Organization of The Horse Show Things – Part 1

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One of a Horse Show Mom’s jobs is organization… organization of the horse show things. Making sure there are gloves, and helmets, socks and boots, saddle pad and numbers, spurs and ready bucket – fully stocked with wipes, and rags, tail brushes and extra bobby pins and fly spray. 

Soo so much stuff. 

Due to the sheer volume and amount of stuff, I’m going to be breaking down my organization of all the things into a series of posts.

Some inspiration comes to me from GoHorseShow.com

To start with, I wanted to share some of my tack stall organization gear that I use when we travel to a multiple-day horse show and have a tack stall. 

These items are the bones that hold all of my horse show items when I pack at least half the barn and move it to another location for 4 or 5 days, and then pack it all back up, and move it back home… rinse and repeat over and over – #showseasonlife – 

…or at least back to the trailer. 

For Tack

• Hanging Saddle Rack 
• Saddle pad holder 
• Bridle hangers
  

For Exhibitor Wear/Gear

• Hat case rack
• Clothing rack with shelf and bar
  

Multi-Purpose 

• Hanging clips

Note – In this post, most of the products mentioned are from two specific retailers. The content provided in this post is purely my personal opinion of products I actually own and use. No sponsorship or payment has been received from these retailers/suppliers regarding the products that are discussed below. Schneider’s Saddlery & Royal Wire Equine

Wall Mount Hanging Saddle Rack

Probably one of the best purchases I’ve made was the hanging saddle rack.

The system consists of a main frame, and saddle rack inserts. I have 5 saddle racks – as when I bought this product, we were taking 4-5 saddles to a show – with up to 3 western saddles – 2 show saddles and 1 work saddle, and 2 hunt seat saddles. I like that this rack is sturdy, yet not too heavy. 

This wall mount rack has various options available if you don’t need to have storage for quite as many saddles. There are other insert options available such as baskets and saddle pad racks. 

The main frame is easy to store in the trailer for transport – it is flat and can be leaned against a wall, stored in a manger compartment, stored behind a swing-out saddle stand in your trailer, hung over the wall of your tack compartment, if you have a gap there – there are LOTs of possibilities here. 

Second – The saddle rack pieces are removed from the main frame. I can stack them together and carry them easily at one time in a 5-gallon bucket. I keep the bucket in my tack stall anyways. For filling horse water buckets during the time we’re at the show. Then when packing up, the racks go back into the bucket to be stored in the trailer when we are hauling back home. 

My girls can lift and carry these rack pieces from the trailer to the tack stall. And back out to the trailer as we’re packing up to head home. 

As mentioned above, these great hanging Saddle racks are available from Schneider’s and Royal Wire Equine

In the instances that you are not traveling with the same (ahh…. abundant/extreme/excessive… )

.. amount of saddles that I am.

you can still customize a wall mount system to your likes and needs. Both Schneider’s and Royal Wire Equine offer a variety of options that insert into the main frame wall such as: baskets, saddle pad holders, and a flat shelf. 

• OPTIONS:
• Baskets
• Saddle Pad Holder
• Flat Shelf
  

Saddle Pad Holder 

While on the topic of saddle pad holders: I can attest to the saddle pad rack from Royal Wire Equine being extremely durable and well made. The saddle pad holder was actually our first purchase of our tack stall set up. The saddle pad rack is a great size for holding both English pads and Western show pads and work pads.

**note, while the saddle pad rack is designed to be used with the Royal Wire Equine main frame – I have used it independently and works well hooked over the top of a solid stall.**   

In fact, I’ve also used this rack hang sheets, sleazys, extra street clothes, anything and everything on in my tack stall over time.  

Bridle Hooks 

In all honestly, I have a very nice, 10 hook, rack of bridle hooks from Royal Wire Equine. But, I use it to hang horse blankets on. I have the hooks over a rafter in my tack room in the barn and it works GREAT! (It doesn’t come along to the shows… too much wall space)

The size of your bridle hooks is probably going to greatly depend on how many items: bridles (or show halters) or training gear you are bringing along with you to a horse show. 

• Bridles
• Show Halters
• Training Gear

The 3 Tier Bridle rack may be an excellent choice for a trainer. Who is bringing show tack and multiple work bridles for a large show string. I’m not sure I truly need that many hooks, but the possibilities are endless. 

I’ve got a whole bunch of these…

This works perfectly for keeping my tail extension ‘stuff’ at arm’s length and in reach when I’m putting in a tail extension.

• Tail Extension
• Tail Brush
• Electrical tape

I use this tack bar when I’m brushing out and working on putting in fake tails before heading to the show ring. I really like to be able to hang my tail brush, hang my tail extension, hang my roll of electrical tape, and have everything in easy reach, and not set down in a random place and missing all a sudden. 

For Exhibitor Gear

Hanging Collapsible Shelf 

I love this shelf 

• It folds easily
• It’s sturdy
• Can hold a lot of stuff 
• Gets things up off the floor and out of the way. 

I’m honestly thinking about purchasing a second one of these. Especially if and when BOTH my daughters and myself are showing. 
At times, I keep English show pads, in a saddle pad case, on this shelf. The saddle pad holder/case helps keep them dust free and white. My western chaps also “live” up there when not being worn at a show. 

 I like keeping my chaps on the shelf vs on a clothing hanger because they’re heavy. And not always the easiest to hang. 

I have a clothing bar as an add on to my shelf and this is where all my show clothes live, in their appropriate garment bags, when we are at horse shows. The clothing bar has done really well for me holding about 6-8 different “outfits” at a time – usually, we have showmanship jackets & pants x2; hunt shirt, hunt coat, & breeches x2; western shirt, vest, & scarf x2-3; pressed jeans, or black breeches for wearing under chaps. Sometimes a lot of combinations. 

At times, the clothing bar also supports the random jacket. or sweatshirt that makes its way to the tack stall… and gets left behind.    

Hat Can holder – 

Western hat cans and english helmet cases can take up a lot of space when they are on the floor. They can easily get knocked over, and the last thing someone wants is a dusty hat. Even worse, if a hat is on the floor of your tack stall. And the mishaps that could come from a neighboring horse – ECK! 

A hat can holder has been a great solution for keeping those hat cans and helmet cases up off the tack stall floor, safe and sound. 

My hat can holder from Schneiders Saddlery does not have removable racks. But rather is a solid piece and the supports that hold the hat cans are attached. I’ve found a transportation tip for this hat rack is to secure the hat can rack to the wall/body of the rack to compress its size for storage. Electrical tape works great for this task & folds the hat can holder flat for ease of storage in your trailer.  

Multi-purpose 

My favorite multi-purpose item is these clips with a hanging hook. 

I have about 6 or 7 of these clips and use them for so many different things. 

Hanging up stable sheets when not in use, clipping up a sleazy when not in use. Using to hang a horse’s halter and lead rope on the outside of their stall. I hang up a bridle while my horse is in cross ties. (In the aisle and I’m tacking up to head to the ring). Sometimes they hold up boot bags in my task stall. 

Every once and awhile, one gets nabbed to hang up a hose when not in use filling water buckets. 

Honestly, I use these for anything and everything.  

I DO have all of them labeled, with a piece of blue tap and my initials. So I make sure to get them back! These clips are probably my favorite of all. 

Horse Shoe Rd is a website featuring the author’s personal views and opinions. The content provided here via writing and photos is for general information purposes only to educate and entertain and are solely my opinions.The comments section exists for readers to express opinions and join the conversation. I love hearing from you. Please show kindness and respect in your comments.

What is your most loved tack stall solution? 

Remember watch for more tack stall storage solutions! This isn’t even close to all the Horse Show Things that horse show moms, dads, and competitors haul along when they’re at a show with their equine partners.