How often are you meant to clean your tack?

See, I just learned something new here today. Someone told me when I first started horses to ONLY wash my tack once or twice a year otherwise I will ruin the leather. And if I'm such a 'neat freak' then I can use a damp cloth to wipe off excess dust every once in a while. I never really looked too much into it as I assumed that they knew everything being in the business for years. I now understand that this was a false statement and I feel a little embarrassed and feel bad to say I've only cleaned my tack 2 or 4 times this year, lol... I'ma go clean my tack.

I didn't know I should clean my tack after every use. My tack is all top quality so it doesn't seem to suffer any with just twice annual thorough cleanings whether used or not. I have several 40 yr old western saddles that are still in top condition.

All my stuff is brand new and I've only ridden in them for 2 mos. I clean what I can see that needs it at the time. I didn't think about rinsing the bits. No one I know does that either. I guess I have to start doing that. Makes sense.

Thanks very much! :)

Wow, I can barely find the time to ride let alone clean my tack after each ride. I am a horrible horsey mom! But I also work full time, 2 horses, 3 dogs, a kid and a hubby, and the farm. I clean about 4 times a year. I wash pads as they get crusty or smelly, otherwise, we ride just as is. The bit... I wipe it off, but even sometimes don't have time to do that. I groom, I ride, hose my horse off, put my tack up/lay it out to dry and im done.

Sorry but cleaning tack after every ride would drive me not to ride. Just being honest.

I had also heard that regularly soaping down your leather tack isn't the best thing for it. I try to wipe everything down after a ride, but I only deep clean and oil everything once every few months. Heck, the tack we used on the equestrian team only got cleaned and oiled twice a year (with no wipe downs in between), some of it was well over 20 years old and still going strong.

I only found out that you were meant to clean it regularly from reading stories, so I asked my riding instructor and she said you were...

I clean my bit every time, bridle almost every time, my saddle is a wintec so I never clean that and my girth every time if it's leather and I brush it off if it's fleece. I clean my tack every time because I have to let my horse dry after I hose her off. Also because if I didn't clean it for a month and then I tried to, there'd be dirt caked on and it would take forever to clean it off. Also, I like having supple leather that shines

To the OP: the ONLY time you have to oil your leather tack immediately after using it is if it gets caught in a downpour. Then, the leather sheds it's oil and will dry out. Otherwise, I have tack now that gets used infrequently and I only oil that once a year.

If you clean it after every ride, you really only need to wipe it down, unless you ride through mud. Its much easier to wipe it over once after every ride then sit there and scrape the caked on dirt with your nail for hours.