During the summer and fall — the height of riding season for many horse owners — your tack sees weekly, or even daily, use. And proper leather care is fairly straightforward when you use your tack constantly. The leather naturally stays more supple from frequent use, and remembering to do quick everyday leather care is easy: just wipe down the leather after a ride to remove dust and sweat, followed by a quick treatment with a non-streaking glycerin saddle soap like Farnam Leather New Polishing Glycerin Saddle Soap (also available in a foam version). But what happens when winter comes and you don’t use your tack daily?
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Depending on the climate in your region, winter might be a quiet time for your riding — and some horse owners (though not all) even stop riding entirely during the winter season. Three to five months is a long time for your saddles, stirrup leathers, bridles, reins, and lunging equipment to sit unused (and unattended to) in storage. Considering your leather gear’s monetary and sentimental investment, ensuring your tack goes into winter storage properly is well worth your time.
So what’s the best place to store your tack during that downtime? What steps should you take before hanging up your saddle for the winter? And what about when spring comes? Is there anything to do then? Let’s explore.
Pre-Storage Prep
Once you’ve gone for that last late-fall ride and your horse has put on a full coat of “winter woolies,” plan to devote a few hours to solid cleaning and pre-storage prep. Go over the entire saddle or other gear with a lightly dampened soft cloth, and perhaps use a vacuum to get in near the tight stitching. Be careful not to scratch the leather with the vacuum brush (use a very soft one).
This is also a great time to perform a basic inspection for worn or broken buckles, straps, or other critical safety components. After this inspection, apply a leather conditioner and cleaner, like Farnam Leather New Deep Conditioner & Restorer, to deeply clean the leather and replenish some of its natural moisture content. This penetrating moisture will help keep your tack from drying out and becoming stiff over winter. Leather New Deep Conditioner & Restorer can also help with that new tack break-in period when the tack isn’t as supple as it should be.
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Where to Store
Once you’ve finished cleaning and moisturizing the leather, it’s time to store it for the winter. Storage might seem like a static environment, but leather is a dynamic object that changes in response to its surroundings. The ideal winter storage location should be dry with steady humidity and without major temperature changes. This could be a storage area in your home, though a climate-controlled tack room or similar partition of your barn would be ideal. And consider using a dehumidifier to keep air moisture levels in check. Be sure the space is free of rodents and insects, too. It’s also important to store your tack out of direct sunlight. Those same UV rays that give you a sunburn in the summer can slowly break down your leather products over the winter.
How to Store
Finally, you might want to cover your tack so that you don’t return to a dust layer in the spring. The key here is to enclose the leather, but not in an airtight container, so no plastic tubs or bags. Think breathable: cotton bags for your bridles and a light fabric cover for your saddle. These could be cotton or polyester but often feature a fleece lining to protect the saddle from scratches. Keep your saddle on a properly-fitted rack so the saddletree doesn’t warp or change angles.
What about other leather items?
Leather conditioners and cleaners aren’t just for riding tack. You might want to apply a late-fall dose of these products to your leather halters and leads (which often see even more use than riding tack but don’t get the same TLC) and your own riding boots. This is particularly important since these items are likely often exposed to rain, mud, dust, salt, stall bedding, and other “leather enemies” every day. And if you place your riding boots in storage, you want to follow a similar routine to what you used on your horse’s tack.
Storing Tack for the Winter Can Be Easy
Keeping your saddles and other riding equipment safe during winter storage is really pretty easy, and you’ll thank yourself in the spring. A full cleaning of your tack, some basic storage techniques, and a chance to spend a quiet, cozy afternoon at the barn… hey, this doesn’t sound like work after all!
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