# Tack Room Ideas?



## anndankev

What size is the room?
I've not been at a place with a tack room in years, what I miss most is a floor, and a ceiling, and 4 walls.
Ann


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## equiniphile

I'm finally having a tack room put in; I'll be excited to hear some ideas from you guys. One thing I know for sure that I'm going to have are lots of wall-mount saddle racks.


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## JumpersRule

I have lots of shelves and a cabinet in my tack room to keep medicine, shampoo/conditioner, etc. I use every bit of that space, too! 

Also, I would make sure to have lots of bridle racks because you will use them more than just for bridles!


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## equiniphile

How do you store saddle blankets?


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## Indigosblue

if your tack room is all indoors with no windows, go for a light color on the walls. White is harder to keep clean, but will bring in light. You can also try light shades of your fav. color or the barn color. It's really annoying to have a dark tack room, so be sure to bring in as much light as possible, but not too much natural light. Too much natural light will discolor things after a while. Maybe see what lighting options you have... put in some overhead lamps.

I also like:
blanket hooks 
saddle racks on wall as well as at least one free-standing rack
LOTS of hooks for bridles/halters/martingales/breastplates, etc.
Saddle pad racks...useful for those sweaty saddle pads (i never like stacking wet pads)
medicine cabinet/ closed off area for medicine... don't want cats/dogs/little kids getting into that
stool (if you are short)
if you have multiple horses get grooming boxes for each one
wire-boxes for polos and boots
labels for what goes where/what horse's stuff goes where


try to keep things off the floor, try to plan so that cleaning/sweeping will be easy. Try not to have dark corners, make sure everything is visible. Maybe add some security measures like bars on windows or a lock if you think it's necessary.

always remember the broom... and DON'T carpet the floor! a smooth surface is the best, carpets collect dirt and stay wet longer. 

hope this helps =)


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## Indigosblue

equiniphile said:


> How do you store saddle blankets?


you can build a rack, sorta like a table, but with bars where the table-top goes

top view:

IIIIIIIIIII
I I I I I I 
I I I I I I 
I I I I I I 
IIIIIIIIIII

you can hang the saddle pads on the bars and it'll dry out. You will be able to see all the pads at the same time and they won't be stacked on top of each other. This method takes up some space, but it keeps everything nice and organized. You can also buy or build single bars... imagine almost like a hand-rail, and attach it to your wall and hand the saddle pad on there. depending on how many you have, you can go with what works best.


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## apachiedragon

I have my saddle blankets stacked on a spare portable saddle rack. When they are sweaty I leave them hanging over the stall doors to dry, and them put them away later. Lots of racks, hooks, shelves. Being organized is well worth it when you need something. I used to have an old cooler with a snap lock to keep all my medications and topicals in, but now I have a nice wire cage with shelves that locks, and stores all that stuff plus all my winter blankets and pillow wraps, to protect them from the mice.


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## churumbeque

This was my fancy tack room.


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## Jake and Dai

This is my tack/feed room. We took out the top cabinets in our kitchen so darling hubby nailed them to the wall in the barn and built me the bench underneath. :grin:

What I _love, love, love!_ is that bridle rack you can see towards the upper right side. It sticks out from the wall and spins. 

Since this pic I've gotten another saddle rack to store my english saddle rather than dumping it on top of my husbands western saddle.


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## Ray MacDonald

anndankev said:


> What size is the room?
> I've not been at a place with a tack room in years, what I miss most is a floor, and a ceiling, and 4 walls.
> Ann


It's as big as a stall. Something like 10X12? or 12X12?

LOL it has a floor, ceiling and 3 and a half walls! We didn't get the door in yet.


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## Ray MacDonald

equiniphile said:


> I'm finally having a tack room put in; I'll be excited to hear some ideas from you guys. One thing I know for sure that I'm going to have are lots of wall-mount saddle racks.


I'm thinking of getting a mounted one for my english, but was worried if they might not hold my westerns? Do you think they would be strong enough?


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## Ray MacDonald

JumpersRule said:


> I have lots of shelves and a cabinet in my tack room to keep medicine, shampoo/conditioner, etc. I use every bit of that space, too!
> 
> Also, I would make sure to have lots of bridle racks because you will use them more than just for bridles!


Cabinets would be sooo nice! And lots of bridle holders! We went to go buy some but they were all out, so we only have two right now.


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## smrobs

I need to get some pictures of my tack room that we just built this spring. The main things that were a necessity to me were a small table, a cabinet for storing de-wormer/first aid stuff and whatever else I wanted to put in there, shelves for grooming supplies, and plenty of bridle racks and saddle racks. Because I ride western, I normally just flip my pad upside down over the top of my saddle and leave it there.


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## Ray MacDonald

Indigosblue said:


> if your tack room is all indoors with no windows, go for a light color on the walls. White is harder to keep clean, but will bring in light. You can also try light shades of your fav. color or the barn color. It's really annoying to have a dark tack room, so be sure to bring in as much light as possible, but not too much natural light. Too much natural light will discolor things after a while. Maybe see what lighting options you have... put in some overhead lamps.
> 
> *No, it doesn't have any windows. I was thinking something light too, but didn't want it white. We could buy new light (think I might) because we have only one light in the room. It is an old, long maybe LED light? It's not very bright..*
> 
> I also like:
> blanket hooks *(I'm actually building some, we saw some for sale but were too expensive)*
> saddle racks on wall as well as at least one free-standing rack *I think I will get one for my english but not sure if it will hold my westerns?*
> LOTS of hooks for bridles/halters/martingales/breastplates, etc. *Hopefully will be getting more bridle holders to hang things on)*
> Saddle pad racks...useful for those sweaty saddle pads (i never like stacking wet pads)
> medicine cabinet/ closed off area for medicine... don't want cats/dogs/little kids getting into that *(wish I could get some cabinets!*
> stool (if you are short) *(yep, stepping stool)*
> if you have multiple horses get grooming boxes for each one *I only have two horses, so I just have one basket thingy*
> wire-boxes for polos and boots *Never heard of those before!!*
> labels for what goes where/what horse's stuff goes where *Labels are fun!*
> 
> 
> try to keep things off the floor, try to plan so that cleaning/sweeping will be easy. Try not to have dark corners, make sure everything is visible. Maybe add some security measures like bars on windows or a lock if you think it's necessary.
> 
> always remember the broom... and DON'T carpet the floor! a smooth surface is the best, carpets collect dirt and stay wet longer.
> 
> hope this helps =)


*Yes it was helpful! Thanks!
We just have a wood floor, it would be really hard to keep carpet clean in a barn! LOL*


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## Ray MacDonald

apachiedragon said:


> I have my saddle blankets stacked on a spare portable saddle rack. *When they are sweaty I leave them hanging over the stall doors to dry, and them put them away later*. Lots of racks, hooks, shelves. Being organized is well worth it when you need something. I used to have an old cooler with a snap lock to keep all my medications and topicals in, but now I have a nice wire cage with shelves that locks, and stores all that stuff plus all my winter blankets and pillow wraps, to protect them from the mice.


That's a really good idea! I have a basket with a top on it to store all of my winter blankets and fly sheets.


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## Ray MacDonald

Nice tack rooms churumbeque and Jake and Dai!


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## Indigosblue

for the wall racks for saddles you need to be careful.... you need to find a solid piece of wood to put in the nails, do not attach to drywall or a thin wall (don't know how thick your stall walls are). If you properly attach them it should hold a western saddle fine, just don't throw it on the rack  Also, there are "western" and "english" saddle racks, and sometimes the english don't work for a western saddle (the "wither" is too high). My personal preference is to have any western saddles on a covered bench or a free standing saddle rack, mainly because they have so much extra stuff the gets caught if i put it in my saddle racks, which are rather close together.

for the wire-box i was referring to with the polos and boots, any box with holes in it will do. You just want them to stay dry and have a chance to air out, which is why i like wire.


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## eclaire23

No one can enough saddle racks! Just made the wall racks today and I still have to stack saddles! I'm going to make a shelf above the mounted saddles too. As for mounting western saddles on the wall I've never had luck- The mounts ALWAYS break. Use your walls as much as you can! And if your a ditz like me- lable things! lol

My Garage is the lucky spot that gets to be called my tack room!

PS be more organized than I am! :lol:


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## smrobs

This is my tack room. Please forgive the cluttered appearance, we haven't got it all the way completed yet. We still need to pour some concrete because there is a gap of about a foot between the current slab and the walls so I have everything away from the walls.

I've had good luck with my wall-mounted racks so far and I am not delicate about flopping my saddles down on them. What I did is I got some 2x10s and used big long screws with washers to screw those boards to the studs in the wall, then I screwed my racks to those boards. I ended up having to put another 2x4 along the bottom because my saddle racks were longer than I thought but...


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## Ray MacDonald

Ahahaha! Your tack rooms are WAY more organized then mine! 
We have the same walling, I forget what it's called at the moment... It's not dry wall though. 

The board to hold the saddle rack is a great idea! 










I'm not sure if that will show up... Is this what your talking about?


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## gigem88

I love my window unit to keep moisture out and coolness in, my refrigerator for drinks and carrots and a shelving unit!


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## smrobs

Ray, it's 3/4 inch particle board that I used on my walls. It isn't terribly strong, plywood is stronger, but particle board was much cheaper.

The picture didn't work :sad:.


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## apachiedragon

Dug out some older photos of mine. We built everything, the bridle racks, the saddle racks, the wire cabinet. You can't see the whole cabinet in this photo, the bottom half is blanket and pillow wrap storage.


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## DejaVu

You also may want to make space for a little mini fridge.

That way it's there in the tack room, storing your medications, and maybe even some carrots or something.

It's way easier than having to bolt all the way into the house for some important medication that's needed immediatly, rather than having it sitting nice and cool in the tack room.

Lots of bridle racks and shelves!!!


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## Ray MacDonald

smrobs said:


> Ray, it's 3/4 inch particle board that I used on my walls. It isn't terribly strong, plywood is stronger, but particle board was much cheaper.
> 
> The picture didn't work :sad:.


I think we have plywood? I'm still not sure LOL It looks like yours.
I'll try to post it again, I am on a different computer.


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## Ray MacDonald

I love the bridle holders apachiedragon and the saddle racks! How many peices of wood did you make it out of?

DejaVu, I don't think I could convince my mom to get me a mini fridge in the barn LOL I can't wait until we get more bridle holders! You can never have too many of those!!


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## Ray MacDonald

I think these will work!


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## Ray MacDonald

Just to go off track...








It makes me kinda sad  Poor pony to do dressage... Dressage is actually hard!


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