CARE OF SADDLERY. 281 
legs perfectly supple, yet so clean that no stain is left behind. Nothing 
is more annoying than to get off the saddle for the purpose of paying a 
morning call, and find the insides of a light pair of trousers stained all the 
way down. This is perfectly inexcusable, and its occurrence marks the 
ignorance and carelessness of a servant in the most unmistakeable manner. 
The same remark applies to the reins, which never ought to soil a pair 
of white gloves. Whenever blacking is applied to harness it is impos- 
sible altogether to prevent the tendency to leave a stain, but if it is care- 
fully put on, and well brushed, as long as it is kept dry it may be lightly 
handled with impunity. If buckles are to be altered, the gloves must 
safer, and for this reason, when gentlemen drive their own horses, they 
ger2rally prefer brown driving reins, which may be treated in the same 
way as riding reins, and kept clean accordingly. The following directions 
for cleaning saddles and riding bridles, and also for brown driving reins, 
or any other parts of the harness made of undyed leather, will serve the 
purpose extremely well. As long as the leather remains dry and clean it 
needs no attention, but when it is wetted, either by rain, or by the water 
necessary for cleaning it from road dust, it becomes hard and stiff, and 
must be softened with some kind of oily matter. Neat’s-foot oil is that 
usually employed, but for saddles it is rather of too greasy a nature, being 
apt to leave a mark on the trousers if it has been liberally applied. The 
best application is deer’s suet, which should be gently warmed and rubbed 
in before the leather is quite dry again, after being wetted; that is to 
say, while it remains limp, for if it is held to the fire long enough, all wet 
leather becomes hard and stiff. A very little oil or suet will suffice, if it 
is used as soon as the leather is nearly dry, after each wetting, but when 
leather has been left for days in a dry place after being thoroughly wet, 
it becomes so stiff that nothing but a good soaking with oil will restore its 
pliability, and even with this it remains stiff to a certain extent, unless it 
is very slightly damped, in conjunction with the use of the oil. Vege- 
table oils, with the single exception of castor oil, are too much inclined to 
become hard to suit leather, and none but the latter should ever be em- 
ployed. Its nauseous smell is an objection to it, but otherwise it will 
answer the purpose almost as well as neat’s-foot. Horse fat, if used care- 
fully, and in very small quantities, is a capital application, but one liberal 
dressing with it spoils the look of leather, giving it a sodden appearance, 
which it never recovers. 
To MAKE SADDLERY AND HARNESS LOCK WELL to the eye, several re- 
ceipts, and directions for using them, are necessary; including the follow- 
ing, for avoiding injury from chemical decomposition :— 
(1.) Do not allow brass or plated furniture to be within reach of the air 
of the stable; for the ammonia given off from the urine will tarnish them, 
Gas, also, is prejudicial; and if it is burned in the harness-room, it should 
be contained within a glass chamber, which has a ventilating shaft, so as 
to carry off the products of combustion into the external air. Gas stoves 
are particularly prejudicial; and, indeed, so are all stoves which allow the 
fumes given off by the coals to pass into the room. 
(2.) As soon as possible after the harness is taken off, if the weather is 
fine, take a leather, kept specially for the purpose, and wipe off the dust; 
sponging with a damp sponge those parts which are soiled with sweat. If 
the traces, belly-band, &c., are splashed with mud, wash them at once ; 
on no account soaking them in water, or using more of it than is necessary. 
Dry them, as far as possible, with the leathers, and put to the fire on the 
horse represented at page 210. If the black dye with which the leather 
