[DIY] What's In My Tack Locker?

In my early show days, I used to carry hundreds of bags full of stuff around the show grounds, piled them up in front of Hafl's stall just to carry them back to the trailer after three days of showing. So last year I decided to look for a tack locker. Do you have an idea how expensive they can be?! The good ones cost roundabout 1,000 Euros. That was obviously no option.

Time for  a little DIY: I went to IKEA, bought a cheap cupboard (STUVA) and adjusted it to my needs (not too big, not too small, not too bulky, not too heavy), branded it, and after weekends of flying hammers and screwdrivers we were good to go (wait, we are still improving it, so it is a never ending tack locker story actually) - here is a status quo:

The right-hand side, a mirror for checking my helmet hair, and a hook to hang bridle, halter or whatever needs to be off the ground:

The left-hand side, again, a mirror and some more hooks. As you can see, the tack locker also carries a lock. I mounted a frame with a picture of Hafl, his name and my contact details such that whenever there is a problem or emergency, I can be easily reached.

The back of the tack locker: I mounted a towel hook (again, all the hooks are from IKEA) to fix the foldable wheelbarrow (great piece of equipment when it comes to show weekend mucking) and our brand new HV Polo Horse Travel Bag Event.

 This bag is great for carrying all our saddle pads: two white ones and a blue one for schooling.

The bag is big enough such that you do not have to fold the saddle pads:

The bag in front can be used to store things like your horse's passport. I am a firm believer that when you keep your things always in the same place it is also easier for others to find them, like when I ask our equipment manager to get a towel (okay, I admit it when I am in a hurry at the show, I do not ask, I SCREAM for a towel or whatever), I can very precisely tell him where it is to be found. Less stressful, at least for him.

The bag also has a separator such that you could actually put the laundry stuff in the bottom for example. The strap is long enough to easily carry the bag around. The two loops in the back are perfect to attach it to a tack locker for example.

And now, this is the customized inside of my tack locker. I actually bought all the stuff for very little money, some of it even comes from IKEA's treasure grove - what a bargain! So at the bottom, there is a drawer with all the blankets (a stable sheet, a cooler sheet, a fly sheet) and my rain gear (rain blanket, rain jacket and rain legs for me). The first floor is reserved for a smaller drawer and the ringside bag as well as the "safe". Next are the buckets and treats and supplements along with the grooming back and on top I have right now Hafl's grains and all the other stuff to the right.

There is a huge bridle hook (from horze.com, as well as the saddle and bucket rack and hook) on the door next to another two mirrors, some lucky charms (the top one is a small horseshoe with my name engraved and the second one is a sticker with the signatures of the German EC Team from last year's championships in Aachen). On it, I do not only put bridles and halters, I also store some extra hooks like the saddle and bucket hook on it once I do not need it. As you can see, I have tons of towels around as you never know with horses...

The bottom drawer moved out: I forgot that I also have the extra towels and cloths in there as well as the hay bag which I use to carry hay around as Hafl is too stupid to eat his hay out of it.

In the second drawer, you can find boots and bandages as well as spurs and hairnets, mane detangler and hair spray.

To the right, you can see my safe in grey and the ringside bag with the white gloves, more cloths, drinking bottles in corporate design, chewing gum, lip balm, handkerchiefs, and the actual dressage tests of the day/weekend.

Here again the hooks right next to the pen that is also attached to a hook. You never know when you need one. Unfortunately you cannot see it in this picture, but we also have a tiny Minions torch hanging there.

There is also a little white board and a number holder (in red).

The buckets are not as interesting, I have in total three: one for water, one for food and one for tack cleaning. Then there is a package of sugar and tons of treats. To the right, you can see our new grooming bag, which is also from HV Polo:

The top compartment holds Hafl's grains (to the left) and all the grooming accessoires to the right:

One of the absolute highlight is the bar of LEDs which makes it easy to find stuff even when it is dark outside! The LEDs are linked to a battery pack.

Second, the hidden (well, now you all know it) safe with a phone charger! I can also put my car keys in it and some money. The lock on the tack locker is a number lock which makes it easy to run around the show grounds without any keys:

This custom tack locker is already almost perfect but we are still improving it: just recently, we added some more hooks on the sides and also mounted a blanket holder (which is actually a towel rack) as Hafl discovered that he can drag the blankets into his stall and make a mess - so no more blankets and pads on the stalls!

It would be cool to mount a motor such that you do not have to move the tack locker yourself - maybe, we will also incorporate this feature...one day...

Anybody else having a custom tack locker?