# Most useful ptack room items?



## jmc (Jun 10, 2012)

Well my barn is built, and I'm beginning to buy stuff for my tack room. This is a small, three stall barn. I'm looking for space, time, and/or money saving ideas on how to design my tack room. It has a utility sink with hot/cold water, a designated location for feed bins, and some cabinets and drawers. Concrete floor. I'm a Western rider, if that matters. Tack room/feed room/WOman cave <g> is 11'x16'. I already have plans for a small fridge.

Photos of ideas you think are cool are welcome.


----------



## Jake and Dai (Aug 15, 2008)

I'm not sure you can see it well from this picture but I have this spinny bridle/halter holder that I love. It's in the upper right side of the picture and hangs over the edge of bench. Saves a lot of space.


----------



## Koolio (Apr 7, 2010)

How exciting to dress up a new barn / tack room!

It looks like you have a harness hanging on the wall just behind the saddle stand. If you don't use it a lot, you could hang it under the stairs and then put saddle racks on the wall where the harness was. Wall mounted racks will give you more floor space. You can also buy saddle racks with a saddle blanket bar under neath.

The cupboards are great for storing bottles of things and wraps, helmets, etc. Do you have a first aid kit? You can easily put together a decent kit of basic bandages, etc in a small clear Rubbermaid tote that will fit in or on top of your cupboards. Otherwise, you can buy a kit that will mount on the wall under your cupboards. 

I also have a plastic set of sweater drawers that I use for brushes, hoof picks and small misc items like extra clips and blanket straps. I keep an emergency knife hanging on a string in my tack room right at the door.

Do your horses wear body blankets at all? If so, blanket hooks would be a good addition. I used 4 bar metal towel racks from Ikea for my blankets. The bars swing outward so I can hang 4 blankets on 1 rack. So far, they seem strong enough and they only cost me about $14.

For feed, I used Rubbermaid bins that can stack to save space. I just bought new bins that stack where the fronts open so I can access grain from the bottom bin without moving them, it I'm not sure if I like them or not. Grain is very heavy, maybe a bit much for these bins to stack well.

Your tack room looks fantastic! Have fun dressing it up!


----------



## Koolio (Apr 7, 2010)

Oh, and if it doesn't freeze where you are, awater jug and a Keurig.


----------



## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Since the floor is cement, use wall mounted saddle racks preferable about shoulder height. The cement holds moisture and if the saddle is near the floor you may find mildew a problem. Is it wired with a few lights and plug-ins? Should you have high humidity, running a small fan will keep mold at bay. As long as it stirs the air and best if there's a window to open. Canned salmon cans, the small ones make good bridle holders as they are just a little deeper than tuna cans. The cans help hold the shape of the bridle. An old plastic milk crate is excellent for grooming supplies as you can carry it all to where you need it and the dirt falls thro to the floor.


----------



## caseymyhorserocks (Apr 5, 2010)

This is what we did to save space. Please excuse the mess!










Normally I have a rubbermaid under there as well as the trash can, but I moved the rubbermaid around. Random items, extra grooming tools, and supplements sit on top of the shelf.


----------



## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

There's a good possibility mice will get in. You will need a mouse proof container for your blankets and pads. A plastic garbage can with tight fitting lid will work, or those $10 plastic storage boxes from WM. There are larger ones that work well. If you feed grain or pellets, I use the big blue barrels. There weren't any lids so I made heavy (too heavy for rodents) lids from osb board. Because the lids are flat it's handy for setting something down.


----------



## Kotori (Jun 18, 2012)

A section of pvs pipe makes a good girth hang- good air flow and if you wrap a small piece of color tape, proper girth at a glance. Make sure that you don't hand the saddle things too high. Space saving: hang girth overhead, bridles between saddle mounts. Most of my experience was with a largish barn.

Oh, almost forgot. Attach a thick dowel rod to a square piece of wood, screw onto wall to store blankets. Mount a line a couple inches apart and you can make a blanket rainbow.


----------



## Koolio (Apr 7, 2010)

I made blanket racks out of 1" pvc pipe, rope and some screw in anchors with a carabiner clip. Screw in an anchor with a good sized eye into the wall and tie on one end of the rope, then thread the rope through a 2-3' section of PVC pipe. Set another anchor in the wall to level the pipe and attach with a carabiner clip. I have three of these stacked about 12-18" apart above one another. This works great for saddle blankets or even horse blankets and takes up very little floor space.

I also have saddle racks made from a heavy duty eye anchor and a 2' chunk of 4 x 4. I just mounted a J-hook on the top and end of the 4x4 and hook it through the eye hook and voila! It is very sturdy and can be easily taken down.

For mice, you also need a cat... a really cute one.


----------



## DannyBoysGrace (Apr 6, 2013)

Space saving ideas:
Folding saddle racks: StableKit Folding Shaped Saddle Rack | Equestrian Clearance You may find cheaper ones on ebay. 
I got a free locker from somebody. 
Look on your countries version of freecycle.


----------



## bmahosky13 (Oct 25, 2012)

I found this website that has tack boxes that you can make yourself. I plan on building two lockers to house my two horses equipment. This will keep them from molding and also keep the rodents out of them. It will keep my tack room more organized. They seem to be pretty inexpensive to build but are somewhat time consuming to make.

Elite Tack Design - Tack Trunk & Cabinet Plans for English & Western Riders.


----------



## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Tack lockers will not stop your tack from molding, it might actually increase it.
Tack "molds" from...

Molds and mildews are fungus.
All mildews are mold, but not all molds are mildews

Either way - molds and mildews are common in dark, damp, humid, poorly ventilated areas.

That is what you will create by building and putting your tack in a tack locker with minimal ventilation...
Better to secure your tack in a way that it is able to breathe, be in a ventilated and light area not locked away in the dark and dank of a box.

Maybe construct something with strong wire mesh if you need to secure your equipment and store things away than solid wood sided lockers...do it with wood frame and heavy metal wire instead...

I would store _nothing_ "edible" in plastic as mice gnaw through plastic with no problem... they get into feed, storage containers...pretty much anything not metal if they choose to..it is only a matter of time and their nose to smell out the desired gnaw toy to them.
You can try mothballs and or cedar pieces that repel moths. They may also help repel those pesky mice from looking for a easy meal or soft bed at your expense.


----------



## marinewife1024 (Apr 27, 2011)

Mine isn't anything fancy, but it works! I keep my tack in my locker, feed in plastic bins to keep mice out. I like the Rubbermaid drawers for medical supplies.


----------



## Rt8618 (Nov 11, 2013)

_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------

