Why Your Horse Cares About What You Clean Your Tack With
14th Oct 2019
How many times have you stood in the aisle at the tack store staring down all of the miles of choices in coat shampoos, mane conditioners, tail detanglers and the like looking for the perfect solution for your horse? Will it work; will it smell nice; will it irritate Bella’s/Topper’s/Brownie’s skin; is it non-toxic?
I’ve always wondered and looked for those same things, too - environmentally friendly products that are safe, effective, and gentle on my horse. I’ve also thought it weird and very disappointing that so many products in the horse world don’t take this approach. And even a lot of the equine health and care products, like shampoos, lotions, balms, and such, still contain some pretty funky stuff in this modern day and age. I’m excited to see several new brands popping up on the radar with clean, safe ingredients, but my goodness, some product areas are just so set in their ways.
Take leather care products as an example.
In my experience, most products on the market contain all kinds of undesirable ingredients and irritating chemicals. I started Sterling Essentials because every horse I’ve ever had has had even more sensitive skin than mine. If these leather care chemicals were irritating to me, they would certainly irritate my horses - and they were. One of my past horses would actually break out in hives along his girth line and on his face from contact with other harsh leather care products.
It’s common knowledge that some of what gets on your skin or your horse’s skin can often be absorbed into the body and bloodstream to some degree. And of course, what touches your leather, touches your horse.
If it’s on your hands, it’s in you. If it’s on your horse’s leather tack, it’s in him.
If you’re particular about what health and care products you use on your horse, you should be equally picky about the products you use to care for your leather and tack. Plus, who would want any icky ingredients all over their hands? This was a huge wake-up call for us, and we decided that we just had to create a better, safer, gentler leather care solution.
We use simple gentle ingredients:
Proprietary blends of beeswax, food-grade natural ingredients, and food-grade oils.
Protecting and nourishing pure essential oils.
We never, ever use:
Harsh chemicals, irritating, counterproductive, or harmful ingredients such as:
petroleum products, lanolin, glycerin, tallow, mineral oil, alcohol, parabens, mink oil, neatsfoot oil, sulfates, or preservatives.
Nobody wants to worry about what happens if their horse (or the inquisitive barn dog) chews on the reins, eats a jar of something, or gets a product all over them. I wanted my horse and my tack to have the best, and I want you, your tack, and your horse to be just as healthy, safe, and happy. You can count on us for non-toxic, effective, thoughtful leather care for the 21st century and beyond.
Want to learn more? Check out these other insightful reads:
Stop The Damage: Time To Save The Glycerin For Your Face, Not For Your Leather