Tack & Farm
Our Tack & Farm section features an Apparel section to find both practical and fashionable riding attire. If you ride English & Western or Race, many sources are available in the Tack section.
Building a barn? Need an architect for your equine dream home? Find one in Barns & Stalls.
Have a hungry horse? Of course you do! Find a place to buy your feed and tuck your horse in at night in the Bedding & Feed section. Looking for a place to keep your horse? You can find it in the Horse Boarding section. Keep your horse happy and beautiful with resources in our Grooming section.
Traveling? Find a Shipping company or Horse Sitting service if your horse is staying home!
Running and maintaining a farm or stable is a continuous effort, and to help find products or tools you need, please see our Equipment, Fencing and Management Tools sections.
Seeking Services? Find financial and tax expertise in our Accounting section. Companies who will help protect your investment are found in the Insurance section. For those who want legal advice about purchasing, liability, and other issues, please look at the Equine Law section to find an expert. Build and promote your business with teams from Marketing / Videography / Web Design.
Do we need to add more? Please use the useful feedback link and let us know!
There are so many saddles in this world, where does one begin? Saddle trees were traditionally made of wood, which is why it’s called a tree. Today, treed saddles are made out of various materials. Saddle trees can be made with wood reinforced with spring steel, wood combined with other metals or rawhide, fiberglass, synthetic polyethylene, and even plastic. Treeless saddles are often made with leather, foam, fiberglass, felt and other materials to create panels for spine protection and a stiff pommel for wither protection. The decision to choose a treed or treeless saddle is most often based on what works best for your horse.
Barefoot Saddles USA has been selling a variety of treed and treeless saddles for years, and through our experience with success and failures we have developed certain guidelines to determine whether a treeless saddle might be good for you.
First, let us state clearly that treeless saddles are not for everyone. However, when they do work it can be a great experience.
Here are a few reasons why a treeless saddle might be a good choice for you and your horse:
• You have a low withered, wide horse, or other challenging conformation issues, and every treed saddle you have tried digs into your horse’s shoulder or creates a sore back.
• You have a big moving or gaited horse that is restricted by the tree of a treed saddle.
• You love to ride bareback and the close contact feel, but want more security that a saddle can provide.
• You are a competent rider and feel a treed saddle is too bulky under you.
• You want a lighter weight saddle.
• You have a young horse that is developing and changing shape.
• You want to use a saddle on more than one horse.
• You love the idea of being in closer contact with your horse and are willing to take the time to make the adjustments necessary to get comfortable riding in a treeless saddle.
by Nikki Alvin-Smith
Pergolas and particularly pavilions have long been associated with sport. Perhaps the most famous being Lords cricket pavilion in London. A grand affair! Why should equestrians not cash in on their use too?
As an owner of a horse farm whether for private or public use, the creation of useful outdoor spaces can add sincere value to your family, friends and clients’ experiences at your property.
Your busy barn aisleway is not the safest place to host a gathering of family, friends, students or colleagues. Horses are constantly coming and going, horses stand on crossties, hay and shaving deliveries happen, vet and farrier visits, and staff are busy mucking out stalls and sweeping up. All these activities make the barn a busy place. If you are fortunate enough to have an indoor, this area is not ideal for hosting a gathering either. The loss of use of the space for riding may not be convenient, the area may be dusty and you have to worry about what people leave behind in the footing after an event.
Think of all the occasions when a pavilion would provide the perfect site for a get together. For example: Your summer camp students arrive with their parents; you want to host a clinic and need a place to serve food for a wrap-up party; club meetings; you would like to invite your vet to give a talk on horse health for your boarders; or simply want to kick off your boots and seek a respite from the hot sun and dusty day walking the arena and enjoy a cool beverage.
With the wide variety of pavilions and pergolas available, there is a design to blend in perfectly with your existing buildings. Site preparation is straightforward and delivery is quick and easy. Leading companies in the outdoor structure market even offer easy financing, so you can enjoy the benefits of the pavilion or pergola right now.
Read more: The Panache Pergolas and Pavilions Add to A Horse Farm
by Martin Collins
Equestrians will agree, when it comes to arena riding, a well-appointed ring is a joy to work (and play!) in. The footing you choose for your enclosure will depend on a variety of factors and will be the most important component of a well-designed and properly constructed riding area. In this article, Glynnie Walford of Martin Collins© Equine Surfaces provides the information you need to create a first-rate surface for all of your equine endeavors.
Building Your Arena’s Foundation
Next to the footing, the base is the most important part of your arena, and often something that gets overlooked during construction. Here are a few things to consider before starting any new construction.
Cut and Fill
Cut and Fill is the process of cutting into a bank and re-laying the material lower down the bank to create a “level formation” for your outdoor equine arena. The banks/ slopes must be created correctly to support the new formation.
The more level the site, the less cost will be involved in the initial stages of construction.
by Lynn Ascrizzi
Smucker Harness is stitching its way to success by focusing on the carriage-driving market.
The pocket-sized community of Churchtown, Pennsylvania (pop. 484), is one of those places you might drive right by, in a wink. But there, set along Route 23, amid a smattering of local businesses, vintage and modern homes and picturesque farmland, is the neat-as-a-pin, busy workshop that is Smucker Harness Co.
The small business, which produces first-rate, custom-hand built, equestrian show and pleasure harness, is owned and operated by skilled leatherworker Daniel M. Smucker. His 3,000-square-foot workshop is situated on the first floor of a three-story, metal-roofed building. “We’re just outside of Narvon,” he said, of the much larger community that is also part of Lancaster County’s celebrated Amish country.
Smucker, 35, bought the small family business from his parents, Moses and Susie Smucker, in 2008. “It shows I could stand on my own,” he said, of the purchase he made when in his 20s. The business site “was originally a barn, but my dad converted the timber-frame building into a workshop. Most of the tools were purchased from Dad, when I purchased the building.”
The year that he shouldered the family enterprise also marked the beginning of the Great Recession. “We downsized pretty majorly. We started specializing in certain products. We decided to focus on carriage show harness and higher-end products,” he said.
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