6 steps to a tidy tack room

A clutter-free tack room makes for a clutter-free mind but when it comes to us horsey folk, we’re often guilty of ignoring just how disorganised ours has become. Life in the winter months can be challenging enough without having to wonder where that heavyweight stable rug we bought last year is hiding, or tripping over empty feed bags upcycled as overfilled rubbish bins. To make your life a little more organised, we’ve compiled our step-by-step guide that will transform your tack room into a tidy space and, as an added bonus, save you time on a daily basis.

1. Declutter

When it comes to decluttering, it’s out with the old and in with the new. Weeding out those pieces of equipment you’ve collected over the years but never use and getting rid of the mouldy old headcollar of a pony your mum sold 20 years ago is the first step towards revitalising your space. Of course, some things are worth keeping, but grab some bin liners and sort your things into ‘get rid’ and ‘keep’ piles. 

Now, the trick is to not hold on to the ‘get rid’ pile for any longer than necessary. Book a table at your local tack sale, photograph the items and sell them on Facebook Marketplace or donate what you can to a local equine charity. Essentially, just get rid of it by whatever means necessary. 

Top tip 

Try to keep as many things in your tack room as you can and fewer out on the yard. That way, it’s safer and more spacious where it matters most. Keep only the essentials to hand by your horse’s stable with the rest neatly stored away.

2. Clean up 

As soon as your shelves are bare and the storage bins have been emptied, it’s time for a deep clean. Dust the tops of cabinets, scrub storage buckets and give the floor a good sweep. Not only do you want a clean area, you also want clean items. Make sure any rugs that need washing are dropped off at the tack shop and your spare martingale hanging in the corner is soaped and ready for storage. 

Top tip 

Leaving a small, discreet broom in the corner of the tack room will encourage you to give the floor a sweep more often, so dropped feed and hay doesn’t accumulate over time.

3. Organise by season 

When putting your items away, take a moment to place everything into an order of convenience. As it’s currently winter, that means fly rugs at the bottom of your pile and liners at the top. Fly sprays can be packed away and pig oil and sulphur brought to the fore. This is something you should try to do every change of season so that the things you’ll need imminently are to hand, while everything else is prepped and neatly stored ready for use when required later on. 

4. Colour co-ordinate

If you’re starting to get into the swing of reorganising, you could go one step further and make your storage shelves as aesthetically pleasing as they are functional. Make a rainbow by ordering your saddlepads by colour, for example, and you could even set a colour theme for your storage solutions. Buy buckets, rug bags and bins in the same colour and you’ll be surprised at how neat and organised it’ll make everything look. What’s your colour of choice?

5. Get labelling 

Packing things away and out of sight not only makes the place look tidier, while keeping items covered and clean, it also allows you to add labels to bags and buckets for ease of reference. For instance, you could write out on a label the size, weight and name of the horse a rug belongs to and then stick it to the front of the bag. This will save you having to find the tiny label inside the rug to check the size, especially when it comes to liners that all look the same. 

You could also group your miscellaneous items by use, so that you have your lungeing apparel in one bucket and tack-cleaning equipment in another, both with labels indicating the contents. 

Top tip 

Flip the label inside a rug bag and use a whiteboard pen to write its details on the back. You’ll be able to see it straight away through the clear window of the bag and won’t be surprised when the rug on the picture isn’t what was last put inside the bag.

6. Finishing touches 

By this point, your tack room should be shipshape, but you could go further still. The tack or feed room could be the perfect place for a yard whiteboard for recording your horse’s feed regime in case anyone needs to know in an emergency, and you could also use it for important phone numbers, such as the vet or farrier. You could even add a bit of colour to the walls by hanging up a rosette board or even some pictures of your horse! It will certainly brighten the place up. 

Keep it up

Now your tack room looks smart and tidy, it’s time to give yourself a big pat on the back – but your work isn’t over. It’s important to remember to dust and sweep up on a regular basis so everything doesn’t descend into a grubby, chaotic scene again and make sure every item is put back where it belongs after use, rather than just being dumped down anywhere. 

If you follow this easy self-discipline, your life will become simple, efficient and ordered – and never again will you hear yourself saying, “Now, where did I put that…?”