I’m obsessed with the new trailer. Like when I drive up to the barn every day and see her sitting in her spot, I can’t help but smile lovingly at her… that type of obsession.
But I am admittedly a little overwhelmed with all the possibilities here. I knew from the start that I wanted to put fans and a camera system in the horse compartment, but otherwise that part of the trailer is good to go. The other trailer was essentially just a horse compartment, so I’ve had a long time to think about things I wanted there. But the tack room… that big, beautiful tack room… there are so many possibilities, and a whole new world.
On one hand, I know what I don’t want. I don’t want that space to end up having a whole bunch of crap in it. I rarely show out of my trailer, I don’t need a full set of grooming equipment, sprays, ointments, extra tack or spares or whatever else. I don’t want to open that tack room door and be like good god why is all this shit in here. When I go to shows the vast majority of my stuff is in my tack trunk, and that’s how I want it to stay. Even if it’s organized, I still don’t want to have a bunch of crap in the trailer. Gridwall is out. Gridwall would inevitably end with me putting All The Things in there, junking it up, and making it into exactly what I’m trying to avoid. I do not want it to be a general storage space. I hate clutter, even organized clutter.
I also want to keep the floor relatively clear, or at least have it be quick and easy to shuffle stuff around to make it relatively clear. I ordered a little twin air mattress to take to shows if, for some reason (like extreme rain or cold), I don’t want to set up my trunk tent. That might happen one night a year, if that. Probably less. But the twin mattress fits perfectly into the length of the tackroom and the width of the door opening, so I want to make it easy to clear that part out and sleep there if I need to. I also want to feel like I can change clothes, hang out, or sleep in there without knocking stuff down or drowning in crap. Right now there aren’t saddle racks in the tack room, but they’re on order and I already know where they’ll go. That will be a decent chunk of space, obviously, but not floor space.
That said, there are certain things that I do want to keep in there, and ways that I want to maximize the space I do have. Some stuff HAS to live in there, period, and will come out when we get to shows – like the muck cart, buckets, little trunk of show-only supplies for stall setup, etc. So essentially the only things I really want on the floor are the things that will come out when we get to a show. Or things that are small, or that can be easily moved to the horse compartment once I’m parked and unloaded if necessary (the water jug, the traileraid, extra bag of shavings, etc).
I’ve already bought a few things, including but not limited to:
- two broom grippers to put on the wall, to hold the muck fork and the broom
- a folding step stool (which stores flush to the wall behind the blanket bar that I also stuck the head divider behind)
- various bungee cords and carabiners, because those are always useful. (these will go in the tray on the door).
- a small wall mirror (which goes… on the wall, obviously)
- a rug (floor, obviously)
- a hanging organizer (left wall, the big open space)
The trailer also has a built in clothing/blanket rack across one front corner, where I can potentially hang all kinds of stuff (currently I’ve only stuck a rain coat there). I also have 6 bridle racks, and the little leftover corner space behind the spare tire has proven to be the perfect holder for a folding chair.
All the other things I can think of that I want to keep in the trailer will fit in the hanging organizer that I bought. I’m not feeling much of a need to buy more crap to hang on the wall at this point, but maybe I’m not thinking it through well enough. Nothing on any of the trailer accessory websites is jumping out at me either. I think I might buy another fan just for the tack room though. Kinda digging those.
So, what are the most useful/favorite things that you’ve put in your trailer tack room? Or what do you wish you’d done differently?
breedrideevent.com 
I love Betty 2.0 and am so glad I got to see her in person. I think you are on the right track on all the stuff and those fans look GREAT in there. YAY. I am major jealous of all that space…..I still would love to get a tack trunk affixed in my horse area just to have somewhere to put some stuff but when I priced them out it would be about 1000 bucks installed. But since I don’t have a dressing room all the crap goes in my truck (ha kind of like your truck).
You really scored on this trailer I am so glad you found it and went and looked at it stat. Enjoy! 🙂
PS I have one of those organizers hanging in my trailer where the horses are and I try to keep only the basics needed ie. fly spray and carrots go in there as well as an extra whip/crop and boots or whatever is needed for that day etc. Not that I may ever ride again LOL
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You might wanna insulate the tack room before you add all the things. It’s really not very expensive to do and in TX I can imagine the benefits would be worth it. I just did mine during the week I was on donkey duty/camping in the trailer and there’s a true difference in the heat. Feel free to hit me up to talk trailer crap…apparently I’m still obsessed after buying mine too. 😉
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Came here to second the insulation recommendation. If you sleep in the tack room and you don’t insulate it, you’ll wake up to condensation on your head in the morning, AND insulating the roof will make it a bajillion degrees cooler for the boys in the back (turns out aluminum conducts heat really really well, haha). Get yourself added to the Horse Trailer Conversions II Facebook group, it’s a lot of people that convert tack rooms into living spaces, but it’s also just as many people doing a really good thorough job with things like trailer maintenance and how-to-insulate recommendations. I’ve learned a ton on there.
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That’s funny, I’ve been checking my trailer in the mornings to see if there’s condensation on the inside of the roof (because my old trailer did this REALLY BAD) and have yet to see any, or see any signs of it, even with the other trailer is “sweating” like crazy.
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Yeah, from what I understand you won’t see any condensation unless you start living in it.
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Weird. My old one sweated and there wasn’t even a way to live in it since it was just a box lol. But luckily I won’t live in this one hardly ever, maybe one night a year at most, so it should be fine. Especially since I can open the screens for air flow.
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If I was planning on sleeping in it regularly, I probably would. But I MUCH prefer my tent, and will only sleep in the trailer if I absolutely have to (ie heavy rain or below freezing). Considering this is Texas, that would have been like… all of one time in the past 2-3 years lol.
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Thanks for the trailer tour-I can’t say I have seen a tack compartment without all the crap – who knew a mattress would fit. Send an update when Betty is decked out? Asking for a friend
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A trailer-specific first aid kit that has things to cope with problems you might encounter on the road. A lot of that is just a really good traveling first aid kit, but I always worried what would happen in the in-between a show and home. I’ve done hauls where we got stuck in traffic for hours when the highway was closed, or when a horse slipped and gashed themselves up hours from home. I once gave banamine mid-trip to a girl’s pony. Probably you have something like that from your previous trailer but now that you have a tack room things can just live in there.
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Yep I’ve already got a first aid kit that lives in the small “stall setup” trunk that stays in the trailer.
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I hate packing and unpacking the trailer. I am a firm believer of “two of everything”. For lessons, I have to grab my saddle and half chaps and that is it. I keep my show clothes in the trailer (except for breeches) so nothing has to be packed right before a show. I find I am way more organized if I can make sure I have everything in a quiet moment other than the chaos of a show morning. After a long weekend (or even just a hard lesson), it is nice to grab my saddle and half chaps and walk them back to the barn and be done!
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Most of my packing is done in my big Stanley trunk. Since I rarely show out of my trailer, it makes more sense to put the things that i need in the trunk, since that’s what ends up in front of the stall at shows. It would suck to have to make a million trips from my stall to my trailer, especially because at some venues trailer parking is very far away! I think what works best for people kind of depends on their showing situation.
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I agree about the multiple trips. I have a tack trunk in the trailer that is ready to go with more specific show stuff (braiding box) than my trunk at home (old saddle pads). Those Stanley trunks are unbeatable for horse stuff. You are right about what fits for your situation. I, usually, am a haul in, but might go to an overnight horse trial this Fall. My organizational system might need an overhaul for that!
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I fully endorse keeping the dressing room as a functional space and not a storage area that just keeps accumulating stuff. Things I have found useful: 1. white board that attaches to inside door with magnets 2. LED flashlight that also attaches by a magnet. You can stick it to any part of trailer and then direct the light where needed. 3. Metal hooks with a fairly decent weight capacity that attach by magnet. Gives you flexibility to move them around trailer can hold a multitude of things including organisers and shelves. You don’t have to commit to permenently installing anything. 4. A light weight mesh bag or laundry basket to hold anything gross, dirty or wet.
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Magnets don’t work so well on aluminum! Lol. I have some things attached via heavy duty Velcro, others with command hooks.
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Where did you get the fan’s from?? I’d love to have those for my trailer! 😀
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Amazon!
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Are they wired in or do they run off batteries? They look awesome!
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USB rechargeable. I got a lot of negative feedback about wiring them in (including from the dealership) so I decided to try a cheaper option first! A friend has had this setup for a while and loves how it works. We’ll see!
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Could you post the link for the ones you got? I’m not having any luck finding them..
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+1 for a link to the fans!
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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DD6ZSVN/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Thanks!! 😀 next question… did you actually attach them to your trailer wall, or are the magnets strong enough to stay there?
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My walls are aluminum, so the magnets don’t work. I used industrial strength velcro. They’re pretty darn secure! We’ll see how it holds up over time.
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oh der…. (aluminum..) the velcro is a great idea!
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please do a follow up on this. my trailer has a lovely huge tack room and since I move barns like a homeless person it’s become storage. it IS organized storage, mostly in the nose of the gooseneck, but I don’t have much of a ‘setup’ happening where i’d feel comfortable at shows.
I will say, i have only ever shown out of my trailer.
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I think you are on the right track especially with not accumulating a lot of “stuff” in the tackroom. I am the same way and it has taken me some time to get everything situated how I want it in my new trailer. I would get all your racks, etc installed and load it up with tack and your trunk to see how you like it all. I have found sometimes what I think will work isn’t the same as actually using it haha. The first few times I showed out of my new trailer I had to move things around for what really worked versus I thought would work when it was parked at home.
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I still love the bench we built for our trailer tack room. I love having a spot to sit and change and/or put on boots and it doubles as storage. I know you keep most of your stuff in your trunk, but things like trailer 1st aid kit, bungees, etc can live in there.
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I briefly considered a built-in, remembering yours, but I don’t think it would fit as well in my space as it does in yours. Nor do I think I would really use it much, as a storage space. I have the hanging organizer and the bin on the door that holds all the smaller things that I want to live in the trailer. The bench aspect would be really nice, though. I’ll prob just use my chair if I need to sit. I saw on Pinterest that someone made a little drop-down bench that folds up flush against the wall when not in use! Pretty brilliant.
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congrats on the new trailer – it’s really beautiful!!! love all the pimpin out too. for my trailer, i specifically did not want a dressing room, preferring extra open nose space instead. and my absolute favorite feature of that space is the built in trunk – it’s so useful for storage and is also a nice place to sit when it’s raining outside or whatever
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This was one of my hesitations about a dressing room too, but funnily enough this trailer’s horse space is so big, it’s actually several inches further from the chest bars to the front wall of the horse compartment than it was in the old trailer with no dressing room. Yes I measured. This thing seems so much bigger, I keep measuring and comparing everything lol.
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Best things for ours, and something pony club uses a ton to organize kits, has been one of the Stanley fatmax rolling multibin things, lots of sizes and on amazon (great crash cart and super portable). Surprisingly also a set vertical shelves (like from Home Depot) you can use heavy duty Velcro to keep it snug to wall and then use storage bins for emergency equipment, fold up muck cart, etc. Great vertical storage.
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Good ideas, thanks!
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I feel the same way about my trailer. So pretty and shiny… I’m kind of the opposite though, I keep everything in my trailer that I would need at a show, so I only have to pack tack and feed. I have a show trunk that lives in the trailer with brushes, ointments, fly spray, etc. Although it’s been so long, I’m going to have to replace a lot of that stuff next time I have a show season.
I think you have a good plan going, not sure I have any suggestions really.
I was going to ask you about the fans, but got unlazy and found the answer in the comments… So thanks for that!
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What camera system are you using? I use a mobicam video baby monitor because the camera operates on batteries 😉 plus you can add an additional camera to have one for each horse! No wires necessary.
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My dad the tech guru bought me some kind of fancy wireless camera system for my birthday. Just haven’t installed it yet!
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One thing I did was have them mount the spare tire on the side of the trailer, above the right wheel well. It made the tack room seem even bigger with it out of there.
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The one thing I regretted about my trailer was how much I actually put in the walls, plenty of room on the floor but I was always moving my hips and shoulders around to navigate in there. Granted my trailer looks to be smaller than yours. The one thing I LOVED having in there was the 2 foot long wide stripes of Velcro on the door. I could stick boots, gloves and whatever else to it and it would stick forever. I also put a whiteboard with magnets in the door for ride schedules, numbers and other random things.
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A small shelf (fold down) that I use as a kitchen bench. Get to a show, put the two burner camp stove out, couple of cups etc, slide the chilly bin and food box under it, and I’m set for the weekend. Never under estimate how useful a flat surface to put things on can be. And when it can fold away for the trip home, even better.
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I had a gajillion hooks added to my trailer and I don’t regret them at all. You don’t HAVE to use them, but they sure come in handy sometimes. I also love my bar that hangs from the ceilng to hang clothes on. Aluminum will leave black rub marks, so being able to hang stuff not against a wall is nice. I also like the step stools that double as a little tool box. You can use it as a step into the dressing room, as a mounting, block and it can hold some grooming supplies. Lastly, it ain’t cheap, but I’m a BIG fan of WERM flooring. If you don’t have it in the horse area I’d recommend at least looking into getting it.
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