It’s no secret I LOVE DIY projects. I think I could re-brand myself as the DIY Equestrian. And one of the reasons I love to DIY is because it saves money. And if you have horses, you know how expensive of a hobby it can be. SO I have put together 5 DIY projects that will help save (or make you) money with horses.
There are a lot of ways you can save money by doing projects yourself, or making things for your horses that will save you money in the long run, and even give you an opportunity to make a little extra money too. All you have to do is get a little creative, and think outside of the box. And here are 5 different areas that you could DIY projects.
DIY Horse Jumps
This is probably one of my favorite things to make. They are not necessarily cheap to make, but it’s a lot cheaper to build your own jumps than to buy them!
I have made hundreds of horse jumps over the past 15 years, and not only did it save me a lot of money, but it also helped me to make some extra cash too. Because once you figure out a system of building the jumps, there will always be someone out there that wants to buy what you have made.
The fun thing about this is you can always be crafting new jumps to use, and when you get bored with them, or need some extra money, you can sell them.
I can build a little vertical jump, including paint and jump cups for about $60.00. And then I can easily sell a jump like this for around $200.00 and that is still way less than what someone would pay if they were to buy a new retail jump.
DIY Horse Clothing
If you have a sewing machine, you can sew a lot of different horse wear items. Some things that come to mind for myself personally, ear bonnets, saddle pads, and even horse blankets. And you could also make polo wraps, tail bags or mane tamers.
It’s also not to hard to make horse halter out of stiff rope.
And how about hay nets? You can make your own hay nets out of baling twine, if you have extra time.
And just like the horse jumps, if you get really good at it you could also use this skill to make these things for other equestrians. It might be a good way to make a little extra money.
Right now I am trying to come up with a plan of making my own ear bonnets. I do have a sewing machine, but I’m not very good with it, yet. But I LOVE ear bonnets, but not the price tag that they come with. So over the winter, I am planning on figuring out my own pattern to make my own ear bonnets for myself, and possibly to sell.
I will just have to see how it all works out. You’ll know if I have been successful if you see a blog post on how to DIY an ear bonnet!
DIY Tack Room Furniture
With all of the woodworking tools I have, I have made a lot of tack room furniture. And this has saved me a lot of money! You can make so many different and useful pieces of furniture for your tack room which will help keep your stuff organized, and easy to put away too.
Bridle Racks
Those completely made of wood, or just customizing a piece of wood and adding on some bridle hangers.
Saddle Pad Racks
Again, there are multiple ways to make these. I made one out of wood that I can stack my saddle pads so they can dry out.
Or you can repurpose a blanket bar, add a few skirt hangers and you have an efficient way to hang up your saddle pads.
Saddle Stands
There are many ways to create places to store your saddle. You can build a saddle stand out of wood.
Or you can make portable saddle storage, so you can have your saddle close by when you are tacking up your horse.
And you can make a saddle stand that hangs on your wall.
Ear Bonnet Hangers
But my ear bonnet collection has quickly outgrown the way I had originally intended to hang my bonnets, so I improvised.
Grooming Totes
I love my Noble Outfitters grooming tote. This is by far the best grooming tote I have ever had. But I also have a couple of grooming totes I have made, or repurposed to be a tote.
Like my wooden grooming tote which I have remade in order to use it as a ring side tote for horse shows. Heritage chalk paint is my new favorite paint!
Or my little Ikea wooden tote that I keep all of my leather care items in.
And so much more! Making furniture for your tack room isn’t difficult, you just have to get creative, and do a little research. Pinterest comes to mind for me, or you can just look around on my blog and you will find lots of different DIY tack room projects you can make yourself.
And you don’t have to spend a lot of money to make these things. Many of the projects I have made have been from left over wood from other projects.
DIY Dollar Store Projects
I love the dollar store. And I love that I can find so many things there to use in my tack room, and barn.
You can find all sorts of things to use directly in your barn without any work on your part, like these over the door hangers.
They work great for adding additional hooks for storage without securing them permanently.
And then there are the storage bins. Every once in a while, I can find so unique bins that I can doctor up for my tack room.
They usually have a lot of different types of bins that work perfectly to help keep your barn organized.
And then there are affordable options for general horse care too. Like a detergent which makes fast work of cleaning dirty blankets.
And of course peppermints which can be a sweet treat on their own, or adding as a special extra to homemade horse treats.
You can even make stall signs or name signs for your horses or yourself from different signs that you can buy at the dollar store!
Whenever I need things for a project, or a last minute item or two for a horse show, I always go to the dollar store first to see if they have what I am needing. It can save you a lot of money to look here first, before heading to the tack store.
DIY Equine First Aid Kit
As a nurse, and a horse mom with a horse who is pre-disposed to injury, I have multiple first aid kits in my barn. And every one of them, I have crafted myself.
You can buy ready-made first aid kits, but they aren’t personalized to what you may need for your horse. And because I love to repurpose things, I have made first aid kits using different containers that we already have.
Then I fill those containers with the things I need, like vet wrap, silver wound gel, cotton padding, liniment, a head lamp, stethoscope, and well a lot of other things too.
I actually made a comprehensive list of everything I have in my first aid kit which has served me very well. And you can find that blog post here.
5 DIY Projects That Will Help Save (Or Make You) Money With Horses
And there you have it! 5 different DIY topics, with lost of different DIY ideas for your barn, or tack room. By looking for different ways that you can save money, or maybe even make a little bit of money for your horses.
How about you? Do you have any DIY things that you do to save money with your horses? Leave a comment below and share it with the rest of us budget equestrians
The Art of the Horseman Fair Is Here!
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