Monday, January 28, 2019

KonMari my tack trunk!

It's kinda amazing to me how much stuff we equestrians accumulate over time. The volume alone is absurd. Then you spread it around between various closets at home, the backseat or trunk of your car, the trailer, and your tack trunk at the barn (plus god knows whatever other storage there is... garages, attics, basements, what have you).

roller ball spurs that i bought and literally never used
It adds up quickly, almost without us ever really realizing it. For me, personally, the accumulation is all the more curious bc... uh, I only just bought my first own personal pony two years ago. So tell my why most of the stuff pictured in this post predates the horse?!?

why do i have so many nosebands tho????
I mean, obviously a lot of it was for Isabel, too. She totally counts. Although some of it also predates her, to be honest, but oh well.

and like... why so many spare flash straps? how did i not know that i had them before going out and buying moar??
There's so much stuff of varying sizes too. Like I guess I never wanted to get rid of anything bc who could know what my "future horse" would wear size-wise? And so I collected and collected. Really, it's kinda obscene.

the consignment shop was happy to take these, meanwhile i wasn't sure people even wore non-zipper tall boots anymore...
Lately tho, I've been hearing a ton about the new reality TV show "Tidying Up" with Marie Kondo. Whose ultimate mantra is that we should keep what sparks joy, and let go of the rest.

spare halter breakaway
It was kinda a tantalizing thought, tbh, haha. Was my massive collection of dusty musty moldy tack really truly bringing me joy? Every time I had to fight to shove my saddle onto its rack beyond all those extra boots and bridles.... was that really a joyful feeling?

one of many girths, and a whole bunch of narrow gullet plates bc of that one saddle fitter years ago who wanted everything in a narrow...
Plus, combined with my new zeal for budgeting ahead of a year that will be more expensive than in the past (if all goes to plan, at least)... Well. It got me thinking whether some of this crazy stockpile of equipment might actually spark more joy if I could transform or otherwise convert it into a couple greenbacks.

speaking of adjustable gullet plates..... my Bates dressage saddle is officially for sale
And so. Spring cleaning came early to 'Fraidy Cat Eventing haha!

it served me well over the years, i'll be sad(happy) to see it find a new home!
I went through all my little caches of horsey paraphernalia and pulled out all the stuff that I simply am not using. Much of which hasn't been touched in maybe years. All those spare nosebands. The old pair of fillis irons that were replaced by newer hi-tech gear... All those various styles of spur that I bought, when all I actually wear in reality are my tiny tom thumb nudgers.

comes with medium (black) gullet plate
It all had to go.

adjustable point billets + nice thigh block that won't push you around too much
I spent a couple hours over last week and weekend just sorting through the stuff and cleaning it all up. Then made a couple trips up to my local consignment shop at Maryland Saddlery to list everything with them.

anybody wanty? asking $800, all reasonable offers considered. email fraidycat.eventing at gmail ;)
I thought about offering it all here, but the idea of trying to figure out pricing plus shipping, and then making any trips to the post office.... Honestly that idea was kinda daunting and overwhelming to me. And possibly was why it had taken me so long to get around to organizing all this stuff anyway.

moar stuff for consignment tho.... they didn't accept that bonnet bc of the sun bleaching so i guess that's up for grabs too haha
Really, I just needed an escape. An immediate "eject" button. A way to quickly just jettison it all. And so off to consignment it all went.

why do i have so many spurs? and it's time to stop holding on to all these bits i'm never gonna use on chuck
Admittedly I made one feeble attempt to list those roller ball spurs on Facebook, but idk if it's my #cavetroll or #socialmedialessemma status or what but the post was immediately flagged as not in compliance with FB policies so I tossed that idea too haha.

oh hey look, here's more strap goods that make complete bridles with all those earlier nosebands!
We'll see if any of it sells at consignment over the next couple months. If not I'll probably pick at least some of it back up again (they donate unsold items to a therapeutic riding center, so I could just let nature take its course) and try other channels.

so. many. girths. why.
In the meantime, tho, it feels flipping fantastic to have shed so much figurative (and literal! those fillis irons and gullet plates especially were heavy!) weight.

that figure 8 tho.... well... 
And maybe if I'm really lucky, eventually all those odds and ends, bits and pieces, above will metamorphose into some new and desperately needed breeches haha.

maybe i'll hold on to this one for now ;)
The only thing that didn't go to the consignors is the Bates dressage saddle above. Hit me up if you're interested in any details on that saddle. It's a nice hunk of leather and has fit a wide variety of horses. Asking $800 but open to offers.

And who knows, maybe more stuff will get purged soon too. Bc god it feels good haha. Maybe KonMari is really onto something with the whole "keep only what sparks joy" idea. It's kinda invigorating to let this stuff go!!

Did you watch the show? Has it inspired you to take a fresh look at all your stuff? Are you like me in stockpiling all manner of horsey equipment on the off chance that "I might need this later!"?? Or are you really good at moving stuff out as soon as it's not useful to you?

48 comments:

  1. Selling stuff is tough. I have a ton of stuff to sell, like a brand new Ogilvy half pad, but consignment takes such a huge percentage and I would really like to get at least half my money back. But as a fellow cave troll, it's tough.

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    1. Ugh yea I definitely continue to second guess the consignment choice, bc of the percentage taken and in some cases the resulting dollars come in the form of store credit. Which isn’t actually generated income. For me, the decision came bc I needed to get rid of this stuff and it certainly wasn’t generating anything from inside my closet. It’s tough tho knowing that there’s a real value for these items even as we become less likely to realize that value. FWIW I sold an ogilvy half pad on this blog before relatively easily - some items have higher demand. I could post yours if you wanted! With no percentage taken obvi haha

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    2. OMG that would be awesome! Honestly, I'd be happy to give you something for your effort. Adult beverage of choice? ha ha!

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    3. Lol let’s talk - shoot me an email at Fraidycat.eventing at gmail!

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  2. Going through the boxes in my garage is high on my list too. Mostly so that I can get some money to put towards a new saddle. I'm going to take it to a tack sale in March and hope some of it goes at that time because I hate selling on Facebook. People are idiots who ask obvious questions, then disappear, or totally lowball you on price. So annoying. Consignment takes too much, but does all the work, so might be worthwhile for whatever doesn't go at the sale.

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    1. Yea the leg work is what’s really tough about all of this. I had hoped to do some sort of tack sale but it just never materialized. And it seems like often times everyone is trying to sell v buy. Idk. Maybe the solution is not acquiring so much stuff in the first place!! Lol...

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  3. I am about as minimalist of a rider as it gets. If I buy a bridle, I sell the old one. I have one pad I use all winter. But even still, I did find a small pile of things that I plan to sell at the local 4H tack sale later this year. It really is amazing how it adds up!

    Most hilariously, there was a local NPR story last week about how Indiana Goodwills are being overwhelmed with donations, which they are guessing is because of the show. Hahaha. Every January right after New Years I take a couple of days off work to do just this, take down Christmas and get rid of every possession I possibly can, so it feels like the whole world is joining me this year.

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    1. Lol that’s how I heard of this whole thing too - the NYT did a story on the Marie Kondo phenomenon and talked all about how donation centers across the country are filling up. I see it as a positive trend so long as the underlying premise is also sustained: not only should we only *keep* what brings us joy but we probably should only *buy* the important stuff too.... it’s so hard tho! Impulsiveness is real yo

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  4. I grew up with a mom who threw everything away and that sorta stuck with me though I married a pack rat. Ugh. We have also moved 8 times in 14 years with more and more stuff getting pitched each move. the move onto the farm was the easiest because I just went and threw 90% of our house away!

    If you don't want to do the Facebook thing, try the Tack Hunter App. You list the price and shipping and supposedly it is super easy from there. KC wrote a blog post about it maybe a year ago or so which is how I found it.I purchased Gem's bridle through the app and it was quick enough

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    1. Everything above is already at the consignment shop! No additional steps necessary lol! If any of it comes home in three months I’ll reevaluate but for now I’m considering my piece of this work as DONE lol.

      And yea I grew up with a sister who was really good at systematic and periodic purges. It always blew my mind that she could get rid of the stuff so easily, and often I’d go through her piles and take huge portions of it for myself (never to use either but so what). Into adulthood tho now I’m finally trying to channel some of that pragmatic purging!

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  5. I read the book a few years ago and it helped spur a huge purge of my personal stuff - mostly clothes and papers. I'd already set a big goal of purging a ton of things this year, so when I watched one episode of the Netflix show I was happy to find I didn't feel MORE motivation to Purge All The Things. I'd hate to purge too much and find myself needing to spend money all over again.

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    1. ooh nice!! a lot of that personal stuff i had to reckon with when i moved this past summer. same with clothes and shoes and all that. there's still more that i could do tho, but i'm trying to avoid amassing so much stuff again in the first place lol! awesome that you feel like you've reached a degree of sustainability in purging such that it's not going too far!! i worry about that too.... and would be pretttty annoyed if i ended up having to buy something pictured above a second time...

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  6. I have quite a bit of stuff to sell (I'm looking at you Botori breeches I should have known wouldn't be long enough, ugh) but posting on FB has yielded exactly zero response. My closest consignment options are an hour or more away so I need another idea. I probably need to post on my blog but it's just a PITA getting all the info and pictures together and organizing it all again.
    I definitely keep some extra horse stuff that I think I might want for Maestro later like other bits and half pads. I think my worst offense is disposable horse products like liniments, sprays, ointments, etc that I get and never use but don't throw away. Like is there a market for half used butet conditioner? Lol

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    1. ugh yea i feel ya on what a PITA that all is. that's part of what kept me kinda paralyzed about actually taking action for so long. once i started tho it was much easier to just keep steam rolling through!

      and re: those disposable products, omg yes i know exactly what you mean. i keep half empty tubes of gunk for EVER lol! actually tho i've had good luck rehoming that stuff within my barn. like some hoof gel i bought at the recommendation of a friend, then never used, i just sold to that same friend at a bit of a discount. whatever works right?? lol...

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  7. My mom gave me the book for christmas a year or two ago, as an anvil sized hint that I'm a slob and need professional help. Thanks mom.

    I recently went through my old tack, cleaning everything to either prep for storage or sale. Haven't gotten to the selling part yet but it's getting there!!

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    1. aww haha, god bless moms..... my mom kinda has the opposite problem and doesn't understand why i try to be ruthlessly practical and tends to give me self-described "lessons in frivolity" as gifts. like this giant ornamental birdcage that literally does nothing but take up space. or another artisanal platter with a hand painted pheasant on it that is very pretty but probably not going to ever be used for anything other than decor.... lol c'mon mom!

      anyway tho good luck with getting everything prepped for sale. it's such a good feeling to be done!

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  8. I really need to Kon Mari my tack room. I've done my linen closet and my kitchen so far and some of my clothes. I'd already done a good portion of my closet so really I just super organized/folded my t-shirts and that made me immediately happy, lol

    I do have extra stuff that I just won't need and I hate trying to sell it. I should see what the consignment tack store nearby takes as a cut.

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    1. ha that "immediately happy" feeling is the absolute best. i had to face all of my non-horsey junk this past summer when i was preparing to move. i had lived in the same place for 10 years, and was moving into a slightly smaller space. so.... yea. nothing was spared that examination! but i did end up happier after it was all finished!! the horse stuff had to get handled eventually tho. and yea selling stuff is so tough i hate it. ugh. there aren't really any perfect answers either, but definitely check out your consignment shop just to see what their options are!

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  9. Purging things is one of my favorite activities. Like, how I even find things to purge the next time I get on a roll is amazing because I have zero sentimentality and love getting rid of clutter. I hate selling things though, so pretty much everything gets donated or thrown away, horse stuff included. The perk of being at a busy barn is someone always needs something!

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    1. omg i'm so jealous of your non-sentimental approach to life!! i'm such a sap haha, and i hang on to the weirdest shit.... i *do* like selling things, conceptually at least. the idea of getting dollar bills out of stuff that is no longer useful to me is very appealing. i'm just... not very good at actually conducting that transformation haha. good for you for being so cool about donating tho. that's basically what the Marie Kondo approach is, i think: just let the stuff go, donate it. that may be what ends up happening with a lot of this stuff, but i'm first hoping to at least get a couple bucks (or, uh, store credit) from some of it so i can get some breeches that actually fit lol....

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  10. We got rid of SO MUCH horse (and house and life and everything) stuff when we moved. I sold some, but most got donated because we were in a rush. In the end though, we were short on time for packing everything and stuff just started getting thrown into boxes with no time for sorting so I still have some horsey stuff to go through.
    You can totally dye that fly bonnet. That's what I'd do.

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    1. oh man, i definitely know what you mean about running out of time and just throwing stuff in boxes.... honestly that's kinda the worst too. i have like four boxes left from moving that were packed in that manner, and now they're the last to get unpacked bc it's all just this random junk that i didn't really filter through appropriately at the onset and still have to deal with ugh....

      also re: the fly bonnet, i was thinking the same thing about dye. it's kinda a cool bonnet esp for how cheap it was. tho it's that extra long show jumper style that isn't to everybody's tastes. and i also decided that i don't really love the look of charlie in a bonnet. they cover his giant distinctive star and he looks totally different lol...

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  11. Surprisingly I'm not too much of a hoarder when it comes to horse stuff. I used to be, and would just throw things in my trailer's gooseneck to be out of sight, but once Husband renovated the entire tack room so I could sleep in it, I had to toss out/rehome a lot. I'm like that at home, too- I hate clutter and am always throwing things out.

    If you want to rehome those roller ball spurs, let me know :)

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    1. oh man, i hate the clutter too but am so so SO BAD at getting rid of it!! for so long i kinda just shuffled it around from place to place, drawer to drawer.... just punting, i guess. i'm trying to be better now!

      and re: the roller ball spurs, they're at the consignment shop now but if they don't get picked up in the next three months i'll definitely let you know! some things i'm fine with just getting donated if nobody buys them, but others i know have real value and ought to get sold. those spurs are definitely in that category haha.

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  12. I send everything I want to get rid of to Used Horse Tack. They take a decent percentage, but like you, I can't fathom multiple trips to the post office and guessing at shipping costs. There aren't really any consignment stores near me either, so filling up that bag and dropping it off (ONE TRIP!) at the post office, is just so easy.
    But I'm a total hoarder about certain things. Like blankets. I keep them around if they're in good condition because you never know when things will get discontinued that you love and what size the next pony will be. Fortunately, I have a shed that I can use to store them, so I don't have to actually see them on the regular.

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    1. ha i'm glad i'm not the only one totally overwhelmed by the prospect of trying to sell each piece myself individually.... and also glad to hear i'm not the only hoarder. solidarity, yo. and three cheers to having a shed haha. my tiny apartment dwelling lifestyle makes my hoarding habits sliiightly unsustainable lol

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  13. Purging feels SO GOOD. I tend to list higher ticket items on Facebook, but for a lot of small stuff, I just consign it -- so much easier!

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    1. so good tho haha! and yea part of me feels like i maybe could have handled trying to sell some of those bits and spurs, bc they're maybe easier to ship and often can get a good price. if they don't sell through consignment i'll definitely pick them up. honestly tho, the easiness of the consignment was extremely attractive!

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  14. I also did this this weekend! The amount of STUFF I took out of my tack locker was just insane. Mostly garbage though. Like...why?

    I've been doing this to my house though. The amount of stuff I have purged feels fantastic.
    I also want to sell our house and moved so this is like a kick in the pants to maybe do that?

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    1. wooot congrats for embracing the purge haha. moving was exactly what inspired me to go through my whole house last summer too. nothing quite as real as having to think about the prospect of boxing everything up and literally carrying it to a new place to make you think "eh maybe i don't need this after all!"

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  15. I don't mind tossing things - in fact, I prefer it. The BF hates it tho and always pokes at me to "sell it" or "donate it". Which, he is right bc you never know who needs something, but it's such a pain in the ass listing it, pricing it, and then having people tire-kick over a $2 flash for seven weeks.

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    1. omgod i am the WORST at just throwing stuff away. the WORST. ugh. it's a real problem. moving this summer definitely helped bc i live pretty close to a city dump so i started making regular trips. at first it was just the big, obviously trash stuff that definitely couldn't be donated or whatever. but then over time my standards dropped a bit considering how easy it was to just throw stuff out. still tho, i'm hoping to reap at least some small degree of value from some of this stuff..

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  16. oh i need to sell some stuff i have brand new stuff and older stuff that needs to go. there are NO consignment places down here....SIGH....

    Thanks for all the ideas guys! and i tried one episode of that show and COULD NOT WATCH IT. I don't like reality type shows and i literally could not understand her. So nope..maybe I should get the book?

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    1. ha that's fair! i haven't watched it either, it's been so long since i had a regular tv that some of these reality shows really confuse me lol. but i can get behind the message of tidying up, at least! good luck with selling your stuff too!!

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  17. I haven't seen the show or read the book. But I don't like to keep stuff. Well, non-horse stuff anyway. HOrse stuff I have far too much of. I've tried to sell some saddle pads on FB but they didn't get anywhere. I also have a show jacket I want to get rid of. Sigh. Maybe I will take it to consignment.

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    1. ok i'm glad i'm not the only one who didn't have great luck with FB. it always seems to easy in my mind to sell stuff. like, some of it is pretty nice and i tend to be flexible on prices, esp for stuff i've had for a long time. but then once i try to actually sell something.... for some reason it's just never as easy as i hope/expect!!

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  18. I’m in a most almost constant state of purging, which only recently tipped me off to the fact that I buy stuff I wind up not really using. FB sales have served me well for everything BUT saddles. I’m gonna give tack hunter a try.

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    1. ha yea, it's kinda enlightening how going through all this purging has changed how i viewing buying new items now. hopefully that feeling will last lol....

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  19. I went completely KonMarie on my saddle pad collection.

    I am now in the process of replacing them.

    HELP ME

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    1. omg haha! see i have so so so so so many saddle pads (mostly purchased used) and i really need to just get rid of them. the laundry is killing me. KILLING ME.

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  20. You're so lucky to have a consignment option! I have SO MANY bridle pieces (nosebands, half of a bridle, etc) I don't kow what to do with! Maybe donate to Pony Club...

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    1. i'm SO grateful of the consignment option! it's not perfect, but it's an option. donations are also great too, a lot of stuff has honestly gone to the lesson program at my barn too. if some of this stuff doesn't sell that's probably where it'll go too...

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  21. My mom got into her book a while back, so I've heard a lot of it from her. I've certainly taken her ideas of what sparks joy to heart - I got ride of a bunch of clothes when I moved into my apartment last year. It felt really good to declutter, and it's strangely freeing. That hasn't made it to my horse stuff haha. I want to downsize, but I currently have a horse, and then don't want to get rid of anything should a new horse need it haha. So, uh....? I suppose I'll get to that in the future lol.

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    1. yea that's the tricky part - not really knowing what you're going to need for some hypothetical future horse. i think that's how i ended up accumulating so much stuff in the first place! and it's super annoying to get rid of something, and then have to go and buy it all over again, ugh.

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  22. I've been doing January Cure for years so honestly I've been able to dump a lot of stuff without KonMaring (though her folding technique is great for my clothes!) Hilariously I started doing January Cure again this year and getting through the prompts in about 10 minutes and realizing that after like 6 years of doing it I might be January Cured Up

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    1. i love the idea of the january cure and every time you write about it i get intrigued.... i just have a really hard time focusing my efforts on any type of strict time table other than my own. like, when motivation strikes i'm all about it. but without that personal thrust from within, it's just hard to start. oh well!

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  23. This post speaks to me - I just moved houses and was trying to spark inspiration watching the Netflix show... too bad NOTHING sparks joy while packing! I absolutely need to do this with my horse stuff. It's insane how many bins and trunks I have not only at the barn but also in bins at my house!

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  24. I actually discovered the KonMari method before watching the show and then watched in awe as everyone started using and talking about it! I've decluttered a few areas in my life, but I still have a long way to go.

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