How much storage do you have on DIY?

Honey08

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We are thinking of doing some DIY livery and wondering what to do about storage. Each stable currently has a tack locker, rug rail and shelf in the overhand that will accommodate about five washed, folded and bagged rugs. We are wondering about putting up a 6'x4' shed per stable complete with 3 metal feed bins and a small cupboard, hopefully there would be room to store a bale of hay or shavings in there too. Hay will be included and stored elseswhere. We were wondering about including one bale of shavings or two bales of hay per week, or else just selling them as they need them at extra cost? We only have limited room for straw storage, its usually delivered monthly.

Id be interested to hear what you have and what you pay for hay if bought off the yard as ad lib/set no of haynets per day?
 

milliepops

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I have 3 pallets-worth of "official" space for my stuff (I have 2 stables).
it's all against one wall of a barn with internal stables against the other wall.
Essentially it give space for
1 big round of hay (takes up one pallet)
a set of drawers
I have stacking plastic hoppers for my feed so they don't take up a lot of space (both of these on another pallet with room in front to make feeds)
a big metal cabinet for my other kit with some plastic boxes stacked on top.(takes up the other pallet)

I keep a few bags of wood pellets directly outside one of my stables and as I'm in a corner i also keep my mucking out tools there too. My wheelbarrow lives with all the others by the muck heap.
I could keep a saddle in the tack room but I take them home for security reasons.
Rugs in current use are thrown over stable bars.

it's less than I am used to but tbh I get along with that just fine. All my other kit is kept at home.

At last place I did buy hay off them for a while, it was £35 a big round. I think straw was £20 a round at the time and they sold laysoft and woodpecker shavings for £5/7.50 respectively.
 

JFTDWS

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My yard, in theory, each stable has a pallet in the barn (where the stables are) for hay and straw. There's space in big storage containers outside which isn't really limited because there's no shortage of it, and people accumulate crap outside their stables. Previous yard had a small tack room and a shed the size of 2 and a half stables, which was shared between 4 stables (but two owners).

Personally I don't use any of the shared storage because in my experience people can't be trusted to lock tack rooms, or not pick up stuff that doesn't belong to them. I keep most of my stuff at home, in my car or in my trailer. I keep assorted junk (headcollars, a few buckets, a feed bin and a couple of brushes) in my field - whichever field they're not currently in, mine live out and my fields are next to each other and well away from the yard.
 

MissTyc

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We don't supply any space, but there is a shared barn where liveries can add a locker if there is space + we allow people to put up a little shed. They tell YO what is needed and we have a chat about where they can put it and then it's up to them! We pay £45/month ad lib hay in winter and £10/month in summer if they're out in the fields.
 

ROMANY 1959

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I was once on a yard which provided a 6 by 6 shed per livery.. livery provided the lock. And a space in open front barn for hay or rug racks . I keept my feed and tack in shed, I had a big steel tack locker for extra security. The sheds were under a open barn. I liked it, as no one thought it was ok to loan your stuff if it was locked up
 

Louby

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Ive got the equivilant of 2 pallets worth of room, Ive got some drawers, feed bin and a cabinet on them, we share a large bale between us. Storing tack is a problem as it isnt totally secure so it has to come home with me. I have 2 rug racks in my stable and cope fine.
I think its better to either supply hay/bedding to buy as needed or allow your liveries to source their own rather than include in the price. I think you get less waste that way too.
Id feel very spoilt with a 6 x 4 shed for my things too!!! Where abouts in the North West are you ;):D
 

Lexi_

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Long answer:

Either 3 or 4 pallets worth of space in the hay barn where we keep two big bales and all the bags of shavings.

The YO supplies these big grey outdoor storage boxes so there’s one outside the stables for feed, various junk etc.

Bin to store mucking put tools in - that lives at the end of their little block.

Rug racks outside the stables.

Then another big grey box per horse upstairs in the tack room for anything else, plus we’ve got our own little section so have saddle racks on the walls and a shelving rack.

Short answer: a lot of storage!
 

hopscotch bandit

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I'm quite lucky I have enough space for 2 round bales of hay and 24 bales of shavings in the barn. I try to cram everything in when I can. I have a chest and wheelbarrow and tools in a lockable room with lots of boxes on top of the chest. I have another chest which is below my rugs with about six foot of rug hanging space - I am on a corner stable so have half the side to use. Some people have a lot more space than I do but I only want what I need. Others have less but can have more if they want.

I try to get rid of any junk as and when but I am also very good and rummaging through bins when people chuck stuff away and recycling it, I got a lovely brand new fly mask, ripped magnetic rug which I repaired and various tools that have been thrown which Dad has mended for me and are as good as new.

I look after my stuff, my plastic snow shovel which I use in place of a shavings fork is at least 20 years old! Mum has a broom which they bought in 1971 in their garage still going strong so I can see where I get it from! :)
 

thommackintosh

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Inside storage: half a shipping container, which has enough space for a wardrobe for me (office filing cabinet), a wardrobe for Harry (another office filing cabinet), two saddle racks, 18 bales of shavings stacked on two pallets, feed in three bins and space for wheelbarrow, fork etc.
Outside storage: ample room for one round bale and a week's worth of nets.
 

hopscotch bandit

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Inside storage: half a shipping container, which has enough space for a wardrobe for me (office filing cabinet), a wardrobe for Harry (another office filing cabinet), two saddle racks, 18 bales of shavings stacked on two pallets, feed in three bins and space for wheelbarrow, fork etc.
Outside storage: ample room for one round bale and a week's worth of nets.
Ooh another man on the forum. Hello Thomas. Don't forget to do the poll in The Club House! :)
 

Fransurrey

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Our yard has one pallet per stable, in an overhang to the adjacent barn. There are also hooks there for rugs/tools. They have a separate tack room and feed room, which seems to be a jostling affair. I'm on DIY grass with storage in our shelters. As I have two, this means two storage areas - enough to fit 10 bales of hay or 20 haylage, plus feed, tack and rugs. I think we get the better deal!
 

BOWS28

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I have a tackroom/feed room and a shed for my hay/bedding. Both a good size and conveniently right by the barn i'm stabled in. I have a set of drawers outside my stable and a bucket with bit's and pieces i like to have to hand. i also keep my mucking out tools and wheelbarrow outside too. We're very lucky to have the amount of storage we do as DIY's. The full liveries get a peg in the shared tack room!
 

SpottyTB

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One yard we were on gave us a small stable for our own tack room (they had surplus stables)... where we currently are, we have a 4ft square cubby hole (it's about 7ft tall) for 3 horses. It's not great and we've got most of our stuff at home, but can fit 3 saddles in, 3 bridles and a shelving unit for first aid stuff.

Rugs are hung outside our stables (i don't like doing this but no option) on a rope and grooming kits/boots tidied as neat as possible in front of our stables. We've got a 3 section feed bin (one of those large metal ones) where we keep the feed for the three horses (all on different chaff). We manage but really we'd need one of those cubby holes per horse!
 

Sussexbythesea

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We’ve got tonnes of storage, the best I’ve ever had. We all have a large storage room I share mine with a friend. I have two horses. My side has 2 sets of large shelving units a trunk, a big metal feed bin and 3 pallets that I store made up feeds and haynets on. I also have 3 pallets that fit 6 Euro bales on them in the hay barn at the back. I also have two pallets of wood pellets stored in another open barn. We have a separate shared heated rug room for our rugs , I have 4 hangars and a separate shared heated tack room for saddles and bridles. There is also an unused stable that we put mucking out stuff in.

In previous yards I’ve had a trunk / tack area and a pallet or two for hay and bedding and that’s pretty much it. Rugs in use were kept in the stable. As an absolute minimum I’d like to be able to store a weeks worth of hay and bedding in addition to equipment. So 4 bales hay and 3 shaving per horse so always a bit in stock. If you’re doling out hay and bedding as and when then you need to consider that most DIYers are not around in the day during the week. At one yard it was difficult because the YO wouldn’t accommodate this and if you unexpectedly ran out it was tough.

I would prefer to buy what I need from you or elsewhere and store it myself. I hate to be tied in to a specific bedding.
 

hopscotch bandit

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. If you’re doling out hay and bedding as and when then you need to consider that most DIYers are not around in the day during the week. At one yard it was difficult because the YO wouldn’t accommodate this and if you unexpectedly ran out it was tough.
OMG the fear of running out is horrid. Our YO lets you buy your own hay and shavings in but if you should run out of either you can 'borrow' some hay if you are desperate or put down how many bales of shavings you have taken. Its comforting to know that its there if you should run out.

I find it a bit of a balancing act working out when I'm likely to run out of hay but luckily my supplier chap will bring me a bale down within a couple of days notice. I like to have 2 round bales just in case.
 

showjumpingharry

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I've got a mini stable thing that's probably about 5ft wide and 8ft long. I provide the lock. This is for tack, rugs, feed and bedding. I f you buy hay from the yard you get a separate hay shed. My mucking out tools are outside my stable. I get one of these rooms per stable.
 

OdinsMum

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Where I am now I have half a shipping container (it’s normally quarter per horse but I have 2) we have a communal tack room each horse gets a saddle rack and bridle rack. Rug racks in stables. I have a space in the barn for my hay, I get a big round bale this time of year and it’s £45 that lasts me the month. The yard orders it for me and then I pay them back for it when rent is due. I have a space outside for my shavings which I buy in bulk but I can get them from the yard if needed.
Where I was previously I had a double door locker per horse and 2 spaces in the barn for bedding and hay which I’d have to buy myself as needed.
 

scats

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We keep tack in a shipping container. I have the back wall and part way up both sides. The saddle racks are all numbered for the stables but we aren’t full and YO is not looking to fill them, so I have accosted quite a few extra racks.
We also have storage in the hay barn for hay, feed and whatever else we like. I have the near corner and a good chunk of space on the other wall. We’ve all spread out a bit as we have more space, but could easily squish together a bit more if anyone else did arrive.
We then can use the area outside our stables. The yard has two barns and I have one barn to myself now so I use one of the spare stables for storage aswell. I am seriously lucky to be able to spread my stuff out so much.
My old yard had lockers or old army cabins with each stable. Trying to fit there decades worth of stuff in them was a nightmare.
 

tankgirl1

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We each have a pallet and a huge shelf per stable, and somewhere for straw. We buy hay in small bales off the yard and they stack it in our area a few bales at a time. Shared tack room and a space for mucking out tools
 

Honey08

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So do you think that having your own private little shed for feed and tools etc is a good idea? Its an outside yard and the horses use it as part of the hardstanding winter turnout, plus i like a tidy yard, so we cant have things outside the stables.
 

JFTDWS

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So do you think that having your own private little shed for feed and tools etc is a good idea? Its an outside yard and the horses use it as part of the hardstanding winter turnout, plus i like a tidy yard, so we cant have things outside the stables.

A lockable private shed? Delightful.

Hardstanding in winter? doubly delightful!
 

hopscotch bandit

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A lockable private shed? Delightful.

Hardstanding in winter? doubly delightful!
I had this at the first yard i was at. Little shed about 6ft x 4ft to put tack and feed in. Must have put hay in it too although i dont remember that. Dad built me a shed for my shavings which the y.o agreed to as dad got him a load of timber from work free that had been used as packing large machines in.

The problem was that the sheds got loads of mouse activity and they had a great time tucking into bags of feed. I used to lay down little humane traps at night before i left the yard and then the following day after work i would nearly always find a little 'prisoner' or 2 and tuck the traps in my pocket and ride over the fields and let them go only for them to reappear the next day. Big softee me :)
 
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Honey08

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We're planning to put metal feedbins in each shed to try and put off vermin. We had a big rat problem last year (finally went when we got rid of the hens), so I really want to avoid any more.
 

hopscotch bandit

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Buy some peppermint oil and some bergamot oil and add to a spray bottle and spray around the base of your bins. Rats detest the smell of both!
 

dollymix

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I think storage is essential... especially on a DIY yard.

Thankfully most of the yards I’ve been on have had adequate storage. There’s only been one where I struggled from this respect and I had to keep loads of stuff in my car or in my basement at home. Not ideal if you wanted to do something and then realised the equipment wasn’t at the yard, or if I needed to use my car for work and was too embarrassed to give colleagues a ride nexuses it stank of horse!

Your idea sounds excellent to me. Your liveries can organise things how they like behind a closed shed door!

I also agree with what people say about keeping things tidy. I hate a scruffy yard! So insisting things are kept stored nearly is totally acceptable in my opinion!

I liked one yard I was on which had outside stables... they had storage boxes outside each stable big enough to put a haynet and feedbucket for the morning (or a spare rug etc). Looked very smart! They had a “tack room” (really it was just a narrow area separated with a wooden partition with a locked door) at the back of each stable too.


Others have had different storage such as tack rooms with assigned space plus storage in a separate barn for non-tack or feed. Another was a former diary and we each were assigned a separate pen for our stuff (also had a separate shared locked tack room).
 
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