Ok so I just bought my first brand new saddle. I got a Subben Genesis and love it. Now here's the question. How do you guys go about breaking in a new saddle? Conditioning it and all that other good stuff.
Looking forward to hearing what you guys have to say.
Stubben would suggest that (when you know for sure the saddle fits and you are going to keep it) you spend at least 20 hours riding with no saddle pad at all OR a very thin one if you hate the idea of using nothing. It will help shape the saddle to your horse.
You should also Hamanol the entire saddle including the panels underneath. If you can't get your hands on any Hamanol and you are going to oil it, do not put any on the bottom and be careful not to saturate the stitching with too much.
Take the blue tag from your saddle and write down the serial number, then head over to www.stubbennorthamerica.com (home page, bottom right it is easy to miss) to register the saddle. You will be very happy to have done this if anyone ever "borrows" your saddle in the middle of the night or if you ever have any problems with it in the future.
If you notice your saddle starting to get dry in the future, condition it with Hamanol and if you think it seems really dirty clean it, but remember that overloading it with products will clog the pores.
The guys at Stubben are really friendly and helpful, so if you have any questions or concerns you should call them at 1-800-550-1110
Hamanol is really greasy and smells strange, but it makes the leather really smooth. even with saddles where the leather has been neglected it recreates it very often. Its a bit expensive, but a normal pack lasts very long as you don't need much for normal saddle treatment. Just look that you walk it through before usage as sometimes some ingredients can dissolve especially if it had been in a very hot place. In summary it is a excellent thing to maintain a leather saddle. I have now 4 Stübben saddles, jumping, dressage and different sizes. If you keep the leather up, they will last very long. The oldest that I have is now 32 years.
Ya I used the heminol. My condo and saddle now smell like hickory smoked bacon. It is pretty greasy but it did a nice job. I'll do anoter application in a week or so since it is new. Thanks for the advice. I love all my new stuff. I got the super soft stubben leathers and MDC irons. They are so nice. They are pricey but well worth it.