A container tack room for a Lamar County barn: saddle racks, vents and the layout
Yes: a 20ft container with two screened vents, set level beside the barn, keeps leather drier than most barn rooms, keeps mice out of the bridles, and locks while you are at work. It holds four to six Western saddles on racks you build from 2x6s, a wall of bridles and halters, and blankets and supplements on shelves.
Why a container for tack
Saddles mildew in a damp barn room, and mice can eat a bridle in a weekend. A steel box keeps rodents out of the walls, keeps rain off the leather, and locks, which matters when a saddle costs more than the container.
A 20ft is the right size for most barns: saddles along one wall, bridles and halters on hooks by the door, blankets, pads and supplements on shelves along the other wall, and sealed cans for the grain you keep near the horses.
Racks you build, and vents you cannot skip
No store-bought saddle rack fits a corrugated wall as well as one you build. Each is an angled cradle of 2x6s screwed to a 2x4 cleat, hung 36 inches apart, with a rail underneath for the pad. The plan set draws them with the cut list, so it is an afternoon's work.
Leather mildews in a sealed box. Two screened vents, one low on the shady side and one high at the far end, move air through on their own. In August, add a moisture bucket. Container condensation explains why venting matters more here than the paint.
Setting it at the barn
Most farms set it on the lee side of the barn with the doors facing the aisle. The truck needs about 60 feet of straight, firm run, and the gate where the hay comes in usually works. A rubber stall mat on the floor is the one thing worth adding on day one.
Outside city limits the county rarely needs to know about an accessory building; inside them, treat it like a shed and ask. For hay, see the hay and shavings bay; for feed, the feed room.
Keeping saddles from mildewing in August
Clean and condition leather before it goes in, keep saddles on racks off the floor with pads on rails underneath, and leave both vents open all summer. A moisture bucket at each end handles the worst weeks. If a white bloom shows up, wipe it, dry it in the sun, and add a solar fan; see container vents.
The layout, drawn to the box
This is sheet 2 of the free Tack Room plan set: the 20ft standard container drawn from real ISO dimensions, with every shelf, rack and opening placed. Five saddle racks you build from 2x6s, a hook wall for bridles, an 8 ft shelf run, sealed feed cans, two screened vents set low-in, high-out.
All seven sheets: Cover and package price · Floor plan · Saddle-rack wall elevation · Cross section: airflow · Site, pad and leveling · Parts, cut list and tools · Build order and disclaimer. You buy locally: 2x6 cradles, 2x4 cleats, four 2x12s, two stall mats, two cans — roughly $330–$420.
See the Tack Room package — container and kit, delivered price by ZIP →
Buying a container?
Longleaf sells used and one-trip 20ft and 40ft shipping containers, delivered by tilt-bed across the Pine Belt. Enter your ZIP for the delivered price — it comes straight from the supplier feed and already includes the haul. Locks, vents, shelving and lights are on the accessories page. We sell; we do not rent.
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