SukiSue

Thank you, Northmount, for your reply. That's what I was looking for... what would happen if I sanded it, etc. Ok, I won't be doing that. And for giving ideas on what to try. I realize it will be an experiment, but it can't get much worse looking than it is now! I think I will try deglazing and bleaching and see what happens. Thanks everyone else for your opinions! But my saddle really does look bad! It's not that it's turning a beautiful uniform golden color... it's staying very light in some areas and black in others and not just along the fender, but the skirts look blotchy with dark areas and are visible while I'm riding. I kind of liken it to if I have boots that I show in that are getting worn patchy areas, I have to do something about it. Replace or repair, but i can['t go in the show ring like that. I can't go around looking too shabby, it's an insult to the judge. They teach you that in 4H! Especially in Horsemanship classes. Part of the class is showmanship and turnout, both rider and horse. This is my show saddle I'm asking about! It may be old, but it was only ridden in during shows and put away after use. Now my WORK saddle, that's another story! My reining saddle is light oil too, and that one I'm not so worried about. Just that this is a Western Pleasure one. That and Horsemanship are much more picky as far as turnout. Horsewreck, you need to see more horse shows, the reiners, the cutters, ropers, everyone has new saddles! The barrel racers and rodeo people are probably the most gaudy of all with all the bling and colored saddles! lol The mounted shooters have all new rigs... they're just smart enough to go for a darker color in the first place! Yes, showing in general is 100% fad, from the clothes to the saddle. I started back when we all had dark oil saddles and loved it. Then light oil came in the picture in the 90's and I hoped and prayed that was just a quick fad. 10 years later I bit the bullet and bought my light oil saddle and now I've had it 10 years or so! Problem is, a new one is 3000-on up in the upper teens and a poor person like me can't afford a new saddle anymore! So now I'm seeing the black . I could be a passing fad too, but I see all the big brands are pumping out new black saddles, so I guess in 10 years, I may follow suit! haha But I really wasn't thinking of dying, but using the Vinegaroon. Does anyone know if that would ruin the silver? Maybe I'm posting this question in the wrong area?

Thanks for your reply! That's the main part, the fenders, but it is dark in areas on the skirts too. Dying black is kind of the latest in Quarter horse shows. But most still have the light oil saddles, just that people have resorted to dying black in order to keep using those expensive saddles that get too dark. I'll attach a before and after pic of a saddle someone I know dyed black. She is charging 450.00 to dye saddles black and she has a waiting list! But yes, I would prefer to keep it light oil. So if anyone knows of any tricks to get the light color back or if it would work to sand down dark areas on leather, let me know!

Hi, I've been spending a couple hours reading this forum and have already learned quite a lot from you here. But when I search, I haven't found anything that would answer the question I have. I have a 10 year old light oil show saddle that is getting dark in areas now. I see a lot of people are dying their saddles black now because of this and I really do like the light better... My question is, has anyone had any luck getting the dark areas off the leather? It has always been stored in a bag, but I suppose the outdoor shows are enough exposure to darken the leather. Or maybe my black chaps have been rubbing color off, since the darkest areas are on the fenders. I've tried a couple different non darkening cleaners and nothing has worked so far. The dark areas remain... So I've been thinking, would it be possible to just sand off the dark areas and refinish? Like we can do with wood? Would the leather be new and light down under a layer? It's a production Circle Y and not hand tooled or anything and i don't mind if the tooling got a little faint in the process. Has anyone ever experimented with scrap pieces of leather to see if it works? If it does, I think a person could make a lot of money restoring light oil show saddles to their old glory! If sanding won;t work, I'll have to try the Vinegaroon I've been reading about here and make it black. Thanks for any ideas or suggestions!