Step Inside the Organized Tack Room at Vlottenburg Stables

Vlottenburg Stables is a pristine facility situated on a wine farm in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

Vlottenburg Stables offers full livery service in Stellenbosch in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The stables started out as a small yard and grew along with the demand for affordable livery with nice facilities. Barn owner and manager Louise Brown competes in show jumping and dressage. She created this equestrian business to be able to fund her competitive dreams.

The tack room at Vlottenburg was originally an old farm building that was open on one side with stone pillars between. Now, the room has been completely enclosed, keeping the original three stone walls and filling the gaps between the pillars. A thoughtful paint job and organized design elements has allowed the room to look like a beautiful and cohesive space while keeping the integrity of the original stone. Read on to learn more about this tack room.

Photography by Jean3 Photography

It was imperative for Louise to design a space that was aesthetically pleasing and affordable. The barn’s beautiful tack room is a perfect example of this accomplishment.

“We have had to be very creative to build a functional and beautiful barn at the lowest cost possible to operate as a business. Saddle stands, bridle hooks, numnah stand, bit displays and the tables are all homemade from items you can find in any hardware store and other items are from second hand shops.”

Louise made sure there was enough storage for the busy stable.

“We currently have 65 horses in livery and the goal was to have a highly organized tack room so that clients can store their belongings without the risk of it being misplaced or lost.”

The oil painting and display cabinet were found using online second hand sites.

Saddle Storage

The existing stone wall didn’t allow Louise to drill into it. The saddle stands had to be designed to bolt into the floor. The original space was open on one side with pillars and stone walls. Louise kept the original three stone walls and filled the gaps between the open pillars with new brickwork which allowed them to attach the bridle racks to the new sections of the wall while blending together the look of old wall meets new with some creative painting techniques.