6 Cheap Fixes and Favorite Stuff

All of us have found one thing or another that is very handy to have around the barn. (Husbands are great but I was thinking more about things you could purchase at Wal-Mart or Target)  Duct Tape is probably one of the handiest items I have in my tack room.  I’ve renamed it the “Horseman’s Friend”.  I’ve used duct tape to cover the ends of cleaning tools and wheel barrow handles so that I don’t get splinters.  I use it to label trash bags for storing blankets. Well, actually you can use it to label almost anything from feed containers to tack trunks. When we go to events we use it to label out stalls with owner’s name, where we are staying etc.  It works really well when you arrive at an event and are faced with concrete block (translates no thumb tacks). And in a pinch it will cover blanket tears until you can get a repair done. It will work as a keeper on a bridle until you can get it repaired. Duct tape will label, wrap, and secure a lot of important stuff in a pinch. At less than $5 a roll what self respecting horse person could be without duct tape.  To learn about even more uses for duct tape visit the Duct Tape Guys at  http://www.ducttapeguys.com/   and for further giggles and uses look for the Duct Tape Guys on YouTube.

Do you have a horse with a beautiful white blaze and a cute pink nose? I always feel sorry for the horses that get sun burned noses. For less than $2 you can have a tube of diaper rash ointmnent containing A and D and Zinc Oxide.  Zinc Oxide is that white stuff that life guards on the beach put all over their noses. Put the diaper rash ointment that cute pink nose and wa-la! Your horse will have sun protection that will last all day.

And what about A and D ointment without the zinc? It’s great for heels, scurfy elbows, and scrapes, especially when you’re trying to encourage hair growth.  And again you can purchase a tube of A and D ointment for less than $2.  I recommend the generic store brand.  It works as well as the fancy brands.

Velcro is another product that I keep in my tack room.  Velcro comes in all shapes and sizes and a huge range of prices.  Velcro comes  as a sew on product, a self wrapping product, or with a sticky back. The self wrap products (come with both sides of the velcro on one strip) are great for bundling things like hoses, stall cleaning tools, or securing bridles for travel. The sticky back velcro has not been as successful in my barn except for an emergency  repair for the belly band on a blanket.  My favorite  is a roll of 2″ wide sew on velcro.  This is the stuff you see on fly masks, horse blankets, and bell boots.  I use an ordinary sewing maching to replace the velcro on flymasks and blankets.  For bell boots I attach the velcro by hand sewing with a strong needle and dental floss.  Dental floss is another valuable product to keepo in your tack room.  I prefer to use waxed dental floss.  It come in handy for repairing leather, such as replacing stitching in stirrup leathers, and of course the bell boots.

And speaking of bell boots.  My horses wear bell boots with velcro for schooling but boy do I get tired of the stitching wearing out before the bell boots do.  The stitching wears off because it rubs repeatedly on the horse’s hoof. Once the stitching is gone, you loose the velcro and then the  boots and it’s usually at the worse possible time.  I was commenting about this at a recent cross country schooling.  A lady suggested that I cover all of the stitching with silicone glue when I first purchase the bell boots. She said that this protects the threads and whenever the glue wears off, you wash and dry the bell boots and  give the threads another coat.  This sure sounded better than re-sewing velcro so I’ve given it a try. So far it’s worked. I’ll let you know how this progresses.  I’d sure like to see the rubber part wear out first for a change!

Do you have any favorite cheap fixes and helps in your tack room?  It would be great if you’d share your finds with the readers of The Riding Instructor.  Just click on comments and tell us your secret fixes!

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