Best of JN: Confessions of a Tack Hoarder

It may be time to start an official support group — Tack Hoarders Anonymous.

Hi, my name is Meagan and I am a total tack hoarder.

Photo by Jessee Franks Photography

I think I have always been a bit of a tack hoarder, but that addiction definitely accelerated when I started dabbling in eventing on top of the jumper ring. More shows = more tack, right? Right. At least, that is how I rationalized it.

I just can’t help myself! Especially when I run across a good deal. I find myself sifting through tack sale pages online like a dog searching for a bone. And then voilaaaaa, a beautiful Edgewood bridle pops up or a nice set of used no-bow wraps. Sure, I only have four legs to wrap at the moment, but I definitely need four or five sets of wraps to fill up my tack trunk with… right?

It has gotten so bad that every now and again my trainer drops subtle hints like, “Hey maybe you should sell that!” or “When was the last time you used that?” And she is totally right, I should sell some of these things. But I am totally and completely, undeniably addicted to my piles of leather and used bell boots.

Yep… this is me….

My tack trunk at the barn is overflowing, so I started bringing things home to fill up the tack room at my home barn. Because, you know, my two mini-ponies and mini-donkey could really benefit from some Back on Track Wraps and a bunch of full-sized running martingales…. My guest bedroom may or may not be stashing a bunch of winter blankets that I don’t need, but blankets are like chips — you can never have just one!

Sure, I haven’t used that CWD bib martingale in like a year, but I know, deep-down, that the minute I sell it, I am going to need it! Isn’t that the way the world seems to work? Once a month I pull out a bottle of leather oil (which I also have exorbitant amounts of stored away) and go through all of the bits and bobs in my home tack room, polishing them and admiring all of their beauty while my husband glares at me from the barn aisle and begs me to part ways with some of my “junk.”

“You just don’t get it,” I say as I dust off the wall of bits that I have, but never use, one-by-one. “I NEED this stuff!”

“Your horse only has one mouth,” was his sarcastic reply. “You don’t need this many hunks of metal.”

I am that girl that you can come to at the horse show and ask for the most random thing, and I probably have it. Need ten hoof picks? I got you covered. Looking for an extra set of reins? I have like twenty. Forgot your rise pad? Do you like memory foam, sheepskin or gel? My trailer is practically a rolling tack store.

Long story short, I love tack and I just can’t seem to break the habit. My mail lady knows now to hide all packages where my husband can’t see them, and I think my trainer has given up on me ever taking a normal amount of things when we show. I am a tack hoarder and I am proud. And one day, I will find a use for all of these things…

I think.