Cleaning Your Saddle Pad

The end of the summer season is a good time to think about cleaning your saddle pads and blankets. Hair, dirt, sweat and assorted crud all build up over time. If it isn’t cleaned off it can cause irritation to your horse and damage to your pads and blankets. Before each use, you should always [...]

Saddling and Handling a Horse: Which Side?

Traditionally, horses have been handled from the near (left) side. Today, you’ll see most folks leading, saddling, and mounting their horses from the near side. Why?
This tradition dates back to the earliest mounted warriors wearing long swords into battle. With the sword most often worn on the left side by right-handed riders, mounting from the [...]

Clean the Back Side of Your Saddle For Your Horse

The other day I went on a ride where we went through plenty of water and a good bit of mud. Today I was cleaning that crud from my saddle and was reminded of how important it is to clean the back side of your saddle.
Cleaning the top side of your saddle is for you. [...]

Cleaning Rough Out Saddles

I’ve received a number of emails of late asking how to clean rough out leather, so I thought it would be a good topic to cover. I’ll warn you, though, the answer may not be what you want to hear.
First a clarification of what "rough out" means. Saddle skirting leather has two distinct sides – [...]

Clean Your Cinch!

Cinches are one saddle part that should be inspected and cleaned regularly. Dirt, hair, and sweat all build up on a cinch and can cause cinch galls on your horse.
The good news is that it’s fairly easy to clean a cinch and you don’t need a lot of fancy tools – just water, a small [...]

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