I clean and condition my saddle regularly with Lexol, but it feels dry. I've oiled it once and my instructor said that you only need to do that once a year. The driest spot seems to be where the stirrup leathers touch the saddle. Should I use saddle soap?

 I have the same problem. but mine is most obviously just from cheap leather. I'm not sure if that's your issue or not.

I have good bridles that take conditioner and feel soft as silk, and cheap ones that don't absorb anything. Same with my saddles. I have 2 that I use regularly and one is cheap and hard, and one is not. The trouble with cheap leather is that if you oil it and condition it too much, it gets weak. I guess that goes for any leather, but I think you tend to use too much on cheap leather trying to get it soft. It's just not going to happen!

I don't care for Lexol products. I also only use pure neatsfoot oil if I want to darken my tack. Any other time for cleaning and conditioning I use Skidmore's Leather Cream. It won't rot the stitching and it softens up leather nicely and helps keep it conditioned.

I wouldn't use saddle soap if I were you.  From my experiences, I have found that saddle soap dries the leather out even more.  I would look for leather cleaners and conditioners that are more of the lotion type.  Bickmore products work great and they are pretty affordable as well.  Good luck!

try leather cpr - it worked wonders on my old event saddle and isnt greasy.

 I recently used this soap call effax and worked wonderfully. Although it is just a soap it made my saddle extremely soft. When I am just conditioning my saddle I use Leather CPR and it works wonders as well.

We use EFFAX for regular care and leather CPR for extreme cases.... That area of the saddle will usually be the driest spot so we apply it more liberally there... be sure it dries before you ride so it's not slippery...

Use neatsfoot oil and oil it whenever it needs it, it dosen't matter if it's every three months, oil it as soon as the leather starts to dry it depends on how often you use it and how you store it.

Best of luck

Yours Warmly ian the saddler