Tack Room: How to Plan Your Stable Storage

What is a tack room?

A tack room is a secure, dry space where you can keep saddles, bridles, riding equipment and other things you use around the yard.

Having one next to your stables means everything is close to hand when you need it, without taking up space elsewhere. It also gives you one place to keep your equipment organised and protected from the weather.

What size should a tack room be?

The right size depends on how much equipment you have and how many people will use the room.

At Colt Stables, we offer two tack room sizes:

• 6ft x 12ft (1.8m x 3.6m) - A good option for storing equipment for one or two horse owners
• 8ft x 12ft (2.4m x 3.6m) - Gives you more room if several people will use the tack room or you simply need more storage space.

It's also worth choosing the larger size if you'd like enough room to sit inside and clean your tack during the colder, wetter months.

What should you keep in a tack room?

A tack room can give you one place to store the equipment you use for your horses and riding.

Depending on your setup, you might keep:

• Saddles
• Bridles
• Riding hats
• Boots
• Rugs
• Bandages
• Grooming equipment
• Tack-cleaning products.

Think about what you use most often when deciding what to keep inside. Everyday equipment should be easy to reach, while things you use less often can be stored higher up or further out of the way.

How to organise a tack room

Think about how you'll use the space before adding racks, hooks and storage.

Leave enough floor space
Leave some floor space clear so you can move around easily and have somewhere to clean tack or sort equipment.

Add racks and hooks to the walls
Use saddle racks, bridle hooks and shelves to keep your equipment organised without taking up floor space.

Store everyday tack within easy reach
Put the things you use every day somewhere you can grab them easily. Equipment you only use occasionally can go on higher shelves or towards the back of the room.

Use storage boxes
Use boxes or containers to keep smaller items together and label them so they're easy to find.

You can customise the inside of your Colt tack room yourself, so you can add racks, hooks and shelving wherever they work best for you.

Keep your tack room dry and well ventilated

Your tack room needs good ventilation to help keep saddles, bridles and other equipment dry. Damp can lead to mould and mildew, especially on leather tack.

Don't forget about wet equipment either. Let rugs and other damp items dry properly rather than putting them straight into a closed storage box or piling them against your tack.

Both Colt tack room sizes are ventilated as standard.

Think about tack room security

Saddles, bridles and other riding equipment are expensive. 

Make sure your tack room has a strong lock, and avoid leaving equipment where it can be seen from outside.

Add a tack room to your Colt stable

Our tack rooms are made from the same pressure-treated timber as our stable buildings, giving you a practical storage space that fits neatly into the rest of your stable block.

You can add a tack room to both our fixed and mobile stable models, with 6ft x 12ft and 8ft x 12ft sizes available depending on how much room you need.

Each tack room comes with a heavy-duty, ledged and braced stable door fitted with a 200mm (8-inch) pad bolt to help keep your equipment secure.

Take a look at our timber stables and mobile stables, or get in touch with the Colt Stables team to talk about adding a tack room to your stable design.