# Tack Lockers- Poll and Pics Pls!



## starlinestables (Nov 24, 2008)

How do you feel about tack lockers? Does your barn have them? Do you like them or do you prefer your own? What do you keep in yours? Is your barn's tack room cleaner or is there still a bunch of junk every where? How big are they? Does you barn charge extra to use them?

I'm thinking about making some in my barn, but I want to know if it's worth it!


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## AlexS (Aug 9, 2010)

At my previous barn we had the half sized lockers. I kept my grooming supplies, first aid supplies, horse boots etc in it. We had separate saddle racks. 
And no, I would not pay more for them.


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## Eolith (Sep 30, 2007)

I sort of expect that there will be somewhere to keep my tack at the places I board. Currently we have lockers that are approximately 4 foot tall by 3 foot wide... and maybe 3 foot deep. That's a random guess, but it's got enough space for one saddle rack, a bridle hook and a couple other hooks for misc strap goods, my grooming supplies, and treats. I am not charged anything extra for this convenience.


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## Poseidon (Oct 1, 2010)

My barn doesn't have tack lockers. I had actually never heard of tack lockers before joining here. We just use saddle racks and/or bridle racks. There are more saddle racks than stalls I believe and the barn isn't at full capacity, so instead of just piling my pad and blanket onto my saddle, I just throw them up on the rack above my saddle. I throw my lunge line up there too. My bridle and halter get put on my saddle horn. All of my extra stuff (brushes, SMBs, etc) are in a giant Prof Choice bag I got when I ordered my SMBs on the floor under my saddle.


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## VelvetsAB (Aug 11, 2010)

_The barn I ride at has a locker room and a tack room. The lockers are mostly just garden type sheds in the upstairs to keep blankets, grooming kits etc in. Saddles and bridles are then kept in the tack room._

_The bad thing about the locker room, is that a lot of the students are teenage/young girls, so it can get messy....to the point where the BO has taken everything that was dumped, and put it into an empty stall, and wanted a dollar for them to get it back. _

_The tack room is kept fairly clean since nothing else is stored in there._


_We recently borrowed a friends arena to school in, and I loved her lockers there. They were wooden, deep enough to store a saddle (on one side of the locker), and wide enough to have a saddle and some more storage space in it. Some of them had a small blanket rack attached to the front. I *think* that there was also a bridle hook in the locker as well. All of the lockers then had hardware to put a padlock on if the boarder wanted to lock up the box. They looked to be about 4' square(?) or so._


_I am attaching a picture of a tack box I once saw on kijiji (classified website) that I drooled over.... Of course it is a bit big for everyone to have something like that though, in a boarding barn situation. Sigh... However, if it just had one saddle rack in it, and the big drawer moved over, with the little drawes on top, it would be a good locker, and easier to do for everyone._


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## VelvetsAB (Aug 11, 2010)

_PS....that should say drawers not drawes in the last sentance. It was too late to fix it. _


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

I have my own tack trunk, but I have only been at one barn that didn't offer individual lockers. They are very convenient and made me feel much better about leaving all my stuff there. 
My locker:


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## starlinestables (Nov 24, 2008)

Nice jdi!


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

At all the yards I've been on you get your own feed/tack room for bits and pieces (rugs, brushes, boots, etc) and feed and then there is a separate fully locked and secured (with serious amounts of security, 3 locks, motion sensers etc) tack room for saddles and bridles.


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## starlinestables (Nov 24, 2008)

Motion sensors for your tack room?! Wow that's crazy... I just have a lock where you have to punch in a code to get it. LOL and I thought that was cool but a motion sensor?! Is theft a problem there?


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

Tack thet is a huge problem in the UK.

Then again a tackroom on a big yard is a gold mine for thieves. Often on a large yard one can have upwards of £60,000 worth of tack on site and generaly tack is not marked, not identifiable and very easy to sell on!
I personaly UV mark all my tack and it all has microchips, this makes my saddles hot to handle (and I have signs up to ensure any potential thief knows this) and I've yet to be broken into but others get hit regularly.
Often they also take any trailers, lorries and farm equipment at the same time

Tack theft is big business:
Hot Saddle News
£100,000 of tack stolen from saddlery in Droitwich - Equestrian news, equine news, horse news - Horse & Hound
Stolen £15,000 and £20,000 worth of tack stolen! [Archive] - Horse and Hound Forums
Stolen 22 Saddles Stolen - Wiltshire [Archive] - Horse and Hound Forums
Stolen Tack stolen in frensham [Archive] - Horse and Hound Forums


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## Reiterin (Mar 28, 2010)

I guess you can't see it all that well in this picture, but here is a bank of the private tack lockers at my barn. It is big enough to hold my western saddle, my english saddle, my driving harness, my blanket, brushes/grooming supplies, treats,... etc. 










The barns that I muck stalls at have shared tack rooms. I wouldn't feel comfortable with that. - I trust everyone at our barn (and we have a code-entry gate to the property. So no one who's Not supposed to be there ever is) but I just feel better with all MY stuff together. Separate. 

and no. you don't pay extra.


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## Delfina (Feb 12, 2010)

I have my personal tack trunk outside what used to be my horse's stall along with a rack on the stall for his blankets, there is a rack by the crossties for bridles, lunge lines, side reins, etc... along with a whip rack and then there is a tack room which I have racks for my saddles and several large rubbermaid bins under the saddles for out of season blankets. 

I don't pay any extra and have WAY more tack than I use/need or fits my horse but my trainer uses the extra tack for lesson ponies in exchange for storing it. It's all shared space and the only issue I ever run into is MY kids leaving my tack lying around in weird places so I can't find it.


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## starlinestables (Nov 24, 2008)

Wow faye that's horrible!!!! You don't hear about tack being stolen very often here in Texas.. A barn had a few trailers stolen and the college riding center was broken into and saddles were stolen but this was years ago.

I dare a thief break into my tackroom, they'd get their head blown off! The men in my family LOVE their guns (we are in Texas mind you). The house is a 100 ft from the barn and assuming they didn't drive up and made it past the dogs, they'd never make it past the horses! They are a pretty good alarm system, when you open the barn door at night they all start nickering, squeeling and kicking the stall wanting food. Makes a huge racket that you can hear from the bedroom window. I can't tell you how many times my husband hass run out there with his AR, only to come back minutes later to sadly give the "all clear". ;o)


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## winstonsgrl (Jan 22, 2011)

The barn I ride at has a tack room where boarders keep their saddles, and ribbons with pictures displayed on the wall. Inside there are lockers to keep halters, grooming kits, helmets,etc.


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## Dream (Jan 23, 2011)

The boarding stable I just moved to has an area where boarders can build/bring their own tack lockers, and there's no regulations on how big it can be (some are huge!), so I plan on having my fiance' build me a nice big one that can hold two western saddles, as well as all my other riding stuff...and I have a lot! We are just using cheap waferboard, but it'll be nice, and I can lock it, so I will feel safer!  I'm super excited!


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## AlexS (Aug 9, 2010)

starlinestables said:


> Does you barn charge extra to use them?


I cannot for the life of me figure out why this would be a question you would ask.


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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

I have my own barn and don't have boarders, so it's a little different. I got lucky a few years ago at an auction and picked up the tall school type lockers. I got a section of 10 for $19! Each horse has a locker, bridles, individual supplements, medical stuff, etc. My saddles & all show tack get locked in the tack room and we have a very big dog that sleeps in the barn at night. I can relate Faye, we had our barn cleaned out in 96' they even went in stalls and took halters off the horses heads. Thank goodness for insurance!


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## starlinestables (Nov 24, 2008)

AlexS said:


> I cannot for the life of me figure out why this would be a question you would ask.



Some barns around here charge a small fee to use a private locker vs. the regular tack room. Just seeing how common it is.


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

I have never heard of being charged for tack storage space. (Unless you are wanting extra tack storage space, then I can see asking for a fee.)
A boarding facility should provide you with a place to keep your stuff (with in reason, obviously, I have no problem with one saddle rack per boarder horse, etc).

I have boarded at a place that has lockers big enough for all your stuff (saddle included); lockers/built in boxes that held all your misc stuff but bridles and saddles went on racks/hooks provided elsewhere; and a place that you provided your own tack box.

The neatest barn was the barn that had lockers. If you did not keep it in your locker it was not kept there (because it was a lesson barn and if you left things sitting out they walked away).

The messiest was the barn that you brought your own tack box. There were no rules on box sizes or styles which leads to some people having a box so huge that they are taking up quite a bit of tack room space. Then there are people with smaller boxes with stuff piled all around them. Not pretty. I suppose if you had restrictions on the boxes (like show barns do) it would look fine.


JDI, love your locker/box. Did you build it yourself?
Reiterin, I like how your barn is set up. It looks very user and horse friendly.


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## JustDressageIt (Oct 4, 2007)

Thank you  It was a gift from The Boy.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## AlexS (Aug 9, 2010)

starlinestables said:


> Some barns around here charge a small fee to use a private locker vs. the regular tack room. Just seeing how common it is.



I'd never pay for that. I expect barns to have somewhere to keep my stuff, either they allow my box and provide a saddle rack or they provide a free locker.


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

AlexS said:


> I'd never pay for that. I expect barns to have somewhere to keep my stuff, either they allow my box and provide a saddle rack or they provide a free locker.


I have to agree with Alex here. When I boarded I was never charged a fee or paid extra on my board to use the tack lockers/trunks. The only thing I had to provide was my own lock.

No way would I pay extra for what I consider something that should always be standard in a decent boarding barn.


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## starlinestables (Nov 24, 2008)

Yeah I'm not sure why those barns would charge to use them seeing they keep the tack room cleaner. A few that I've seen, either charge more for lockers (this could also be because the "locker room" is in a more advantageous spot.. and then a few others have half ones and charge a little extra for the full size lockers. Right now my tackroom just has saddle and bridle racks for the boarders and they bring their own tack trunks. The can't be enormous ones like JDI's because they have to fit under the saddle racks. I would love to build full locker but we'll probably just go with regular tack trunk size. Who knows at this point.


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## Carleen (Jun 19, 2009)

I have been at a few different barns, most of which provide lockers.

One barn I was at had the full 6ft (or so) ones, they were very useful - held everything, no complaints. 

Another barn I was at had lockers that were about 3ft high, but they were stacked one on top of the other - I hated this. The ones on the bottom, you had to crouch down to get your stuff out. The one on top were too tall (for me at least) to grab things from the back. 

Currently I am at a place that has a tack room, and allows people to bring in their own tack trunks. I much prefer this - I have my tack trunk there for my stuff, but if I want to use a saddle rack/etc it is there for me.


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## Ray MacDonald (Dec 27, 2009)

The barn I used to board at (horses are now home) She (BO) had green metal lockers, (I never had one so I don't know what they were like) But now she got rid of them and just has saddle racks (the ones that stand on their own) For boarders saddles. It is all just in one open space. About the size of two stalls.


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## KatieQ (Apr 4, 2011)

I once had a saddle stolen at a place I was boarding- I was devastated. It wasn't a particularly expensive saddle but my parents had got it for me for Christmas and it was the first "brand new" saddle I had ever owned We had tack lockers but they didn't hold saddles- the saddles were just on racks in the tack room. After that whenever I boarded I always took my saddle home.


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## Southern (Apr 24, 2011)

Haha, we only have an empty standing stall where we throw all out stuff in.


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## Ray MacDonald (Dec 27, 2009)

LOL^

Thats what me and my parents did. We took Abby's saddle home with us.


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## mls (Nov 28, 2006)

Speed Racer said:


> I have to agree with Alex here. When I boarded I was never charged a fee or paid extra on my board to use the tack lockers/trunks. The only thing I had to provide was my own lock.
> 
> No way would I pay extra for what I consider something that should always be standard in a decent boarding barn.


The things some folks want to charge for. Even more surprising, the things people actually pay for!

We have a tack room with individual tack lockers. Each locker is closet size. In fact many of the doors are reclaimed closet doors. There are two or three racks for saddles and bridle hooks on the door. The door closure hardware allows a person to bring their own lock. I use a wood burning kit and create a name plate for each locker. We also have clips so I can leave private notes.


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## livestoride (Mar 30, 2011)

I've only been at 1 barn that had lockers and it was great. The locker was large enough to hold my english saddle, bridle, pad and my grooming supplies. They had hooks on the stall door for blankets which I didn't like because most boarderd loaded it up and the stuff fell on the aisle floor all the time. 

Currently, the tack room here has saddle rcks adn bridle hooks and you can bring your own trunk for other supplies. Each person has 1 rack and hook. If you need more you cna supply it yourself. The tack room is very clean. There are blanket hooks in the grooming area. 

Either way works for me. I would expect some area to keep my gear adn would not pay extra to use it.


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## starlinestables (Nov 24, 2008)

In addition to my research on here.. I been looking at tons of other barn websites to see what they offer and I've come across various things.
If there were two barns on the same property and one barn had a community tack room where you have bridle racks and saddle racks to use but had to bring your own trunk, and the other barn had private tack lockers in your horse's stall would you pay more for the stalls with individual tack lockers?


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## livestoride (Mar 30, 2011)

Thats hard to answer...it would depend on the rest of the barn. If all else was exactly the same then no, I would not pay more just to have a locker provided for me. I don't mind the saddle rack with bridle hook and supplying my own trunk. Of course, I just use a big tupperware container for my trunk so it didn't cost me all that much.


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## starlinestables (Nov 24, 2008)

I'm thinking I may have to make that a different post.. because I'm with ya on that one. It would depend on the difference in the barn.


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## zurmdahl (Feb 25, 2009)

I'd never really heard of tack lockers until I came on this forum, I don't know if it's just the area I live in but I've never been to a barn with them. I always had a tack trunk and so have most other people and then you are allowed one or two saddle racks. The tack lockers sound like a terrific idea though and I would want them if I had my own barn.


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

starlinestables said:


> In addition to my research on here.. I been looking at tons of other barn websites to see what they offer and I've come across various things.
> If there were two barns on the same property and one barn had a community tack room where you have bridle racks and saddle racks to use but had to bring your own trunk, and the other barn had private tack lockers in your horse's stall would you pay more for the stalls with individual tack lockers?


Um no! I would not. I do not see why you even think it is worth an increase.


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## mls (Nov 28, 2006)

starlinestables said:


> In addition to my research on here.. I been looking at tons of other barn websites to see what they offer and I've come across various things.
> If there were two barns on the same property and one barn had a community tack room where you have bridle racks and saddle racks to use but had to bring your own trunk, and the other barn had private tack lockers in your horse's stall would you pay more for the stalls with individual tack lockers?


An individual tack locker is much, much, much less work and drama for me as a BO. No one running to me that the cat scratched their saddle or Suzie borrowed their bridle - or that their tack is missing.

An individual tack locker also allows boarders to feel comfortable and secure enough to leave their tack. No one needs to borrow things from me or some one else because they forgot that item at home.


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## VelvetsAB (Aug 11, 2010)

_Found two more pictures to add..._

_I wouldn't have left so much open space in front of the lockers--have two rows facing each other. I would also organize it differently as well... Maybe a drawer under the saddle (all the way across?) and bridle hooks on the door/beside the saddle instead of at the back. Thats awkward, especially if you are short/tall._


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## back in the crosby again (Feb 4, 2009)

I have boarded at barns with and without. I would chose and maybe pay more for board if a barn had them. The barns that had them where less messy and there the whole "oh, I forgot my _____ so I will just borrow someone's" is eliminated. I have never had any of my equipment stolen, but my uncle lost all of his tack when his barn was broken into. That included his new Stubben saddle and really nice walnut trunk. 

Personally, I am way to lax with my own tack room. I don't have a way of locking it. I don't have a lot of expensive tack, but it all adds up. When I get my real barn finished I will have it under better control. Right now I just don't have a way to secure it better.


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## Ray MacDonald (Dec 27, 2009)

Mines kinda the same. I just use an empty stall for my saddles and bridles, not a single lock in the whole barn LOL


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## coffeegod (May 6, 2011)

There are only two humans boarding horses at my barn. My tack box is a rolling tool box I got at Lowe's. I've always had a foot locker tack box.


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## back in the crosby again (Feb 4, 2009)

coffeegod said:


> There are only two humans boarding horses at my barn. My tack box is a rolling tool box I got at Lowe's. I've always had a foot locker tack box.


Wow, you have non-humans boarding horses at your barn!

:lol:Sorry could not resist.


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## coffeegod (May 6, 2011)

back in the crosby again said:


> Wow, you have non-humans boarding horses at your barn!
> 
> :lol:Sorry could not resist.


LOL. We do have a two legged rat of which we are trying to rid ourselves.


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## petitepyromaniac (Oct 12, 2010)

You could have an OPTION of lockers. For example, for $10 a month extra your boarders can rent a locker, but they don't have to if they don't want to. Those who don't want to can use the general tack room for free.

Personally, I'd pay more to keep my own stuff locked away from everyone else. But I don't trust anyone, haha!


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

But if you are going to charge extra for a locker you can not then turn around and insist that your tack room look a certain way.


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## petitepyromaniac (Oct 12, 2010)

Yeah, that's true!


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## Tymer (Dec 28, 2009)

My old barn had an empty box stall with saddle racks in it as the tack rooms. Bridles were hung on individual horse's stalls. You could keep your own stuff there (saddle, pads, grooming supplies etc) if you rode more than once a week. People mostly used smallish Rubbermaid boxes for everything but saddles and pads. I had things stolen multiple times...Nothing expensive, but it was rather annoying. List includes bit wipes, lead rope, braiding bands, grooming block (used it excessively without asking), and for a short time my scissors were "missing..." and it happened to be while the barn owner (!!!) was cutting some horses' tails and feathers. The scissors mysteriously reappeared the next day...Yes, they were labeled, stupidly with a piece of tape with my name on it. Tape was gone after the incident.

New barn has a tackroom with all the saddles and horse's bridles. It is locked at the end of every day. I have my Rubbermaid bin there but it is in the attic, which most people don't even know exists. I feel my stuff is secure there especially since right now it is used mostly for storage of blankets. If/when I get a tack trunk I will be allowed to keep it on the first floor. I'm not exactly sure where it will be, but it will have a lock so it doesn't matter.


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