Restore Western Saddles?

Question

Hiya all!

I found two Western saddles in a shed at my boyfriend's place and they are in rough shape! One is worse than the other.

The first is a basic leather Western, with a lot of dust on it. Otherwise, it just needs a bit of TLC I guess; the leather is a bit stiff.

The second one, I don't even know if anything can be done! I hope, because we are having two QH broken in this summer and I can't afford new saddles! All the pieces on the skirt and whatnot are very squared-off, and are brittle and really curling up at the edges.

Both saddles have most of the fleece gone from the bottom too; can this be overlooked for a while if I use good saddle pads/blankets, or does this need to be dealt with before they are used whatsever?

To be honest, I've never had to care for tack myself aside from a basic cleaning after use. Any advice on how I could put the life back into these saddles, and how I should maintain them in the future?

Thanks!

Answer 1

There is this great stuff called Leather CPR. You can get it from tack stores, mills, sometimes places like Walmart. It gets rid of scratches and really shines the leather back up and makes it look almost new.

Try It

PS if your allergic to saddle soap use gloves with this

Answer 2

Start with plain old mild dish soap and water.  After the saddles dry, go over them with saddle soap.  After that, oil them with pure neatsfoot oil.  Check the stitching and be sure it's in good condition, otherwise have it resewn by a saddler.  Have the tree checked to be sure it isn't cracked or broken. Be sure the leather in the rigging isn't rotted to the point where it will break.  Some neglected saddles can be saved, others can't.  Whatever you do, never ride in a saddle that's so old, brittle and worn out that it presents a danger to you.

Answer 3

time to go shopping for leather care products.you need to buy some glycerin soap,lexol,neatsfoot oil,a bucket and rags,start with the one that is just dirty and clean it with saddle soap and set it on a saddle tree.then get out your elbow grease and start with the other saddle,first thing i would do is take it outside and just wash it with a hose to get some moisture in the leather and the fleece,bring it inside and saddle soap it heavily then set it on a hay bale with the skirts spread wide to stretch the fleece.the skirts curl because the fleece shrinks and the leather swells.leave it this way for about an hour then re soap it.after that polish the leather with a clean rag and set it aside on a saddle tree.probably the best thing you can do for a saddle is ride it,the sweat from the horse helps to get the leather conditioned and keep it supple.

Answer 4

On the first saddle, it will take a few good coats of glycerine soap to re-condition it.  

The second saddle sound like it has just been abused.  Is the tree still in good condition?  

Make sure the rigging is solid.  Meaning, when you cinch up the saddle, the leather will  hold in place.  There are plenty of resources on saddle restoration on the net.  Good Luck.

Answer 5

Not sure where you are located at so here's my suggestion:  Take both to a saddler and have them go through them.  They will know what's rotten and what's NOT.  It may cost you $50.00 to get an assessment or they may do it for nothing.  They know what they are doing and using a saddle even with good padding can still damage your horse's back that's why they STILL have sheepskin under them.

Before you do anything though check the trees on BOTH saddles.  YOU can do this!  You put the gullet (front) of the saddle on your hip and pull the cantle (back of seat) toward you and look for any movement or ripple in the seat.  IF they show movement or you see the ripple in the leather on the seat, then it maybe good for parts salvage.  Also look underneath each one (the flap by the seat) and look to see what type of tree you have.  Rawhide/wood will be slightly smooth and have a waxy feel to it.  Burlap/wood you'll see the fabric weave.  Fiberglass will have a plastic feel to it and sound plastic when you tap your fingernail on it.  The first tree will hold it's value if you restore the saddle, the other two, you may want to rethink restoring and just save up for two good saddles.

Best of luck.