Not-So-Speedy Dressage
From Endurance to Dressage
Despite having dyed my dressage saddle in 2018, by last summer, it looked worse than it had before. I decided to take a chance on Clyde's Leather Recoloring Balm, a product I had seen on Facebook. It was easy to do, and my saddle came out looking pretty good. You can read about the process here, here, and here. My plan was to do an annual touch up beginning this summer. After my ride on Saturday morning, I put my saddle on a stand, gave it a good cleaning with a damp rag, and then gave it a light coat of Effax Leder-Balsam. That stuff is awesome by the way. It smells good, and it leaves tack clean and smooth without feeling oily. When I was satisfied that the saddle was clean and well-conditioned, I stepped back to have a look at it. To my complete surprise, my saddle is as black as it was last summer. There has been zero fading. In fact, it looks better than it did last summer because the shiny Tan-Kote has nearly worn off. I will definitely NEVER use that stuff again. There are still parts that don't look so great, but those parts came from using a deglazer which stripped whatever finish the saddle still had. Besides the uneven shine caused by the Tan-Kote, the leather is uniformly black.
If you have a black saddle that has seen better days, I would definitely recommend Clyde's Recoloring Balm. And since my saddle is still evenly black, I am going to skip the touch up for now. I'll reevaluate at the end of the summer. Isn't it great when a product does what it says it will? Comments are closed.
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About the Writer and RiderI am a lifelong rider.
I began endurance riding in 1996 where I ultimately completed five, one-day 100 mile races, the 200-mile Death Valley Encounter, and numerous other 50, 65, and 75 mile races. I began showing dressage in 2010. Welcome to my dressage journey. About Speedy GSpeedy went from endurance horse to dressage horse. After helping me earn a USDF Bronze medal in the summer of 2020, he is now semi-retired. Speedy is a 2004, 15'1 hand, purebred Arabian gelding. His Arabian Horse Registry name is G Ima Starr FA.
About IzzyIzzy was started as a four-year old and then spent the next 18 months in pasture growing up. I bought him as a six-year old, and together, we are showing at the lower levels. He is a 2008, 16'3 hand warmblood gelding. His Rheinland Pfalz-saar International (RPSI) name is Imperioso.
National Rider AwardsState Rider Awards
State Horse Awards
Working Towards:
CDS Sapphire Rider Award Third Level: 63.514% Third Level: 62.105% Fourth Level: Fourth Level: 2023 Show Season
Show Rating (***) CDS/USDF/USEF (*) CDS (s) Schooling (c) Clinic (r) Ride-a-Test Clinic 2023 Show Schedule
TBD 2023 Completed … Pending 2023 Qualifying Scores
Regional Adult Amateur Competition (RAAC) Qualifying Training Level 3 Scores/2 Judges/60%: Score 1: Score 2: Score 3: Archives
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