(photo taken from runningbrokequarterhorses.weebly.com)

Do you have dreams of walking through a perfectly organized barn? In the New Year, a popular resolution is to "get organized." A worthy goal, but as we mentioned in last week's blog, how many people actually do it? "Get organized" is a very vague concept. Use the tips in last week's blog to help you determine a concrete plan for organizing your barn: http://www.saddleupcolorado.net/blog/happy-new-ye...

It can be very overwhelming walking into a barn that you're going to try and organize in a day. Most of the time, it's so stressful you end up putting it off. Take a different approach. You don't have to completely turn the barn upside down in one day. Spend 15 min to an hour over the course of a week or two and begin going through all that you have and getting rid of what you don't need. Remember to stop when you start feeling tired or overwhelmed. If you keep pushing you're liable to not be able to make decisions as well and the whole experience will become unpleasant and you won't want to repeat it. Keep in mind that you should walk away from your organizing session with the thought, "That was easy. I can do that again."

Be brave and brutal when getting rid of stuff. Put all the items that need to be thrown away in one bag and throw it away as soon as possible. Don't let it hang around cluttering up your nice organized barn! If some items need to be taken to a donation center or tack store to be put on consignment, do that as soon as possible too. You can even make those errands be part of your "daily 15-1 hour" section. Do the same with items that need repair.

There's many, many ideas for organizing. Too many to mention all of them here! Do a little bit of research, go shopping, and be open minded to buying a few storage bins, or anything else you might need to help make your barn more organized. If the idea of organizing makes you feel sick or is just too overwhelming to do it on your own, enlist the help of either a friend or a professional organizer. Sometimes another set of eyes is all that you need to work out the kinks.

Even though regular organizing upkeep is hard to do at times, try to set aside some time every now and then to go through your tack items, making sure you have all that you need and get rid of what you don't. Remember, just 15 minutes is enough time! Doing small amounts frequently helps keep the clutter and the stress levels down!

An organized barn not only looks nice and makes it easier to find and use your tack, but it also creates a peaceful, uncluttered atmosphere that can help you feel better mentally.

(photo taken from smoothrunequine.com)

"A horse loves freedom, and the weariest old work horse will roll on the ground or break into a lumbering gallop when he is turned loose into the open." Gerald Raferty

~ Saddle Up