Your favorite barn hacks !

[JFNM miniatures]

I've been looking at a lot of DIY barn hacks lately. I have seen many cost and time saving ideas. But I'd like to know if any of you would like to share yours !

Please feel free to share your favorite barn hacks, in fact, anything from halters to hay nets ! Also, anything like storage or such! And if you have pictures, even better !

Here are mine :

- Vegetable Oil for hoof oil. Just add a few drops of your favorite essential oil (I like to use lavender !). I don't use hoof oil very often, as my horse's hoofs are healthy, but I'll occasionally use it and it works better than any brand of hoof oil I've ever tried. You can buy a gallon of vegetable oil for cheap at any grocery store. I repurposed old metal hoof oil bottles with brush and put my DIY mix in them. (Note: I like keeping old care product bottle and sprays just for such occasions).

- Bailing twine for hay net. I have not tried this one yet, but would like too. I've been saving all my bailing twine and I found several good tutorials on how to do this. It's the perfect project for a rainy afternoon in a hayloft !

- Thrush mix with vinegar, water and tea tree. Worked very well for my Arabian. With the minis though, never had to use it.

- I also DIY all my horse's cooler/fleece sheets, blankets etc...

- Once again, bailing twine is SO useful. I usually forget my knife when I go up to get the hay out of the loft. So I use bailing twine to open hay bales.

- Rubbermaid containers. I know, you have to buy those, but they are so tough and well made! I use them to store blankets and fly masks away. I've used them to store grain and find them resistant to humidity and rodents (lately, the barn cat has them under control, yay !)

I've got a few more, but would like to see your ideas !

So how about you ?

 

[Cayuse]

Duct Tape!
And if you have a horse with hot feet and need to ice, put the ice in a plastic baggy, then put the baggy in a men's tube sock. Center the ice in the heel area of sock, then wrap around the pastern and if you are lucky, you'll have enough sock to tie in the back. If not, duct tape ends together.
A Home Depot painters bucket (I think they are 5 gallons) holds 1.5 pounds of hay packed lightly.
Baby Powder works well on white socks to brighten them if your at a show and are looking dusty. Brush socks, dust with powder, then bush it in (stiff brush works best).

 

[Kelly]

I use a toilet bowl brush to scrub/clean water troughs and water buckets. A kitchen colander to skim the surface of water troughs to remove leaves, bugs and other debris.

I keep a luggable loo in my horse trailer for camping/hiking trips when bathroom facilities are unavailable. I place a trash bag in the luggable loo, then fill half way with shavings. You can find a luggable loo lid that snaps onto a 5 gallon bucket on Amazon for about $13 or any camping supply store should have one.

 

[Maryann at MiniV]

Baling Twine is definitely a multi-purpose product. We use it in a pinch for temporary fence repairs. And when we start running out of leads and I want to hold off ordering more (I like to buy in bulk), I run to the hardware store for metal clips and make leads by double braiding twine to about a 6 ft. length, and sear the ends with a lighter to seal everything off.

For a tail bag, to keep your horse's tail clean, braid the the tail (starting below the tail bone) and grab a man's unmatched sock. Cut the ankle part into 3 parts. Put the tail inside the sock and weave the 3 sections up through the top part of the braided tail and tie them off.

To take a mini to a retirement/nursing home (when and if it's allowed again) for a visit, there's no need to invest in "booties" for the feet to keep them sliding on the slippery linoleum floors......Wrap their hooves up with Vet Wrap!

 

[Taz]

I go through a lot of grazing muzzles every summer. I use the clips/nylon straps for repairs as needed and have just started taking the rubber bottoms off them and using the tops as halters. Halters don't last very well around here either so it's a saves getting more of those. Not very fashionable though.....

 

[Ryan Johnson]

I use bailing twine for many purposes too. I use meadow hay here as a base throughout the year, It comes chopped which is great for the little ones as much easier to digest. BUT if its windy here , by the time I get to the paddock most of it has blown away. So, I lay twine on the ground , stack the biscuits on top of each other , tie it up and carry it as a bag. Saves so much wastage.

Clothes horse for drying clothes can be used for saddle blankets or small rugs. A friend has 20l buckets on the wall that are used as saddle racks. They can also be used for other tack, bridles etc.

Non scented baby wipes are great for everything.

Ive got a coupe of big steel cabinets ( like the ones you see in schools) that I use to keep all rugs in ( keeps mice away).

Second hand meter boxes are great for keeping halters and brushes in close to the paddock gate if your tack shed is some distance.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Long time member Rabbitfizz suggested a hack several years ago that works for me. An empty pineapple chunk tin over the peg on my barn rack makes a great bridle holder. I can even put it in my harness bag to keep the driving bridle shape nicer while on the road.
I use two bicycle hooks for my sulky harness. They are plastic-covered not to scratch bike metal so they hold my harness safely. They are attached at the correct distance apart to keep the saddle laying properly.
I keep a can of W D40 handy in the barn to spritz the snaps that get rusty out in the weather. Also works to get out cockleburs when my horses go exploring.

 

[Maryann at MiniV]

Long time member Rabbitfizz suggested a hack several years ago that works for me. An empty pineapple chunk tin over the peg on my barn rack makes a great bridle holder. I can even put it in my harness bag to keep the driving bridle shape nicer while on the road.
I use two bicycle hooks for my sulky harness. They are plastic-covered not to scratch bike metal so they hold my harness safely. They are attached at the correct distance apart to keep the saddle laying properly.
I keep a can of W D40 handy in the barn to spritz the snaps that get rusty out in the weather. Also works to get out cockleburs when my horses go exploring.

We use WD40 for stickers too! BTW, Do you or anyone else know what's happened with Rabbitfizz????

 

[Marsha Cassada]

We use WD40 for stickers too! BTW, Do you or anyone else know what's happened with Rabbitfizz????

I saw a post from her several months ago, which surprised me. I don't know if she has miniatures any more. "Dump the check rein!"

 

[chandab]

Jane, AKA Rabbitfizz is on FB, I see her quite regularly on the mini groups.

 

[diamond c]

Hay strings are great for anything and everything. I’ve repaired halters with it, and even made a halter once when I had bought a horse and when I went to pick her up had forgotten to bring a halter. I always keep hay string in my trailer, a quick braid and there you go. I wouldn’t try it on a green or young horse but on a dead broke horse it worked just fine.

 

[Kelly]

Rubbing alcohol cools clipper blades in seconds.