What are your must have accessories (Stable, horse, tack room)

The Trooper

The Trooper

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As above really, what accessories do you see as being essentials to you, don't need to actually be essentials just things you would be a bit lost without? Either on your horse, in your tack room or stable etc.

Mine are my DIY stable door guards, basically a lead rope across the entrance of each stable attached to a tie up point on each side, means I can duck in and out quickly whilst doing jobs. I also really like my 5 bridle bridle rack in the tack room, keeps everything central and tidy. Oh, and the single bridle rack just outside each stable on the wall for head collar/rope/bridle.

And yes, I am bored, and window shopping.
 
patio heaters in wash box
hot water in tack room
dri-rug and thermatex

i couldnt *do* winter without them, they make it 5000 X more pleasant and quicker to clean them up to ride and get ready for shows.

and my OH who brings in and poo picks every day mon-fri.
 
speedskip. I skip out the stable with it as well as doing the field.
a big cupboard to put all my kit in. (thanks FB marketplace :D)
supergroomer scrubby pad is coming into its own at the moment for knocking the mud off my TB without offending him.
 
Rechargeable head-torch; couldn't live without it!

Disposable Nitrile (non-latex) gloves; saves your hands - and essential if you're even remotely precious about your nails!

Boiler suit/overall; another couldn't-live-without item. You can chuck it on over your work clothes, crack on with the yard jobs, peel off boiler suit and hey presto all ready and glammed up to go!

My Buff! for those that don't know its basically a one-piece knitted fabric thingey that you can use either as a neckscarf OR put it over your head. It covers the hair nicely and is perfect for doing stuff round the yard if you don't want to go to work stinking of horses! Then all it needs is a quick spritz of cologne-water and/or fluff up and spray with dry shampoo.

Baby nappies & sanitary towels: make ideal emergency wound coverings. I always keep a packet of each (unopened) in the tackroom. Ditto vet wrap.

Spare leccy fencing poles and a reel of tape: I always aim to keep a spare reel "just in case"; plus say half a dozen poles. Oh and a spare battery; no good when you've got a Houdini eyeing up your fencing on Xmas Eve/Bank Holiday, and you've got no power in your energiser.

Baby lotion: for stubborn stable/grass stains.

Udder salve and/or Petroleum jelly: for putting on heels to protect against mud-fever, and (for human use) both are great for slathering on (esp Udder Salve) face and/or hands, good and protective!

That's basically my "must have" list.
 
Humidity controlled tack cupboard installed by OH. In the hills everything goes mouldy unless the damp is controlled.

Magic brushes.

Headcollars with nosebands that open on the top.

Wrapped forage so I can buy in bulk and not have to get it up into a hayloft.

WOW saddles, SO adjustable, saved me a fortune on saddle changes.

Hoof boots so I could hack my TB without shoeing.



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A variety of good quality, suitable tools. Everything from hammers and drills to shovels and bedding forks.
Nothing worse than having a job that needs doing, but you lack the tools.
Also, where possible, tools that are lightweight and easy to use. Mucking out with a light but strong bedding fork is so much quicker and easier than the ancient, heavy fork lurking in the barn that you're sure someone filled the handle of with concrete for a laugh.

My favourites at the moment are my 80mm hand auger for drilling holes for fence posts, and my 114mm post rammer for ramming said posts in. Feels quite liberating to be like 'yanno, I'm gonna put some fence there' and just doing it!
 
A spare wheelbarrow that is just used for 'clean' things - e.g. Hay, rugs, bags of feed, etc. My field is furthest from the yard and it saves having to line the poo wheelbarrow with empty feed bags.
 
ycbm said:
Humidity controlled tack cupboard installed by OH. In the hills everything goes mouldy unless the damp is controlled.

Magic brushes.

Headcollars with nosebands that open on the top.

Wrapped forage so I can buy in bulk and not have to get it up into a hayloft.

WOW saddles, SO adjustable, saved me a fortune on saddle changes.

Hoof boots so I could hack my TB without shoeing.



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My husband made me a tack cupboard out of marine plywood which has air holes and I chuck a few bags of crystals at the bottom, so I suppose it's a homemade humidity controlled locker. Works well anyway. The fog and misty rain hangs thickly in the air around here.
 
Hands on grooming gloves - both boys go all gooey-eyed and twitchy-lipped with them.
Rubber matting
Hay bar
Snuggy hoods and tail bags (boys are both grey)
 
My Suaoki portable shower. Bought off Amazon for £30- charges in the car, stick the pump in a bucket of water et voila! Portable (semi)power shower for hosing off sweaty/muddy horses at shows!
 
Round sprung curry comb. Nothing else gets the mud off a field kept heffalump.
Bailer twine - for tying up to post and rail fences, 'get-me-home' tack repairs, joining broken barbed wire and tying the bumper back on the truck (just to name things I've used it for recently!)
 
For winter a large plastic cold water tank under the inside tap... I fill it when I’m mucking out and it’s kept topped up so that when the pipes freeze I only have to carry water from the tank to the stables not from the house 100 yards away... took me 15 years to think of this but it’s a god send
 
Just remembered a very handy contraption that my husband made when I had to soak hay in winter. It was a battery operated ballcock type thing which shut the water off when the water barrel was full. It meant I didn't have to keep checking in case the water overflowed.
 
Decent lighting. For the first few years I had the horses at home I rigged up some site lights and tied them onto the rafters. Now I have lovely (safety) 6 foot double strip lights above each stable. It makes all the difference for a late night vet visit or even today when the farrier had to do everyone indoors due to torrential rain.
 
Short sections of elasticated electric rope, with a handle at each end. I use them to section off bits of the track so I can move horses in and out of the middle paddock, separate horses at feed times, stop punch ups, and catch naughty ones.
 
Good quality head torch
5 wheelbarrows (1 for hay, 3 for poo picking & a random one) I like to fill all the barrrow's up and leave them where there full and then take all 3 back to the muck heap when done. I think it makes poo picking easier/quicker.
Over trousers and long riding coat.
Horses that stand happily for a rug change in gail force winds when you just can't get the rug on and end up wearing it yourself.
Understanding work colleagues when you turn up at work smelling a bit funky!
 
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