When it’s not organized, the barn or tack room can feel like the place where old horse tack goes to die and be eaten by mice, rather than where you keep your expensive, performance-enhancing tack and equipment.
Who doesn’t love to walk into the tack room and shove aside dusty, hay-covered halters that haven’t been on a horse since Clinton was in office, dig through grime-covered fly spray bottles that leaked their last drops when you still used Aquanet and cross your fingers that you can find that one chinstrap that still has both buckles (you think)?
As spring fever hits and you’re looking for some barn therapy, cleaning and organizing the tack room can be healing, hopeful and helpful. Once you get beyond the dirt and despair.
These seven steps will get you closer to that place where you approach the barn with joy and can focus on work or play with your horse, without the stress of a messy tack room.
Step 1: Declutter and discard
Start by throwing away all trash—empty feed sacks, broken tack, and bottles of supplies that have dried up or leaked. If an item is beyond repair, it’s time to let it go. If you plan to fix something, move it to the house or vehicle, where it’s more likely to get repaired. Grab a notepad and note anything that would be helpful or necessary. Dedicated broom or rake? Trash can? Mini fridge? Boot scraper?
Dream big.
Step 2: Remove everything
Take all your saddles, bridles, halters, blankets, grooming supplies, and cleaning products out of the tack room. While you do this, inspect everything for wear and tear. Cinches, latigos, billets, rein snaps and other points of stress deserve special attention. You want to replace those BEFORE they break, so noting if they’re in poor condition before you need them can save a lot of different kinds of aches down the road. Add any necessary (or dreamy) items to your wish list.
Step 3: Deep clean tack and equipment
- Saddle Pads & Blankets: Shake off dirt and hair, then either machine wash (if safe) or hand wash with mild detergent. Air dry completely before storing.
- Bridles & Bits: Soak bits in warm water, scrub with a brush, and wipe clean. Clean and condition leather bridles to keep them supple.
- Saddles: Wipe down with leather cleaner and apply conditioner. Inspect for worn stitching or cracks. Remove cinches and wash.
- Grooming Tools: Wash brushes, hoof picks, and sponges with soapy water. Remove hair buildup and disinfect.
- Horse Boots & Wraps: Brush off dirt, wash, and let them dry completely
We recommend Total Body Wash for all horse-related cleaning tasks. From your horse itself to cinches, leg wraps, horse blankets and bell boots, this mild detergent won’t cause irritation and will gently clean both natural and synthetic tack without damaging.
Step 4: Clean the space
Once the tack room is empty, sweep or rake the floors—even if they’re dirt. Use soapy water and a rag to wipe down shelves, racks, and storage bins.
As you clean your mostly empty tack room, rethink your storage strategy. Consider ways to store seasonal items out of the way when not in use. Think about how you could use the space more efficiently and what shelves, bins, totes, etc. might help keep things cleaner, more organized and accessible.
Large totes with lockable handles can keep winter blankets from being used as baby mice beds. Plastic shoe boxes with lids can keep those extra reins, chin straps, cinches, etc. easy to find and dust-free. If a $3 plastic box keeps the mice out of your spare cinches and keeps your leather oil from leaking onto your saddle pads, it’s probably worth the investment. But be realistic about what you’ll use and how you’ll use it. Add to the shopping list.
Step 5: Go shopping
You don’t have to spend a lot, but when you consider how much time and money you invest in your horse and tack, it might warrant a few dollars to extend its usefulness and minimize the amount of time you spend tripping over or finding things.
Dedicated storage options can keep your tack in good functional condition and make it easy to find. Some of these storage options can go from the barn to the trailer, so the tack room on the road can be as organized and functional as the tack room at home.
A grooming kit makes it easy to find all the brushes you need as you need them. Enough hangers for all of your bridles and halters means you can find the one you’re looking for without having to untangle a pile of them. Each saddle should have its own stand or rack to keep them in good condition.
A trip to the dollar store, home improvement store or even the thrift store can also inspire some new ideas for effectively storing your tack.
Step 6: Organize your tack intentionally
Once you’ve got all your racks and bins and shelves and totes in your tack room, consider thoughtfully where each piece of tack should go. You don’t have to keep things the way you’ve always done it. Store things you use frequently where they’re easy to access. If you use things together, keep them together.
Step 7: Protect your tack room from pests
You’ll likely never have a mouse-free tack room, and flies will probably always be a plague, but find some effective methods to reduce the pests that share your space. Depending on your moral and ethical approach to pest control, you may want to consider fly tape, fly spray, mouse traps, mouse poison or a cat.
Also, now that your tack is easy to find and no longer booby trapped, you may need a padlock and a “keep out” sign on the door.
Spring Cleaning Checklist:
Tack Room & Equipment
- Discard broken or unusable tack, empty bottles, and trash.
- Remove all tack, grooming supplies, and furniture from the tack room.
- Sweep or rake floors and wipe down shelves and surfaces.
- Wash and dry saddle pads, blankets, and wraps.
- Clean and condition saddles, bridles, and bits.
- Sanitize grooming tools and horse boots.
- Store seasonal and extra tack in labeled bins.
- Organize and store frequently used supplies for easy access.
- Install storage solutions like hooks, shelves, and bins.
- Replace all tack and equipment in the locations that make the most sense.
- Implement pest control measures.
Spring Cleaning Product Guide
