I have been neglecting my Equestrian YouTube channel, The Budget Equestrian, lately. This is mostly because I have been putting my focus on my other YouTube channel, The DIY Diva. But while I was pursuing through the equestrian videos, I came across an ‘equestrian hacks’ video that caught my attention.
And not in a good way. She actually used my thumbnail in her video, so that grabbed my attention. And, of course, then I had to watch her video to see if she had included any of my hacks from my video and then debunk it. And I have to say, since she originally posted the video, she changed the thumbnail image, which included other equestrian YouTuber’s thumbnails. Interesting.
Equestrian Hacks
Well, she didn’t ‘try out’ any of the hacks I had in my original video. But that video is about 8 years old. So, I decided it was time to update and improve it. As well as prove that these hacks do work. So here are my top 25 equestrian hacks to help you with your horse.
1. How to Weigh Hay

It is so important to know how much we are feeding our horses to make sure they are getting the right amount of feed. And because hay is a majority of their diet, it’s important to be able to weigh it so they get what they need to eat. And the easiest way I have found to do this is by using a fish weighing scale.

It works best if you have something to weigh the hay in. I have mine hanging in my feed room. I determined first how much the feed tub weighed and then I fill it with hay. I subtract the weight of the tub from the overall weight of the full tub to determine how much hay I am feeding.
This has made an incredible difference in making sure my horses are getting what they need for their meals.
2. Tack Room Laundry Bag

Do you have a pile of horse laundry piling up because you keep forgetting to bring it in to wash? I do! Or I should say, I did. I fixed this by hanging a large laundry bag in my tack room. Well, it’s an Equestrian Stockholm bag. But it works! And then once a week, I bring it inside and wash everything. It helps to keep me on track with my horse laundry. And then I don’t run around looking for a clean saddle pad, or rags. It has made a big difference in keeping my tack room neat and tidy.
3. Pine-Sol to Keep Pests Away

I love to use Pine-Sol in my barn. Have you ever thought of using it in your barn? Did you know that Pine-Sol will keep the flies away? It will! You don’t want to use it on your horse. It’s not meant to be a fly spray in that sense. However, if you put it into a spray bottle, either watered down or full strength and spray it onto the walls of your horse’s stall, it will help to cut down on the amount of flies that are pestering your horse.
Equestrian Hacks
Pine-Sol is an affordable product to use. I buy it at Sam’s Club and use it in my home as well as my barn. Not only does it help to keep the flies away, it smells good too! To me, the Pine-Sol smell means it is clean!
4. Cooling Racks for Storage
If you want to increase your storage options, consider making a quick stop at Dollar Tree. Pick up a few cooling racks and hang them on your wall to have a vertical storage solution to keep all of your spray bottles together.
5. Coordinate Your Spray Bottles

And speaking of spray bottles, how about customizing yours? You can use spray paint, duct tape, or even electrical tape. Whatever is affordable. Then, you can give your spray bottles a custom label and secure them in place with clear tape.

If you have multiple horses, you can customize your spray bottles to each horse or even in your barn colors. So don’t throw away your empties! Instead, repurpose them!
6. Expandable Bedding Hack

If you are lucky enough to have expandable bedding in your area, you need this tip! When you bring in a new bag of bedding to your horse’s stall, use a knife to cut a cross into the bag, like this:

I find a Subway sandwich shop knife, or a little serrated knife works the best. My kids worked at Subway when they were in high school, and they brought home a lot of subway knives. They are wonderful, and I have several in my feed room.

Then, using a bucket full of water, add this to the bedding and leave it alone for about 10 minutes. When you come back, your expandable bedding will look like this:

All that you will have to do is pick up one end of the bag, and you will have a pile of bedding ready to spread!
7. Fill Hay Nets Easier
Let’s face it, filling hay nets is HARD. But it doesn’t have to be. All you need to do is find a big tub or trash can and then put the hay net onto the tub or can. You can secure it in place with clamps and then fill it away.

8. Heat Up Hard Horse Treats

This may sound silly, but if you have a horse getting prescription medication, you feel my pain.
When you first open a bag of soft horse treats, it’s fine. But after a few days, those soft treats get hard, even if you are sure that you have sealed the original package. This can make it very challenging to push the pill into the treat. When this happens, just take 3 or 4 treats and pop them into the microwave for about 8 seconds. The heart will cause the treats to soften up, making it easy to break the treat apart and then hide the pill inside.

As an added tip, to keep your treats soft, use a gallon-size ziplock bag to put your original treat bag into. Just be sure to squeeze out as much air as possible when closing it. So you have 2 layers of bags protecting the treats which will help to keep them soft longer.
9. Easier Water Bucket Cleaning
I have found the ultimate tool for equestrians. Do you have a Tiger’s Tongue Sponge? If you don’t – you need one! This is the best thing I have found to remove the Algae that adheres to the sides of water buckets and tanks.

I think it’s the sponge itself that makes this so helpful to remove debris from water buckets. If you use a little bit of dish soap applied to the sponge first, it doesn’t take very much scrubbing to get your water tank algae-free. Then you rinse away the green goo, and you will have a clean water tank.
10. Keep Algae Away
But even after you have washed away the algae, it will come back. But I have found a way to keep it gone for a little bit longer. When you are cleaning your water buckets, add a little Apple Cider Vinegar, then scrub everything with your Tiger’s Tongue Sponge and a little bit of Dish soap. Let it sit for about 10 minutes, and then add a little water to the bucket. Give it one more scrub and rinse.

By scrubbing your bucket with the apple cider vinegar/dish soap concoction, the algae seems to take longer to form. This will save you time in the long run and keep your horse’s water buckets free from that green slime.

Equestrian Hacks
Ok, there are the first 10 hacks or tips. If you are curious about all of the best of the best Dollar Tree Equestrian items, check out this article.
11. Coconut Oil for Hooves and More
I’m pretty sure you have heard of this before. Or have you? If you haven’t, you don’t need to buy expensive hoof treatments for your horse. Coconut oil works great for horse hooves.

Equestrian Hacks
It also works great to soften up the chestnuts on the inside of your horse’s legs. Then, you can remove them easily by peeling them away. But a word of caution – don’t force the chestnuts off. If they don’t easily peel away, continue to soften with coconut oil until they peel easily.
12 Fruit Roll-Ups for Bridling
Now, I wouldn’t suggest this as a long-term solution, but it does make bridling easier if your horse is difficult to bridle. If you wrap a fruit roll up around the bit’s mouthpiece, your horse will no longer associate taking the bit as a punishment.
I have used this hack in the past on my horse Plezant when he was around. He was horrible about accepting the bit easily, no matter how patient I was about getting his bridle on. Then I learned this trick and no more giraffe horse! It only took 2 times trying it before he began to search out the bit.
So, if you have difficulty getting your horse to keep his head down while you attempt to put the bit in his mouth, give a fruit roll-up a try. And then you can work on your horse, keeping his head down all the time to break the habit of being difficult to bridle.
13. DIY Lead Ropes
You can never have enough lead ropes. Am I right? I think so. And if you need an extra lead rope (or two), why not put that extra bailing twine to good use? I have a bunch of hay bale twine in my garage because there are so many uses for the twine.
It’s easy to make a lead rope simply by braiding together pieces of twine. Don’t throw away the twine when you pop open that hay bale. Save it! And once you have several strands, you can make a spare lead rope. If you have 6 strands of twine, you can separate the strands into groups of 2 and then braid them together. When you reach the end of the twine, tie a knot into it and cut off any excess.
Equestrian Hacks
Then stash a few emergency lead ropes just in case. I like to keep a couple in my arena. They last forever, and if they get lost, no big deal.
14. Dollar Tree Shoe Holder for Storage
I absolutely love the Dollar Tree shoe organizers. I use them in my tack room, my feed room, and even in my house.

Not only are they great for holding spray bottles, but they are an excellent solution for keeping gloves and hats together. I have one hanging up on the back of my entry closet door. And this is where I keep all of my gloves and stocking hats. It’s much more efficient than keeping everything in a box, which is what we used to do.
Equestrian Hacks
You just have to put the gloves in there when you are done using them. It works well not only for winter gloves but also for all of your show gloves. I cannot tell you how many times I have misplaced one of my fancy and expensive, Roeckl gloves and bought a new pair. I eventually found the misplaced one. But since I have started using this shoe holder in my tack room, I no longer lose my fancy gloves! Think how helpful this could be in your horse trailer too!
15. Keep Saddle Pads Clean
Saddle pads get dirty. And if you only have one or two pads that you ride with, you will like this hack. After you are done riding, and your saddle pad has dried, use a stiff brush to remove debris like hair, dirt, or sweat marks. It will help to keep your saddle pad clean longer in between washes. You can use a stiff horse brush or spend $1.25 at Dollar Tree and buy a handheld scrub brush.
16. Shelf Brackets for Hanging Horse Blankets
Horse blankets are loooong! And if you have removed a wet blanket from a horse, folding it up won’t allow it to dry out. You can use some nails or heavy-duty hooks to keep them hung up. But I found a better way.
But some heavy-duty shelf brackets and attach them to a 2 x 6 and attach it to the wall. If you have long blankets, be sure to hang the blanket hanger high enough to keep the blankets off the ground.

I found these shelf brackets on Amazon and got a pack of 8 for less than $50. There are lots of styles to choose from. I would just advise to get brackets that are heavy-duty, like cast iron. This is the type I have.
17. Easily Remove Bot Fly Eggs

Equestrian Hacks and Tips
Thankfully, I have never had a problem with bot flies on my property. But several times when I have brought horses home, they have had the notorious little eggs securely attached to their legs. And they do make knives that remove the eggs. But I am not a fan of using a knife on my horse. Especially when there is an easier and safer way.
A Slick-N-Easy Grooming Block will easily remove the eggs. This is my go-to grooming tool to remove botfly eggs if I see them. The grooming bock also works great for removing stains from your horse’s coat. It’s a very affordable tool to add to your grooming kit.
18. Layer Gloves for Warmer Hands
My hands are ALWAYS cold, no matter the time of year. And if it gets cold where you live, having a good pair of warm winter gloves is necessary. But the problem with winter gloves is they are very thick and make it difficult to be able to feel well. So I like to take a pair of disposable nitrile gloves and put them on first, and then add my gloves.
The nitrile gloves are waterproof, and they keep the heat of your hands on your hands, especially your fingers! This has made such a difference for me in keeping my hands warm when I am grooming or doing barn chores during the winter.
19. Kitchen Strainer for Cleaner Water Tanks

One of my horses likes to dip his hay into their shared water tank. And if I leave that hay in the water, eventually, it makes the water murky and gross. So to combat any floating debris in the water tank and keep the water cleaner longer, I use a kitchen strainer to remove the yuck. I keep it in my feed room on a hook, and every morning, when I am cleaning stalls, I bring it out and run it through the water to remove any hay pieces or even floating bugs.
20. Dollar Tree Brush for Removing Hair from Velcro
Velcro is wonderful and so helpful when it comes to equipment we use every day for our horses. But it also catches a lot of hair, mud, and dirt. One way I have found to keep my velcro debris-free is by using one of these little brushes.
You can get them in a 3-pack from Dollar Tree. They are in the automotive section. And they have a hole at the end of the brush which makes it easy to hang up, so you don’t lose it!
Equestrian Hacks
If you don’t have a Dollar Tree in your area, you can find them on Amazon for a little more. I found this set of 6 brushes for about $6.

21. Easy Extra Storage

If you need a little extra storage in your tack or feed room, have you thought about putting old supplement buckets to use? I use Strongid daily dewormer, and I have so many of these buckets cluttering up my garage. So I rinsed them out and then made a grid of them on the wall in my feed room. And I put a board between them for an extra shelf. My husband calls this red-neck ingenuity.
22. Repurpose Yoga Mats for the Barn
If you have an old yoga mat that isn’t being used any longer, you can bring it out to the barn! They can be cut down to size to be a shelf liner. Or you could cover a saddle or bridle rack with it to protect your expensive leather tack. And if you have a blue one, you could even use it for an inexpensive Liverpool for a horse jump.
23. Easy Whip Holder DIY
This is an oldie but a goodie! All you have to do is get a piece of PVC pipe, at least 4″ in diameter is best, and attach it to a post in your arena. Then you can keep riding crops and whips out in the arena where you will use them. This will save you time running back to the barn to find the tool you need when you are in the arena.
24. DIY Dressage Arena

Did you know Dollar Tree sells orange cones? I’m not talking about the small ones. I’m talking about ones that are large enough to use in your arena that you can see. And if you are getting ready to work some dressage, you can DIY a dressage arena with these cones. You just need to add the letters to the cones. I have one-upped myself with mine because I put them on top of my square supplement containers, which raise them off the ground even higher.

If you want to set up your own dressage arena, hopefully, the image above will give you an idea of the space you will need to make one. I found it very helpful to make sure I had the letters where they needed to go. And because I am not very good with the metric system, I have included the measurements in feet as well.
25. Tool Box First Aid Kit

If you have horses, you NEED to have a first aid kit in your barn. I cannot stress this enough. A first aid kit is so important to have when you have horses. In my opinion, it should be put together before your horses are on your property.
Equestrian Hacks
Over the years as a horse owner, my first aid kits have evolved and grown. This is how my first aid kits looked when I first made them. But I have updated them to make them look more professional and not quite as homemade.

They are easily identifiable in my barn. And I have written numerous articles on what I have in my first aid kit. As well as creating videos showing you everything that I have in my kits. I think it would be very beneficial for you to at least watch the video.
Equestrian Hacks
What do you think of my list? Did you find a tip or two that may make your equestrian life a little easier? I am sure I can come up with about 50 more if I put my mind to it. How about you? What are your favorite tips and tricks you rely on around your barn? Please, let me know! I love learning new tips and tricks!
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