How to Care For and Clean Your Zilco Harness

One of the great appeals of Zilco driving harness is the ease of maintenance and it's tolerance for use in bad weather conditons. It doesn't matter how muddy it gets or how wet it gets it's performance and working life will not be effected.

Sounds great doesn't it!

Unlike leather harness, you will not need to saddle soap your Zilco harness or apply a leather dressing after it's had a good soaking on a marathon.

All you need is a bucket of warm soapy water and a sponge.

Simply wash it down with the warm soapy water making sure to remove any dirt, grit or grease from the horse. Then hang it up and rinse with a hose leaving it hung to dry naturally, out of direct sunlight.

For a more thorough clean it's best to take your harness apart (taking care to note the holes the buckles were on to save yourself some time). This also gives you a good opportunity to check everything over for any damage or wear and tear. Thankfully all the parts of Zilco harness are available seperately so replacing a strap or even just a keeper is no problem.

If you want to give it that little extra touch of class then we recommend a wipe over with Gold Label Polyshine. Be careful not to use this on your reins as it can make them slippy. Do not use petroleum based products or solvents.

So why clean your Zilco harness at all?

1. For the horse's comfort - this would be the number one reason as any build up of grease or mud or grit on the bearing surfaces could cause rubs on your horse.

2. To enable you to check for any damage or wear and tear - it's very important that your harness is safe to use at all times. Zilco harness is incredibly hard wearing and wear and tear is minimal, however it must still be checked and you can never be sure if a tack room mouse has had a gnaw somewhere so it's always worth checking it over.

3. Because it looks nice - a clean set of Zilco harness is lovely to look at so why not take pride in it.

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