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How To Turn Fenders

The purpose of turning fenders is to make them wrap back around your shin, and your stirrup is turned out so your boot slips in nicely without pulling your toes inward. Sometimes this can cause leg and knee pain, plus it's just annoying to always have to reach down and grab the stirrup with your hand if it lays flat against the horses side where you can't easily slip your toe in. 

1) Set saddle on a stand that is open underneath

2) Get a piece of pipe, or a broom/ mop handle, or something else that is non flexible and 3-4ft long

3) Get a sprayer filled with hot tap water

4) Thoroughly spray the back sides of both fenders including the stirrup leathers with the hot water. Note that if the saddle is brand new, and the dyes are fresh, it is impressionable and susceptible to potential irregular water spotting until the leather "seasons" and ages. It might be advisable to wet only the backside of the leather in that case to prevent water spotting or anything weird. 

4) Twist the stirrups backwards for 2 complete rotations

5)  Place pipe through stirrups and have an assistant hold it, or temporarily affix it to the saddle stand with tape so it doesn't untwist while you do the same to the 2nd fender

6) Once fenders are both twisted back like a curly fry, tug down on stirrup, and encourage the fender to twist into a tight curl so the bottom of the stirrup parallels with the ground

7) Spray the back of the fenders with hot water again, until dripping wet

8) Allow to dry overnight

9) This process can be repeated as many times as needed, until they stay where you want them. 

I strongly recommend sealing your saddle with a quality leather preservative that wont leave a residue, nor suffocate the leather. I recommend Black Rock leather products for cleaning, conditioning and oiling your saddle. Cheap leather conditioners can often dry on the leather surface and leave a white residue in the cracks and tooling that is difficult to get out. 

 

Ideally, you should thoroughly clean, condition and reseal your saddle every year. 

 

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