Tournament cabinets are the ideal companion for on the road and can be easily transported thanks to the castors and handles. However, buying these cabinets ready-made is usually very expensive due to the material used, which is why you can build your own tournament cabinet instead.
We explain here what you need to build a tournament cabinet yourself, how to do it and what you should keep in mind. Assembled correctly, you can benefit from the numerous advantages of a self-built tournament cabinet.
To build a tournament cabinet yourself, you need the following material.
The best way to build a tournament cabinet yourself is to make it out of wood, or rather with solid chipboard or OSB boards. Wood is easy to work with and can be optimally used for the cabinet body and the doors of the cabinet. Once the cabinet body has been attached to the doors with hinges, shelves can be fitted in the desired places on the inside.
In order to make the horse show cabinet mobile and easy to transport from A to B, four castors are mounted under the bottom of the cabinet and a handle on each side. Furthermore, all brackets and hooks can be screwed on inside the cabinet to hang up the riding equipment.
It is important to fit a hinge with a padlock on the locker door to prevent access by unauthorised persons and to prevent equipment from being stolen during the tournament.
Tip: If you want to design the tournament cabinet in a certain colour, the wooden panels should be lacquered before processing.
If you want to build a tournament cabinet yourself, you should note that you develop a detailed sketch before building. With the exact measurements, you can buy wooden boards already cut to size at the DIY store. Accurate planning is very important to ensure that the measurements are correct later and that there are no holes.
The size and weight of the saddle should also be taken into account so that the cabinet is not too small and can hold the saddle. When the show cupboard is closed, the saddle should not touch the door. In order to provide more stability for the walls, additional strong brackets can be used, for example, to hold the walls together.
The general difference between a show cupboard and a conventional tack cupboard is that a show cupboard has four castors and two handles that are used to pull or push the cupboard. These should definitely be attached to the cabinet.
In order to ensure that each piece of equipment has its own place later on, you should know where each individual item is to be stored in the cabinet before you start building it and calculate the size of the tournament cabinet accordingly.
Tournament cabinets should be at least 105 cm high (without wheels), 65 cm wide (without handles) and 60 cm deep. Most tournament cabinets vary in height between 110 and 150 cm (without wheels), in width between 60 and 140 cm (without handles) and in depth between 60 and 80 cm. The size of the tournament cabinet can be determined according to the amount of equipment.
The advantage of a self-built competition wardrobe compared to a purchased wardrobe is the freedom of design. If you build your own show locker, you can design it the way you want and adapt it to your existing riding equipment and your own needs.
Another advantage is the material of the self-made tournament cabinet. Wood is very durable and robust and is also much more breathable than the metal show lockers. Moisture such as sweat, which saddles or snaffles have after riding, can be absorbed by wood and thus protect the leather of the equipment. Metal does not have this property and is also usually more expensive than wood. High costs can therefore be saved if you want to build your own horse show locker.
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