Tack Tip - Crusty Cinch Latigos

Here's a short tack tip on storing your cinch latigos (cinch straps) so they remain more pliable. Of course, we should be cleaning and treating our saddles and tack. But sometimes we (or maybe just me) are neglectful of our tack or the environmental conditions just get ahead of us.

I usually use a diluted mix of household dish detergent and a rag to clean my saddles and gear. Sometimes I'll need to use a dish brush on my gear as well to get the sand and dust out of the crevices.  Don't tell my wife I use dish brushes - I've been blaming the dog when dish brushes disappear from the sink.

Then I apply 100% Neat's Foot Oil to all the leather. On my latigos, this will keep them all soft and pliable.  But I also use this technique in the photos below to secure cinch straps, both on saddles I routinely use and those I have stored for longer periods of time.

Careful as you might be, sometimes the latigo drags in the dirt and combined with salt from the horse sweating, a cinch latigo may get stiff and crusty. So for the last 15 years or so, I have been in the habit of tying up most of my latigos in the manner shown below. It pretty much works to keep the latigo flexible and easy to weave though the cinch D ring and saddle D ring.

In the photos above:  Step one - I loop the latigo through the D ring twice, like you would to situate the latigo for easy pulling out and running through the cinch D ring.  Step 2 and Step 3 - I wrap the running end of the latigo around section looped through the D ring, and Step 4 - I stick the end of the latigo through the bottom.



This helps keep the latigo from getting loose and catching on something, or dragging in the dirt, and the whole process of bending and wrapping the latigo helps debris fall away from it, and keeps it pliable.  This is also a good way to store a  cinch strap on a saddle that may be put up for a while.