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Weaver Durango Cowboy Collection Heavy
duty, durable tack offering style that a cowboy
craves. Durango Cowboy horse equipment is
constructed from russet harness leather with
distressed top grain finishes and medium brown
brindle hair-on cowhide. Stainless Steel is used to
keep te appearance clean for a long time. Using a
distressed finish gives a lot of character and color
variation to better match almost all saddles. Ropers to team penners, this all around
collection of tack appeals to a wide variety of
horse riders. Nocona Belt company and Ranger Belt
company have matching belts too.
How
do you care for Hair-on cowhide? Nurture it from
the back side, like any leather. I like to use a
fine mist sprayer on the hair side. Some people have
said they use hair conditioners, like for human
hair, or "Main & Tail, or "Healthy
Horse Products". Keeping the leather
moisturized is a secret to keeping the hair on.
We
are often asked, "How often do I need to clean,
or oil, my tack?" My mind's first response is
always, "As often as it needs it."
Seriously, there are people who just don't know. I
have been with horse lovers that probably have not
conditioned their horse equipment since they brought
it home the first time. Leather is skin that has
been treated to make it useful. Like the skin on
your body, it needs to be cleaned and moisturized by
natural oils. As long as your skin is attached, your
body's moisture will keep it supple. When you get a
blister, and it begins to peel, you notice it gets
hard and easily falls apart. The skin has cut itself
off from the moisture and it's soon gone. Leather is
the same way.
I got
in the habit of wiping down my tack every time I
finished for the day, before I went to eat supper.
Working with it daily, you can see the subtle
changes. Sweat, salt, rain, dry weather, all can
crack it. I keep a rag in a jar that is laden with
Lexol, but...Weaver Wipes are even smarter! I clean off all mud and grime by water hose,
then wipe dry with an old towel and then apply
another light coat of oil. Every now and again, it
might need a deep cleaning. But by doing it all
along, I get much better results by good treatment
often.
If
you have students, friends who always want to ride,
or "hangers-around", a great way to
introduce them to tools of the trade is to have them
condition the tack. Just like grooming the horses,
they gain confidence through familiarity. You get
stuff done!
...However, if you choose not to take care of your
stuff, we always have more to sell, & really
need the money! God Bless, CC
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