I have always been at barns in the past where there was a tack room and everything was in the room. Saddles on racks, bridles on racks, and some kind of cabinet for other items.
Our new barn does not have a tack room (or the barn I’m in anyways) and everyone seems to have magical trunks that their saddles and other items fit in. I don’t even have a wooden trunk let alone something that my saddle would fit in.
Cue interweb searches… There are not as many options as you might think out there for tack lockers. I searched Smartpak and Dover and eventually broke down and ordered from SaddleLockers.com.
The locker will be the most expensive peice of storage furniture I have ever purchased myself but I feel like it will be worth it. All of the plastic ones I saw didn’t have various things that I wanted and I actually like the fact that my locker will be difficult to move. I don’t want something that can be rolled away easily!
Once I ordered the locker I realized that it had to be shipped as freight… For those of you that haven’t had that happen it’s a treat… The company sent me pictures of the locker and how it looked when it shipped out… And advised not to accept the shipment if I saw any damage (but that shouldn’t be super likely).
I finally was able to WAH to meet the shipper… And they try to deliver me this: 
Needless to say that was not going to fly and I sent it back. Not on the supplier but didn’t change my frustration… 3 weeks later now I am finally supposed to have a new locker tomorrow. Fingers crossed!
Do most of your alls barns have community tack rooms and the option for a standard trunk? Anyone else have lockers similar to this style?
I picked up one of these for a song from a local FB group. I’ve had trunks for years and years, including a custom made beauty that, for sentimental reasons, is no longer a barn trunk. I will never go back – this thing is golden.
http://www.burlinghamsports.com/store/product/72804/Saddle-Trunk
I looked at those but for the similar pricing I liked the SaddleLockers I had seen in person more than those ones. Thanks for sharing! If I could have found one local and used I would have loved to!
Wow, the shipper really screwed up. I hope the next one gets to you in one piece!
My barn does have tack rooms, but mostly for school horse tack and some of the trainers. For boarders, there is a bank of tack lockers and you get one for every horse you board if you need it. I also have a large wooden trunk, and all the trunks live along an aisle across from the cross-ties. The only thing missing for me is a bandage lid! I kind of wish I had a smaller trunk for shows, though.
Interesting! I have a Stanley trunk that I always took to shows and it’s the best. Cheap and easy to move around. Not as pretty as most hunter jumper trunks you usually see though! I’ve always said I’ll just get a cover made and then no one will see now ugly it is except when in use haha.
I’ve always boarded at barns that have had the tack lockers built in. I hope that your shipment arrives undamaged this time.
I second the stanley trunk for shows. They are so much easier to move around than those big wood ones.
a previous farm had these huge wooden built in lockers and i LOVED them!! they were essentially big deep closets that you could do anything with. probably if i had to get a locker today i would try to build something myself bc…. that’s just how i roll haha. tho i also want a stanley trunk so…. we’ll see. i hope the new version gets delivered without issue!
My barn has two tack rooms that are basically a free for all of saddle racks, nails to hang your bridle on, and floor space for trunks! My tack room is small and I share with two other ladies, so it isn’t too bad!
We have a tack locker for sale at work, which was used a storage unit for a while when we were overrun with Irish knit sheets. I cleaned it out a few months ago and set it up to display, and I was surprised at how much space was in there!
I have been SUPER spoiled in the tack storage department. At my last barn I had a full-size locker AND space for my giant wooden trunk. It was glorious! At my current barn I have HALF OF AN ENTIRE TACK ROOM TO MYSELF… so room for my trunk, 2 saddle racks, a million hooks, and drawer space in a big chest of drawers. Heaven!
Oh yikes, that thing got murdered. I have two tack trunks, but still can’t fit my saddle in them 😀
Ugh- how annoying! Fingers crossed that the new arrives in better shape!
I’ve been at my current barn for a few years now and it’s the first place that didn’t have lockers built in. My dad made me one for Christmas one year, it’s wooden and quite nice…but a pain in the ass to move.
That sucks about the shipper 🙁 Hopefully the next one is pristine!
Our barn has built in tack lockers. They are awesome!
Even thought there are many, many things I dislike about the barn I’m currently at (and moving away from shortly), I currently have a huge tack locker that fits everything I need on a day to day basis. The barn I’m moving to has a much smaller tack room with saddle/bridle racks- 1 per boarder, which is going to suck since I’m an eventer. Everyone at the new barn has tack trunks in front of their stalls so I ended up purchasing a used one, but that will only be for grooming stuff, boots, saddle pads, etc, so I’ll have to keep my extra tack in my trailer, ugh. I really like the locker you’re getting, so will have to take some measurements and see if one of those will work out. Hope your replacement came in unscathed!
Goodness! Good that you sent it back; hopefully this next one is fine!
Great idea – I plan to run a boarding facility in Australia and will have to consider what I offer for clients in the way of storage.
Built in lockers make so much sense but I get that it’s a huge expense for barn owners. Our barn had talked about building them but I’m not holding my breath! I use a plastic locker from Home Depots hdx line but it’s not large enough to hold a saddle unfortunately.