As many may know it has been pretty wet around here lately. Raining most of last week, a hell of a storm on Thursday- our street signs are all leaning in the 'hood, cloudy this week, rainy again tomorrow, or at least they are calling for it. The horses are all tucked in their stalls, pastures are under water since we are set up for irrigation- so what do you do?
Now is a great time to clean your tack and inspect it for wear. See what needs to be fixed, what can and cannot be fixed, sell the old and look for something new.
I hear all about it for bringing tack in the house, setting it up for cleaning, and doing it all in the middle of the living room floor. Not exactly one of my more brilliant moves either, I have to admit! But it is warm, I can sit on the couch, watch TV, have a drink or a snack and get it all done. There's plenty of room to spread things out, rags handy to wipe stuff off, water for rinsing if needed and of course carpet to soak up any of the oils, leather treatments, soaps and everything else that spills.
So take it from me, take it outside, clean it in the tack room. Wipe it all down, spray it off or do what needs to be done- somewhere that you won't hear about it later. Now is a good time to take care of your tack, if the weather isn't cooperating and you aren't riding much anyways. It's a great way to feed your inner horsey addict. Clean the saddle even if it may be a while before you sit in it again.
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I clean tack in my house all the time. It's therapeutic. I just have to be sure my house is generally cleaner than my tack, or my non-horsey husband is a little miffed.
ReplyDeleteI just did this over the weekend, in my living room, while watching TV....Why not? Works great and keeps you entertained while you work! I got a little water on the carpet.....no big deal.
ReplyDeleteMy hubby actually liked it because then when he does something like that in the living room, it's all gooood and I won't complain!
We just got new carpet about a year ago. That's the issue. And some habits are hard to break.
ReplyDeleteBefore that? The previous owners pets had done far more damage then neatsfool oil, Lexol or Murphys oil soap could ever begin to dream of!
But there is a pair of size 3 horseshoes in our master bath at the moment. They came off Boo Boo and are going to be made into a wind chime. Had to scrub all the hoof gunk off them first...
ReplyDeleteI have been known to clean tack in the house as well , but now with the barn we keep it out where it belongs. Worse things have come into houses though in the past. I have had a calf warming in the bathtub a time or two, and I has a friend who had her mimi mare and foal in the bathroom of her mobile(early baby and bitterly cold out)
ReplyDeleteMy mom does a lot of business in Phoenix & Prescott, and cancelled her trip this month for some reason, and is glad she did. Her clients had Traffic Horror Stories for her....
ReplyDeleteStay safe!!
I love cleaning tack in the house. There's non-freezing water available, TV, room to spread out, and an abundance of towels & rags. Plus it makes the house smell nice.
I do believe I'll do that this week, since it's going to get up to 30 tomorrow, then highs in the low 20s till Monday at least. And my girth is GNARLY. Ew.
I cleaned up my Western saddle & headstall and oiled them last week, in preparation for trying to sell them. They look really nice and loved, and the silver is all shiny!
:)
BTW, I'm a fan of Murphy's, plenty of water, plenty of towels, and Walsh saddle oil (used to be Blue Ribbon).
ReplyDeleteIf you use enough water, you can get it SUPER DUPER clean. Just dry it off really well and let it sit a bit before you oil it.
Too many 4H kids use a squirt of Leather New on a rag & call that Clean Enough To Show In. Um, no.
I've seen kids at the Fair, in the ring, with DRIED MUD on their saddles - saddles that have obviously been neglected for years.
what a timely post, i just brough in whole bunch of bridles and leather halters to clean ;o)
ReplyDeleteCP- the funny part about the weather here and traffic- most of the transplants came from somewhere that it rains a whole lot more than it does here. Yet a bit of water falls from the skies and everyone loses their minds.
ReplyDeleteWe know a woman who bought the saddle cleaning wipes. She used them before a small show and once in the saddle found there was something in the wipes making her saddle incredibly Slick! The more she wiped even with plain rags and water- the slicker it got. Niiiiice...
Eh....I clean tack in the house too. Warmer, more comfortable. Spread out a big towel or a tarp next time. No big. lol
ReplyDeleteMy brother said you all were getting hammered there. He was heading up to Flag to ski.
If I had new carpet, I'd have to rethink cleaning in the house, but there is always the kitchen floor. No carpet there!
ReplyDeleteI do use the leather wipes for in between cleaning, but you have to actually clean your leather once in awhile. All that horse sweat, dirt, mud......ICK!!
HP- yep we have been getting slammed. Thursdays storm was a doosy! We are supposed to be cloudy the rest of the week, warm up to 70 Sunday and Monday then more clouds and rain...
ReplyDeleteDrillrider- the kitchen floor was redone too. So a bit of rethinking to be done there too. Bathrooms and laundry room are in the process so I am literally losing ground fast.
I agree that there are times ya just gotta get down and dirty, bust out the toothbrushes and scrub the gunk away. Rainy days make for a really good time to get after it.
ELE- Welcome aboard! Does this mean we can all send a few bridles your way for cleaning? Just kidding. (maybe)
I like cleaning tack, too... the results are SO worth it!
ReplyDeleteHey,
ReplyDeleteSince we're talking tack now, how about a post on saddle fitting? I'm not very experienced at it, and have ZERO confidence that I'm getting it right.
Also, this is a droolworthy site: http://www.justbridles.com/
(Gee... wonder what they sell...)
CP, did ya have to go and feed my leather snob, tack addiction like that, at a time like this? You know, now, when I am finding NooOOoone of my bridles fit the latest acquisition- the huge bay mare out in the barn... :D
ReplyDeleteOf the five English bridles I have, (only one of which I regularly use) I have decided to sell three to help fund the new bridle to fit her. The fourth bridle has a bit of sentimental value and years of use behind it.
If anyone is interested, let me know, two are full sized one is cob/Arab. They have only been on a horse to adjust for fit. I am going to also offer up an assortment of bits- I just have to go through them and measure them but there is a French link and two pelhams so far... May also be adding the D-ring and an eggbutt snaffle if they won't fit the mare.
I also have a leather English girth to offer up. It was for the Arab mare, but we sold her over a year ago and never put it to use. Brand new condition and still has the plastic hanging thingy on it. I think it was around a size 44, but I could be wrong. That happens once in a while.
I am hoping that my two saddles don't end up on the block for the same reason, but if that's what it comes to, well, then I will let everyone know about them too. So maybe saddle fitting is a good topic for the next few posts. I was going to go a little more in depth on clippers and clipping, but maybe that can wait?
I know we have a couple saddles of both English and western, that fit this horse, but not that one. Pictures sure to be included for us visual learning folks. And since it is still wet and semi swampy out, I can tack up and snap away for some informative posts on the subject.