How do those of you who have tack rooms without climate controlled keep your stuff nice? I have been currently keeping my tack at home so I don’t have to deal with the mold. I have tried cleaning constantly and also Damp rid and nothing seems to help. If it matters I’m in Virginia. Any advice would be appreciated as I hate dragging saddles and bridles to the barn every time I go.
I’ve had no climate control ever and apart from the 9 months my horse was out for a tendon injury I’ve never had any issues as long as I use my tack on a daily basis.
There were years in md and va where it wasn’t an issue and years that were heinous. As above, I’ve never had issue with tack in regular use. Anything not in use keep at home. If you aren’t a person who cleans tack after every use, consider investing in leather wipes and just wipe down every couple rides.
If your tackroom is more enclosed than mine was, consider a dehumidifier.
ladyj, are you saying that rooms that more enclosed/smaller have more of an issue? - IE tack locker vs tack room? (sorry, I’m a bit of an idiot when it comes to things like this)
When it comes to my work schedule, I’m only able to ride 3-4 days a week, so unfortunately things have the ability and tendency and time to build up. I don’t know how my B/O would feel about me purchasing a dehumidifier, plus the set up (tack locker down a long hall way … don’t know if there’s a receptacle) might not work with one.
There are two options at my place for me to keep my tack - a tack room and a tack locker (neither climate controlled), and the tack locker is obviously smaller, but that’s where i keep my things, because I can lock it… It sounds like the tack locker would be more prone to mold growth?
I have been keeping things that aren’t in daily/weekly use at home, but wish I could find a solution so that I could have everything at the barn.
any more advice?
thanks everyone
What tack specifically is molding?
We use a dehumidifier in our tack room due to mold issues. I wipe everything down with a damp rag after riding and will use Leather Therapy Leather Wash where I might be getting mold.
The other thing I found that really worked was to put a non-slip pad or Thinline pad between my saddle pad and saddle so the panels of the saddle were not getting sweaty. I leave my helmet and boot bags unzipped or will leave the helmet and boots sitting out to help them dry. I also toss desiccant packs in the bags. My bridle does not mold.
Really my saddle and my the reins of my bridle. I never thought about the contribution of the saddle pad’s wetness making the problem worse. Maybe I will get a little dehumidifier for my individual tack locker.
Maybe see if there’s a way to put hooks or hangers on the outside of your box or somewhere unobtrusive to hang your saddle pads and anything else damp so that they’re not in your locker? I would hope no one would want to steal a sweaty saddle pad…
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I’ve lived/boarded in MD and VA (and also ridden in PA) and never had a climate controlled tack room. Except in the very worst of the sticky summer humidity, I’ve never had an issue with tack as long as it was getting a cleaning/use once a week. If you’re regularly leaving it longer than that, weather dependent, it can get a little tough in the summer.
If you’ve got a locker and are worried about humidity, maybe try something like NoDamp first: https://www.westmarine.com/buy/star-…02?recordNum=1 SO uses it on his boat, it’s just a plastic jar that has something in it that absorbs moisture. No electricity required, nothing like a power cable to get in anyone else’s way, and cheap.
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I always misted and wiped down my tack with white vinegar that nasty white ish green mold ca not grow then. I always let a cup or shallow bowl with white vinegar in the tack room near my tack. As well as bought those hanging “Damp Rid” things that collects air moisture (can be bought a Walmart etc). We always leave a light on as well since bacteria and mold tend to grow more in a dark room / area .
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I’m in NC and in the summer when its really humid, my saddle gets mold EVERY DAY. I ride 6 days a week and my saddle is cleaned after every ride. Not as much of a problem with strap goods unless they aren’t used for a few days.
Here in the PNW, we have a couple times a year where the humidity is really bad. Our barn owner wouldn’t go for a dehumidifier (and in 12 x 12 space, no amount of Damp Rid buckets could handle that issue). We finally got her to put up a heat lamp. I didn’t think it would make that much difference, but it really does. The last couple of years have been so much nicer on the tack.
I would not put damp pads in the cupboard with the leather.
I find during any given winter here in the PNW, some leather gear will reliably mold and some won’t.
Most everything is second hand. So I don’t know its history. I have attacked with vinegar and Lysol but I think that some of it is just more prone to mold than others. Doesn’t seem related to quality or age of gear. Perhaps once it moulds once it is always prone to do so again?
I keep my saddles in zip up padded cases which helps somewhat
I also have to tarp my hay or the outside flakes mildew in rainy weather.
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I would also completely scrub out the tack locker the next time you have a free weekend. Do it before you ride and leave it open the entire time you are at the barn so it can dry completely. Try cleaning your tack right when you get off, so it has time for any residual dampness to dry out before you put it away. Don’t keep any damp saddle pads/gear in the locker.
Scribbler I did read somewhere that once a piece of tack molds it will be more prone to molding again, basically bc the mold spores are microscopic and they are impossible to remove 100%. And a piece of moldy tack can be “contagious” to other previously non-moldy tack. The joy of horsemanship!! 
Also over conditioning tack will tend to have more mold.
I’ve never had a climate controlled tack room, but I wipe down my bridles after every use, and I hang my saddle pads up to dry (i.e. don’t leave them under the saddle), and things usually stay pretty good.
There was a leak in my trailer roof so the tack hanging in there got really gross last summer. I didn’t notice it for a while since my competition horse was off for an injury and I wasn’t using the trailer. I had to clean and condition everything but some of the cheaper tack (the leather bits on my lungeline, for example) never quite recovered their original shine. I feel like if I keep up with these pieces, though, I can eventually drive away most of the mold.
Don’t put anything that’s not completely dry in a locker or tack trunk. That’s inviting mold spores and bacteria in.
Besides the saddle pads, wet helmets are huge in ramping up the moisture, not to mention the stink, in a small, enclosed area. If it’s not dry, don’t put it in there. Same thing with fluffy sheepskin, put a pad under that, the synthetic fluffy stuff rinses and dries much better. Remember storing a pricey sheepskin lined leather girth in my trunk right after last class without thinking, by the time we shipped home from that show and gave the horses a few days off it was some damp, stinky trunk.
Theres a few little things that help. If it’s sunny out, lay your wet saddle pad and helmet in the sun, You could put them inside the car or the trunk to bake but that stinks up the car. I used to put them out over a fence or on the car as soon as I got off, by the time the horse was dry enough to put up, stuff was dry. Bridles need to be wiped down then hung in a well ventilated area, nothing wrong with that fence post, usually dry in half an hour if it’s sunny, even if it’s humid. BTW, this won’t work with felt, that takes forever to dry and destink, something to keep in mind when selecting equipment.
If it’s wicked humid, take it home and put it in front of a box fan. The worst mold I ever got was in my climate controlled, unfinished basement with dehumidifier. I put a box fan on it and that got rid if it, the air has to move.
Dont know about plugging anything in and leaving it running in a closed up tack locker though…maybe crack the door and run it while you ride to dry the environment and not locking anything the least bit damp up when you turn off the fan and go.
No barns I boarded at in Ohio had climate controlled tack rooms. The only things that molded were things not used every day.
My tack room in Florida is not climate controlled. Things actually molded even less than they did in Ohio. I assume because my ceiling here is 14’ tall and there’s a ceiling fan.
Put some ammonia in the water in your tack cleaning bucket to wipe down sweaty leather. Do for sure wipe down the sweat flaps on your saddle. Try to hang sweaty saddle pads somewhere else that they can dry. Use conditioner sparingly. You can used rolled up newspapers in your boots if you keep those in the locker.
thanks so much everyone!! learned some new things! (:
