Vacation Barn Chores

Having a week off between Winter's cold and Summer's heat is a true blessing. Not only did I ride both boys nearly every day, but I was also able to catch up on some barn chores. You already know that I cleaned the tack room; here are two other chores that needed doing.

First, I had to rearrange what was under the left hand tarp.

This is what needed to go there: my summer supply of pine pellets for bedding my stalls. It's not quite enough to get through the summer as Home Depot didn't have a full pallet of 50 bags; they only had 32.

Pine pellets - stacked and ready ...

Funny how the tarp looks almost identical to how it looked before I stacked the pellets!

Buying and stacking my pine pellets for the summer was one chore that I had saved for Spring Break. The next job I tackled was cleaning my endurance saddle. I find it sad that I truly can't remember the last time I rode in it. It has surely been more than a year.

I didn't think to take a before picture as the saddle was simply dusty. After cleaning and conditioning it though, I remembered what a pretty saddle it actually is and wished that I had a before picture to show you.

right side ...

This saddle is designed for the rider that desires a balanced equitation seat. It is built on their famous endurance tree with their unique suspended ground seat. Padded with Tucker's Gel-Cush™ Padding, it comes with English Stirrup leathers, Trail Glide™ stirrups and English billet rigging. Also features the Equi-Balanced Tree, 1/2" Wool Felt lined skirts & beautiful master craftsmanship. It features English-styled strategically positioned knee rolls with padded flaps.

... left side

I have enjoyed this saddle immensely and don't feel ready to part with it. If you are interested in the Tucker Equitation, they're having a great sale on this saddle. It normally retails for around $2100, but it's on sale for $1445 at Tucker Saddle Sales with $7.99 shipping. Quite a deal if you're in the market. Horse Saddle Shop put together this helpful video.

While our tack room is quite nice, it is not dust free nor climate controlled. I decided to bring the saddle home along with the leathers, stirrups, girth, pad, seat cover, and cantle bag. We have a windowless utility room at home that stays a pretty dust free. The saddle will certainly weather better there than in the tack room. If I think I want to use it, I can always schlepp it back out to the barn, but I don't think that is going to happen anytime soon ... 

I know it's a shame to let such a nice quality saddle sit unused, especially when I know several people who would very much like to have it. It took me a lot of soul searching before I was willing to part with my other Tucker saddle. I liked that saddle a lot, but I couldn't see two saddles sitting around gathering dust. I am not interested in doing any long trail rides right now, but who know what I'll be doing in the next few years? Good pieces of tack are worth holding onto.

For those of you with extra saddles sitting around, how long do you let them sit before passing them on to a new owner?