers that held two saddles and other things in each.
If you try this be sure to buy the unscented bags.
I’ve also been the storing all tack in the back of my SUV route, which also prevented mold and mildew. Then there was a time when I stored all my tack in the dining room. Each chair back held a saddle and bridle.
If you end up keeping your saddle in the house like I do I have found that it is much easier on me if I move my saddle around on my wheeled walker (rollator) out to the car, into the barn, and back into my house. I am very weak and some days I would not be strong enough to carry my saddle around.
I think it’s going to depend on your climate and your area of the country.
I live in North Dakota. I have kept my tack in my horse trailer (which is NON-insulated) for the past 12 years. Zero issues with mold, mice, anything. Leather is fine. No issues.
Someday I will have a barn with a climate controlled tack room! But that’ll be a while yet.
Oh yes, I’m in SW Ontario, so cold dry winters, hot, humid summers. Mould is a certain if I keep it in my barn (which has a dirt floor).
I asked because my bridle feels so dry and stiff right now. I wondered if better climate control (my house) would be a good idea.
My tack has LWAYS been kept in an unheated, uninsulated barn.I have never noticed any particular problems, especially in the winter. Sometimes a little bit of mold in a hot, humid, summer.
I will also add that where I grew up, my parents have an older style barn with a cement floor and brick walls In the summer, things WOULD get moldy over time because the older style barn would hold in humidity, even though we are a drier climate. So we’d need to keep on eye on things that weren’t used often and if found mold, give it a good cleaning and set it out in the sun for a week or so. But that would take care of it.
I would assume the same if the barn had dirt floors.
As far as your bridle, the COLD itself is going to make it feel stiff. But the leather quality also plays a role. The (expensive) nice leather isn’t affected as badly as cheap leather. I don’t usually worry about it in the winter, but I typically will oil all my tack in the fall before winter. It still gets stiff in the cold but it helps.
Never had issues in most states I have lived in. In humid areas, I clean tack with Murphy’s Oil soap and put a spritz of bathroom cleaner in it. Deters the mold pretty well.
Mine just lives in my barn- I’m in the mid-Atlantic, doesn’t matter how insulated your anything is, you’re going to get dampness at some point. The leather doesn’t get moldy unless it doesn’t get used. My main fix is that I try to use as little in the way of leather tack as possible, beta-biothane is awesome.
Same, in Ohio, Florida, and Georgia.
Same. Even in Minnesota.
I am one of those Georgia folks with saddles that seemed to grow a film of white powdery mildew in humid summer weather in my past boarding barn tack rooms. And it was not unique to my saddle and other tack as fellow boarders suffered the same wondrous growth of mildew.
It was almost entirely a summer phenomenon.
I used to have mildew issues in Alabama. Wood pole barn, concrete floor, 12x12 room. No insulation. We put down a vapor barrier, topped that with plywood. Painted that with marine grade floor paint. To that, we also added a good sized dehumidifier that is set to keep it at 60% humidity. That device drains out of a hose we piped through the exterior wall so I don’t have to dump the reservoir.
It was worth the effort to see the reduction in mold and mildew.
I kept my tack in an unheated tack room for 20 years without problems. I rode 5-6 days per week and cleaned it as needed. Never any mildew. It had a concrete floor and the same walls as the adjacent stalls.
Back of the vehicle. Have had small & large SUV’s, and the back is where the tack stays if I don’t have space (or enough space) in a well regulated tack room at the barn.
If I’m living in a climate with hard freeze temps, the vehicles overnight in a garage – or I’m not living there.
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