Myth Buster: Do freeze damage saddlery?

[HorsehairBraider]

My favorite saddle is now officially 100 years old. Now, there have been times in the 35 years I have owned it that it stayed in the house. But usually, it stayed outside in the tack room and it gets pretty freaking cold out there. That saddle is still just as useable as it was the day it was made.

Now, of course once a year (at LEAST) I get it out, dismantle it, clean and oil it thoroughly. But I know for a fact that did not happen to it for some time before I got it, because I knew one of the former owners and they just threw it on the ground in the dirt and never took care of it. The first time I "met" that saddle it was to replace some sheepskin that was in such bad shape you could hardly tell it was sheepskin. I also did some other work on it, and finally offered to buy it. It worked out great... the seat is an 11 1/2" and he did not have an 11 1/2" butt so he was happy to sell it to me even though it was a cool saddle. (It's a McClellan.) I've had the same experience with other really old "worn-out" tack that I have revitalized by simply taking care of it. What a concept.

Most of my friends take pretty good care of their tack. Not one of them has a climate-controlled tack room although there is no denying that would be SO cool... or if you had the room, to keep it in the house. That said, if I am going to be driving, I bring my harness in the house for at least overnight. What a difference in harnessing! It goes much easier. Keeping it in the house would be ideal, but I for one just don't have the room (or else I have too much tack, guess what Mr. HorsehairBraider thinks is the case? :D) So all I can say is, clean and oil your tack regularly!

[pella]

Rod and denise: you reply make so much sense for me. After reading, i finaly believe it is best to keep gear at same temperature than were you ride, for me thats the best, and i never notice damage from cold till now. About mold problem, here it is terrible, i use to place a big pure wool blanket on my saddle, it keep humidity away from leather, also important not to place anything to close from ground.

thanks everybody

[David Genadek]

In Minnesota we feed our horses lots of hay in the winter so they can stay warm. If you have ridden a horse in the winter you realize they put off a lot heat. Following the logic that you should keep things an even temperature, would go to the side of keeping the tack inside and warm. How many of you would like an ice cube stuck on your back? Or a ice cube stuck on your face?

How many of you warm your car up before you drive it? Does the cold oil make it easier to start or harder? I now have a heated garage too and I will tell you I am haveing a lot less vehicle trouble. Isn't there oil in the leather? If the oil doesn't perform a function why do we oil it? How can it perform that function in freezing temperatures? Granted the horse will warm everything up and even get it wet. If your saddle blanket gets all sweaty do you just let it freeze until next time you use it?

David Genadek

currently at a wind chill of 35 below

[JRedding]

If cold weather ruined saddles all mine would have seen their last about a month ago. I've learned though that cold frozen rig David talks about serves a purpose , you can find out how broke your horse really is. If he don't hump up with that he's goin' pretty good. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if the cold would destroy one it sure would be good for business.

[David Genadek]

I'm not saying it will ruin them I'm saying they will require more care to get them to last as long. So if you have a choice keep them in a better enviroment. If you don't have the choice then make sure you do the proper care. We all choose the standards in which we live our lives.

Around here we don't break horses we fix them.

David Genadek

[Rod and Denise Nikkel]

Just some comments, for whatever they may or may not be worth.

If you have ridden a horse in the winter you realize they put off a lot heat. Following the logic that you should keep things an even temperature, would go to the side of keeping the tack inside and warm.

1.) Freeze/thaw cycles. If you take a saddle from a warm house to freezing temperatures outside and back in, any of it not in direct contact with horse or rider will freeze and thaw. If you take a saddle from a frozen tack room and ride it, parts of it (the seat and sheepskin under the bars) may thaw depending on temperature, and then refreeze when taken off. Same diff. You'd get more freeze/thaw cycles overall per year in unheated storage during spring and fall as the days are warm and the nights freeze. The question is: does this actually damage the leather? Admittedly, it is not as good for the leather as being kept at a constant temperature, but does it cause enough harm to the leather to be a concern? Experience and history say no. The leather will be damaged by many other things long before freezing will injure it.

How many of you would like an ice cube stuck on your back? Or a ice cube stuck on your face?

2.) A possible perceived animal welfare issue. Is putting a cold saddle on a horse's back the same as putting an ice cube on your own? I would argue no. I have attached a picture taken of one of our horses at 5pm today. It snowed a little overnight, and the temperature got about 0 F today. When it gets really cold, snow stays for days on their backs. A full winter coat has amazing insulating ability. They are not going to notice an ice cube on their back. Agreed that when you put a blanket and saddle on top of it, the insulation is dramatically reduced, but it would be the same as putting one over top my winter jacket is to me – noticeable, but not freezing my skin.

Warming a bit, however, is a different story. Frozen metal in contact with moist mucous membranes of the mouth causes "discomfort" until it warms up, and it needs to be warmed. (The Canadian question is not "Did you freeze your tongue to something when you were a kid?" but "What did you freeze your tongue to when you were a kid?")

If your saddle blanket gets all sweaty do you just let it freeze until next time you use it?

3.) Humidity. Our different environments will give different answers to your question. The answer here is yes, because they are dry by then, unless they were soaked, which you work to prevent in weather that cold unless absolutely necessary. Water evaporates, even when frozen (check the old ice cubes in your fridge) and the low humidity we have out here means this is almost never a problem. I would think that areas of higher humidity, or wide changes in humidity (outside to inside causing condensation) would cause more problems with leather than the temperature changes.

[greg gomersall]

If you take reasonable care of your gear cold storage will not hurt it. I was taught as a kid to not store your tack or harness in the barn but use a seperate building. With the barn being full of livestock a huge amount of humidity rises out of the stock which will damage your gear. We quite often had 20 head of horses tied in at night and if it was calving season we would generaly have a few head of cattle in as well for one reason or another, the leather would act like a sponge with this humidity and that is not good. Greg

[mulefool]

Here it rarely gets below 15-20 in the winter, but its real humid. The saddles we ride all the time are in an open barn and don't seem any worse for wear since there is real good circulation. We keep the others in a heated tack room. If we didn't they'd look like they were made out of green velvet instead of leather. If it's real cold out I take my blanket into the house to warm up. I guess I just like to keep that mule happy.

[Hidemechanic]

Well now, I don't see the extremes of temps as big an issue as the humidity. Still keeping oil in the leather is no doubt like anti-freeze in your engine as well as to some degree a repellant to mildew.

As for the PNW, Mulefoot, that's where I am and it is -3* as I speek.Just funnin ya (it is -3* though)

My question is, how long an extended life are we talking about?

They tell us to drink more water, don't eat red meat(yeh right) and egg yokes, do this and don't do that and we'll live longer. What are we talking about here? A couple days a couple months a couple years?

If I feel when I'm 90 like I do now now and it's only gonna get worse, why the heck do I want to live longer? "Shoot me honey, I've had enough!!"

As for saddles I know we've all seen saddles that should have been put out of their misery and others that are going strong after 30, 50, 70 yrs or so.

Take care of our stuff and it will out last us. If we could last as long as our saddles and still be in as good a shape, I wouldn't mind living longer.

I can relate to climbing in that cold saddle seat in the moring and after an hour your core temp has lowered a couple degrees cause arss is still froze. Makes you want to build a little fire in it before you ride, course that might shorten the saddle's longevity a bit, I spoze.

Putting all seriousness aside I would suggest for those sub freezing morning to gently work your latago before you cinch it up. Use some friction to soften it up to avoid cracking when making the turns though those cold rings. Happy trails y'all. GH

[David Genadek]

I called Hemann Oak and posed the question to them and it turns out we are all right. The cold in itself should not pose a problem. The moisture will, so if it gets wet it should be dried out before you stick it back in the cold barn. For those of us who live in a cold damp climate a heated tack room makes some sense. With that said I will say in our tack room we have articles that are over 50 years old and still in good shape, for most of thier life they have been stored in a a cold barn. They used to need to get oiled twice a year now we are down to once a year. It takes about a week to get through the whole pile. Keeping it in a nice climate controled tack room gives us an extra week every year.

David Genadek