My trunk at the barn I board at has become the default spot to put tack, grooming equipment, and other sundry items to have near at hand when preparing to ride. Sometimes the owner of the items doesn’t put their things away and leaves them there for me to deal with. Yesterday I arrive at the barn and a boarder was getting her horse ready and had plopped on my trunk, her saddle, bridle, helmet, saddle pad, half pad, purse, phone, and grooming tote. Now if I wanted to get into my trunk, I’d have to move all those items off. When I’m there I want to be able to access my trunk when I need to and not have to deal with someone else’s stuff. I don’t want to be the barn bitch but what’s a good way to let everyone know that my trunk is not a storage spot?
Ideas depending on how nice you are:
Explain situation to BO and ask them about installing hooks and a shelf in the grooming area, or moving your trunk.
Put a single large but not flat object on top of your trunk that’s easy for you to move but not conducive to setting things on top of.
Every single time it happens, ask each trunk squatter to please move all their things so you can get to that one thing in your trunk that you may or may not actually need at the moment. Don’t help them. Smile while you stand there watching.
When you need something, just open your trunk and then say, “Oops, sorry, I didn’t see your things!” (I’m probably too nice to do this if there’s a helmet on top.)
Yeah, the last two are passive-aggressive but I assume you’ve already asked people to move their crap a few times when you actually need something and the message hasn’t sunk in.
I would have a conversation nicely stating what you said above. I would give a couple of gentle reminders, but after that I would start knocking the items to the ground with no regard. I would also give a heads up to the BM/BO before starting to displace the items.
However I would not want to be friends with this person so I would not care about the fallout. The only thing that would make me pause if I thought they would retaliate against my horse which is a different issue.
You obviously either need to tell people loudly to move their gear because you need in now, or move your trunk away from the cross ties. Also perhaps the barn needs to install some saddle racks at the cross ties.
You obviously need to tell people to move their gear if you need your trunk. Also if people leave stuff there put it in the barn lost and found. But if the trunk is the only surface in the cross tie area and you are only there say one hour a day it will by default become a useful tack rack.
Unfortunately, there is little space and really no where else to move my trunk. It’s a very small barn so gets a bit crowded. There are two cross tie spots in the aisleway and one in the wash stall. There is a trunk right across from mine that is rarely used but mine has become the favored spot because of its proximity to the tack room. I don’t care what they do when I’m not there but several times already I show up and find grooming totes, pieces of grooming equipment, etc. left on my trunk and no one else is there. I’m going to start putting them in the lost and found from now on.
To move your trunk is the only real solution. Its obviously the wrong place to have a trunk and the right place to have a table.
I’m older and have creaky parts. If there’s a surface I can put my stuff on that doesn’t require my having to bend to the floor to get it, I’m going to use it. Now, if you stroll in while I’m tacking up, I will of course move my stuff and not inconvenience you.
Write up a sign that says not to put stuff on it. Or a couple strips of masking tape with a reminder written over them. On the trunk, of course.
Yes, I feel your pain. We have around 30 trunks all lined up along the short side of our arena/barn. Mine is the one closest to the wash rack/tack cleaning/pros tack room/laundry. I have to move stuff off mine every time I show up to ride-- usually I can just shift stuff to the trunk next to mine, but sometimes I remind the culprit that I would appreciate they not use mine as storage. I get needing to set down a towel (there’s no place for that in our wash rack) or a pair of gloves, but sometimes it gets a bit ridiculous. I have found just moving them onto the ground, right in front of the person, often gets the point across.
Be glad you don’t have the barn dog laying on your trunk/tied to your trunk. Our covers are disgusting now because the muddy dog uses them as a bed. I complained several times before that stopped…at least on my trunk. Based on how the trunk closest to the pros tack room looks, I guess it’s still happening. Grrr…
Oh, I forgot this part. Just yesterday, the same woman who had used my trunk for all her tack was looking high and low for something, looking in people’s lockers, grooming boxes, trunks, etc. I finally asked her what she was looking for and it was her hoof pick. She said she left it ON MY TRUNK the other day. I had picked it up and set it aside in an out of the way spot and gave it to her. I gave her kind of a pointed look that meant, don’t leave your cr__ on my trunk. She’s not the sharpest tool in the shed so I doubt she got it.
I might look into buying or building a truck with a rounded or sloped top (not one that is conducive to being used as a saddle rack).
That’s what I was thinking … a pyramid on top!
I’d just write a sign that says ‘Do Not Place Items Here’ and put it on top. Under that I’d put a big bath towel. When anyone puts anything on top, pull the whole thing off dropping all of their stuff onto the floor.
Nice? No. But I can say people will definitely stop leaving their crap on top of the trunk.
get jug of Hooflex then dump it out of top of the trunk
Can you ask the barn owner about switching trunk locations with that person? Then the rarely used trunk can be the table and your trunk can typically be accessible.
Maybe I am a less nice person, but I would not have helped said boarder find whatever it was that she left on your trunk. I would honestly just dump their stuff on the ground and leave it there to get dirty. They will get the point eventually.
It’s exceptionally rude to A) leave their things on a box not their own (whether for 5 minutes or overnight!) and B) not run over and move everything as soon as they see you arrive.
My trunk in the tack room has my things on it (tote/stepstool, two sheets, feed pan), yet on weekends all my things are on the floor while someone’s lunch things, clothes, etc. are on my trunk. You’d think all my things are too much trouble to remove…but no.
Sometimes the evil barn cat Lucifer will lay on it, then threaten to kill me if I try to move him.
I feel your pain. I really don’t like sharing spaces with other people especially if they don’t respect other people’s belongings. As a more passive-aggressive type, I would remove their things and just put them in random places around the barn when they’re not around.
Wow that would whole heartedly piss me off . They might find their lunch in the manure pile .
Back to the trunk at hand, me being me after the first couple times of asking nicely, pointed looks etc they might have to find all
Their crap in the trunk of my car.
To be honest, I used to just put stuff in the trash if it was left in my space. The boarders at that barn at that point in time weren’t people I wanted to spend time with
Wow. Just wow!
I totally get using an available horizontal surface at a barn. There is never enough places to set your things. But to remove thing owned by the person who owns the trunk, put them on the floor, so you can use their trunk? No. Not even slightly OK.
That’s unbelievable! The gall of some people never ceases to astound me. I’d definitely sweep everything onto the floor and put my stuff back on top.
Tuesday someone left their grooming tote on my trunk so off to the lost and found it went. If they want it they can go get it. Yesterday I wasn’t planning on riding but was meeting some friends at the barn to go to a pony club thing. Another boarder was there and yup, my trunk was covered with all her stuff. I think I’m going to move it across the aisle so it’s not so convenient.
