Since the weather turned into summer down here in NC (hot and muggy) I have been getting pretty tired riding.  Two weeks ago the weather was particularly fine, cool and with low humidity, but Debbie was having a summer riding camp and I could not ride there.  Then the humidity came back but after riding only once in ten days, I am quite happy to be back riding three times a week and getting tired!

Because of the heat and humidity I tried to use my super, super, super cool but slippery riding tights with the Sit-Tite spray.  Using the spray I was slightly more secure but it was not enough, I still ended up with deep exhaustion after riding, the type of exhaustion that lasts a few days.  Full of regret I’ve decided that I can no longer ride in them, but I’ve decided to keep the tights because they are the coolest pants I’ve ever worn, perfect for me to walk in when it is hot.  I swear, these tights are cooler than bare skin.  I went back to my full seat breeches and Sit-Tite spray when I rode Mia, and while my stability was excellent I think I am somewhat allergic to something in the Sit-Tite spray because my skin starts itching whenever I use it or touch anything sprayed with it.  So I did some more thinking of the English riders of the past, before Caprilli and the Forward jumping seat, when riders of all ages, skill and fitness would go fox-hunting in the fall.

Riders back then used the cavalry twill breeches, in cotton, wool, wool & linen, and sometimes leather breeches.  While these fabrics undoubtedly give more frictional grip than our modern stretch synthetic knit fabrics I realized that there was probably another factor that gave these riders more security in the saddle.  As I thought back to the beginning of my riding life I remembered that when I began riding seriously that English riders in the USA were making a big switch in leather care, from neat’s foot oil and the old fashioned saddle soap to glycerin saddle soap, Lexol, and other new leather care preparations that have modern additives.  This switch was happening around the same time as the new stretch fabric breeches were replacing the old type cavalry twill breeches. 

Not only were the old-time riders using the old-fashioned saddle soap, they were VERY insistent on the need to clean the saddles after every ride.  Also many people riding English did not use saddle pads often back then (as in “you should not need a pad under your saddle if you clean your saddle properly”) and they mainly used them as a temporary measure since a lot of the saddle pads available were not easily washable.  Did this old-fashioned type of saddle soap add to the rider’s security?  Did people soap their saddles after every ride to keep the surface of the leather tacky?  Did this old-fashioned saddle soap help prevent the saddle from sliding around on the horse’s back?

So I decided to go back to the old-fashioned type of leather care, looked in my years old tin of dried up old fashioned saddle soap and finally remembered where I got it because my tack store does not seem to carry it anymore (Fiebing’s Saddle Soap).  When I opened my new tin the smell of the saddle soap took me back in time, to the tack rooms at good stables where the leather tack was properly taken care of.  I got my ancient Stubben Siegfried out and started cleaning it.  The dirt just melted away under my old dish rag, dirt that I would have had to scrub and scrub with the glycerin saddle soap to get rid of (confession, I have not been very good about cleaning my tack every time I ride.)  Even the dark gummy “jockey spots” on the saddle started disappearing.  After I got the underneath of my saddle clean I started on the saddle flaps, stirrup jockeys, and the seat under my seat saver.  I had to go over the surface of my saddle several times to get all the build up from the dirt mixed up with the glycerin soap residue off the leather.  When I finally got it clean enough (took about three soapings) I did a final soaping with just a damp cloth and I worked the saddle soap into the leather.  When I was finished the surface of the leather was slightly tacky.  Then I looked at the deerskin panels of my FITS paneled full seat breeches, and cleaned them with the saddle soap too, and got the same result of a slightly tacky surface.  Then I went over my new EZ-Fit treeless saddle with the old-fashioned saddle soap, with the same result.

Since I did this I’ve only ridden once, in my EZ-Fit saddle without using the Sit-Tite spray.  Since I’m wearing my synthetic cloth  FITS paneled full seat breeches now (the crotch has no leather covering it) and the leather of the EZ-Fit is more slippery than the seat savers on my English saddles, I did some creative adaptation and got my Mattes Western sheepskin seat saver on the saddle (I had to use a lot of string in the front, the EZ-Fit does not have a horn.)  Even though the seat saver is not tight on the saddle it did not move around, the flesh side of the sheepskin sticks very well to the well soaped seat. 

I felt so secure in the saddle today!  I did not irritate Cider at all since my seat stayed where I put it in the saddle.  My legs did not slide around the saddle, even where there was no seat saver.  I could place my leg and my leg stayed in that place.  Shannon remarked at how calm Cider was as the temperature got hotter and more bugs tried to find a place with no fly spray, unlike her usual irritated self.  All was not perfect, since I was no longer sliding all over the place Cider demanded that I sit evenly in the saddle and keep myself straight, but once I corrected my seat to her satisfaction I was able to get a full circumference of the ring at the rail on an even contact.  It was so much easier to keep Cider going straight today instead of bowed out against one leg or another.  I was happy with my ride today.

Next week I will get to ride in my Stubben at Debbie’s.  I have great hopes of being more secure in my jumping saddle, maybe secure enough that I will feel confident at the canter instead of worrying about sliding off!  All I know is that if I had ridden in my riding tights today I would have been too tired to write this blog, and if I had not switched to the old-fashioned saddle soap the leather of my saddle would have been slippery, and I would have irritated Cider to no end with me slipping around as I tried to keep my seat centered in the saddle.  Finally, I am feeling secure in the saddle again even without the Sit-Tite spray.

This summer I will make progress!  The more frictional grip I have with the saddle the less energy I have to use to keep my body in a proper position, the less energy I will have to use to move WITH the horse, and I won’t be irritating the horses with an unsteady seat.  With all this extra energy I will be able to work at the canter, and maybe, just maybe, I will be strong enough in my seat and with my legs so that by late September, when it is cooler, I might actually be able to think of jumping for the first time in decades.  Eventually my lofty goal is a two foot jump, with my balance problems from my MS I doubt I’ll be able to jump any higher.  But hey, a two foot jump is better, much better, than no jumping at all!  If you have been following my blogs over the years you know that I have been wanting to jump, I just never felt secure enough to even try.  Hopefully this year will be different. 

Have a great ride!

Jackie Cochran