"AND TAKE CARE OF YOUR LEATHERS" ! Who hasn't sighed in exasperation as a (more or less) young rider when their instructor whispers these words in their (sweet) voice that carries for kilometers around?!
It is public knowledge that the only way to keep your leathers looking new over time is to maintain them very regularly, but there is a but: how to do it well without it taking me the whole day?! 🤷🏼♀️
Between grease, oil, soap, and polish… We no longer know exactly what we should use (and sometimes we are a bit lazy too! 😇) so, hop, hop, hop, we roll up our sleeves and tackle the chore of leathers with a smile 🧼 !
I will give you some little quick tips to use after each ride to maintain your leathers without spending the whole evening on it! 🚿
Systematically, we will have two steps:
A. Cleaning 🧹 & B. Nourishing 🧽 !
And, let's gooooo!
1. My boots, riding boots and mini-chaps: what do I do?
The first reflex, the simplest , it's about giving them a little gentle brush at the end of the session: do we groom our horse? Well, we take the opportunity to give our shoes a quick brush with a different brush to get rid of the excess sand that loves to sneak into seams and zippers! ⚡️
⚠️ Never use glycerin soap here, or you risk having your shoes/boots match awkwardly at the ankles, and then they won't stick to our calves at all! 🚤
Next, it's time for the polish to make its entrance! Transparent, brown or black, it's up to you to choose, but we apply it with a cloth over the entire boot, ankle boot, and/or chaps... And then we brush it to remove the excess material for the more meticulous ones. 🦵
2. And for my bridle, then?
This time again: two steps! We will start by cleaning the bridle using glycerin soap! In spray, in wipes, solid or in gel, everyone has their preference... But personally, I find the spray format the most convenient! A spritz here, a spritz there, a wipe with a cloth and and you're done!
Finally, all that's left is to nourish it and the softer the bridle, the better we feel (and our horse too!): in one hand a jar of leather oil, in the other a brush : and here we go to merrily coat your leather, which will be grateful to you! 🥰
3. Ooooh OK, is it the same for the saddle then?
Ah no, no, no! … Well almost! 🙈
The first step of the soap 🧴 is EXACTLY the same (phew 😅!) however we will replace the oil with leather balm for the second step! 🔅
Why? Very good question, and the reasons are multiple!
- The oil will soak into your pretty pants on the next ride... And they will become much less pretty (especially if they were supposed to be white!) 😅
- We tend to use way too much material with oil while with the balm it is much easier to dose correctly the application ☑️
- The leather of the saddle would become too soft while we still want to keep some rigidity! 💘
- Because that's just how it is and not otherwise (okay, this argument might not be very valid)! 🤪
4. Well then I will go for synthetic leather, at least it's easy!
Ahaaaaa, but even there maintenance is important, it would be way too simple otherwise! For synthetic leather, a quick wipe with Tack Cleaner with a cloth is recommended from time to time! 😎
To keep it simple, every leather is maintained quite easily: a few minutes of weekly maintenance and we're off for years of use! 🥳
I hope that now everything is clear, shall we meet at the Club House after classes to “Clean, soap, polish... Always shiny gear”?! 🎶
Take care of yourself (and your equipment),
See you soon for new (leather) beauty tips ✌🏼
Mathilde 🙌🏼
