I've been absent from the blog for a while but certainly not from the barn and Geek Acres itself. Been busy. I work 4 days a week, 10 hours a day or more so am tired at the end of the day and don't blog. When I am off I'm always running errands or doing projects around the farm it seems. I hope things slow down soon now that the holidays have passed.
Near the end of the summer when there were some pretty humid weeks I noticed some mold on my lovely saddles!!! OMG! I read up really quickly on what to do. First things first is get the tack out of the tack room to clean so you don't spread the spores. I sprayed them with a vinegar/water mix and let them dry in the sun. Then I ordered Leather Therapy wash and Restorer. This product is one of the few that lacks glycerin that mold will feed on and has a fungal preventative.
I sprayed the crap out of the saddles, mainly the western saddle stirrup leathers where most of the mold was but I got the entire leather of each saddle. The Aussie saddle only had a bit of mold on the flaps and I suspect it was mainly on the dust not so much the leather.
Then I took apart the saddles and rubbed in the therapy conditioner. This stuff is good! I sure hope it prevents issues in the future but I also plan on sealing up the tack room better and then using those desiccant products to absorb moisture. It's so humid and hot out here that the tiny window in the tack room doesn't do much for ventilation so I need to work on getting the tack room dry without buying a dehumidifier....though I could do that too. I have to make sure to seal up the room or I will be trying to dehumidify the entire outdoors and I doubt that will work. A barn that I would have built would have a larger tack room with much more ventilation and light as that is the key to prevent mold growth....oh and cleaning tack more regularly in this environment apparently!
I wish I'd thought to take pictures of the moldy tack but honestly was so horrified and panicked that I was rushing to remedy the problem instead. Never had to deal with that in dry Colorado!!
Thanks all for still read this blog! I guess I shouldn't be surprised that having a mini farm/stable means I have less time to blog but you know. Shout out to Mrs Shoes!!
Please review the video below and share if you can, this child Kaydance was abducted, please read story here and we would like to share in case there is someone it reaches that can help or knows any information. You never know.
