This will be the year... (help me get organised)

[FlyingCircus]

I always kid myself into thinking this will be the year I get my act together and get organised...so in spirit of that, help me work out how to organise my bits and bobs!

I have 2 stores for hay and bedding behind both stables, so just need to clear them out and fill them.

In the stable i have a plastic set of drawers, which the pony doesn't bother with but they drive me nuts collecting dust and dirt.

Outside i have a trunk for rug storage. Inside stables I have a bar for "in use" rugs and boots.

But I have so much horse stuff. Where do you all put lotions, potions, boots, saddle pads (these are especially hard to find a home for!), lunging kit, etc!? At the moment, it's just all in my car...which means my 5 seater is reduced to a 1 seater.

 

[milliepops]

Do you have a tack room?
I haven't always had one and when I haven't then a tall metal cupboard with loads of shelves has been a godsend for keeping stuff clean, tidy and out of the way of critters. Mine is ex MOD but even old office ones are useful.
Now i keep stuff in regular use at the yard in my small tackroom and spare things/stuff i use rarely lives at home in a shed.

 

[dorsetladette]

How big are your Hay/bedding stores? could you put some hooks on the back of the doors for lunging stuff etc. Is there room on one wall for some shelving or a small cupboard or chest of drawers.

Like MP said, stuff you don't need all the time could go home somewhere? I've got tack in the loft at home.

 

[Dasher66]

How many saddle pads do you actually need?
One being used, one in the wash, one in the cupboard?

 

[SEL]

I have a garden cupboard (homebase I think) which can stand outside and have stuff in it. Its inside at the moment but stood up to water pouring through a leaky roof in a downpour. I use that for lotions and potions and I also use a large plastic storage box which is weather proof and stands on top of it. Screwfix have large tool storage boxes which are weather proof and great for saddle pads etc

 

[Pippity]

My tack room came with a filing cabinet, which is invaluable for all the smaller bits and bobs - one drawer for lunging stuff, one for random bits of tack, one for bathing stuff, etc. My (embarrassingly huge) collection of saddlepads is kept on clippy coathangers (with their coordinating fly bonnets and hat silks attached with bulldog clips) and hung from a rope slung across the tack room wall. Overreach boots are kept on toilet roll holders. Whips are in an umbrella stand. I have a garden box for out-of-season rugs, and in-season rugs just get slung across the stable door. (The stable door is actually a field gate filled in with plywood, so plenty of space, and it's a sort-of American barn set-up so all under cover.)

How much of your space is under cover? If it's just the hay and bedding stores, is there room to pop some stuff in there, too?

 

[Annagain]

I'd have a proper sort out and sell / get rid of stuff you don't really need so you're only storing the minimum. Stackable storage boxes, with angled lids, from Ikea are brilliant for feed - you can easily fit a bag of feed into each box and, as they stack, you can get three loads of feed in the space of one. I'd get an old filing cabinet to go in the storage area at the back. In each of the drawers I'd put: lotions and potions and first aid stuff; boots, bandages and towels; your riding things like chaps, gloves, hat etc; lunging kit and other spare leather bits. I'd then drill into the top on the side to hang something like this down the side from it - John Lewis & Partners 4 Bar Trouser Hanger, White for saddle pads. I have his travelling kit - boots, tailguard and a light rug sitting in a bag on top of my cabinet.

Use as much wall space as you can (things like this are good for bits and pieces MISSLO Over Door Shoe Rack Hanging Shoe Storage Organiser Tidy Shoe Holder with Hanger 24 Large Fabric Pockets, Grey : Amazon.co.uk: Home & Kitchen) or if you have exposed beams, put hooks in them to hang stuff from the ceiling. Boot racks for spare wellies / boots are also good to keep things off the floor. Hooks on the backs of doors (I assume you have a door at the back of your stable to the storage area?) are good for coats, body protectors etc. I also have a long piece or rope along one wall where I hang all my rosettes.