Do I really need to do this to save some pennies???

So I am going through my garage- aka Tack storage section-( as opposed to the Ammunition storage sections or the Christmas storage section or the I GOTTA gid rid of all this shit' section) and I am pulling out some tack that is still good that I am not currently using. My Horsemen's Club will be having a Tack Sale and Swap in another month and I wanted to see what I still have to swap that I haven't already sold just to keep the horses.  I found some good stuff!

I found an off side billet when yesterday I was thinking that I really needed a new one. Voila! There she was!

I found a small hay bale bag, a cinch and woolen cover, a nylon halter and rope, a 5 inch stud chain ( you can never have too many of those around!) Several already cleaned and properly stored blankets  ( Yippee! I have to start changing Desi's Winter clothing to spring clothing soon! Again Voila! There she is!

I found a complete tack box- hard brush, soft brush, jelli scrubber, thrush meds, rubberbands and hair brushes, fly spray and hoof picks. It had been Glaciers and when I put her down I cleaned all the brushes and put it in the unused section.

I found all of my show blankets, cleaned and bagged.

And I found a Cashel Fly mask.
It's not really fly season around here...yet. But I noticed that there was a whole lot of Bay hair around the velcro tapes and around the ear holes and crown piece.
Says I, " Oh I'll just wash it and the hair will pretty much go away."
Then my other self- the one that gets yelled at for doing what the first self says buts in with, " Eh, NO Dummy! You'll clog up the Washer with horse hair. BAD IDEE!"
Says I-" Hmm, ok.. I will take the jelli scrubber and rub all this hair away." So I began to do that on the sideway of my suburban home, where the soccer moms drive by and see me scrubbing something black and fuzzy on the sidewalk. " Hmm", I think, "this looks weird, I'll bet." And all to save this damn fly mask- even if it is a Cashel.
Then the Penny Saving self- the one that has just recently incarnated into my life  says" But Why buy a new one- when the old one will work."
" I am not so broke I cannot go buy a new fly mask! " I huff. But after once more nixing the idea of washing the damn thing, I take the soft brush and really begin making the hair fly. I finally get it clear of hair, and I admit I do feel a little bit better about saving it so I can use it another season, when I notice the eye piece is completly ripped out! GAHHH! Into the garbage it goes.

I've spent all that time for nuttin! This time. But I've had horses since I was two. I've been skrimping and saving, living on a horse lovers shoestring budget-of course I would want to save it. Anyone who knows me would  have thought it weird for me NOT to try to save it.
 Other stuff I do to save a dime or two:

                   I mend my horse blankets.

                   I mend my own tack when possible with leather strings, and hole punches.

                    I refold saddle blankets so the fluffy side is always up,

                    I borrow headstalls for shows, barter my exquiste stall cleaning skills for lower rent, photos for  money for hay, riding lessons for hair cuts. 

I buy in bulk, and sell the extra.

I buy when the price is low and store stuff, if I can. 

 I do a lot of my own vetting, but when I can't, I pool my resources with my friends, by calling the vet to come to our area all one day. He will hit three or four barns for shots and teeth, and take a little off of each barn call because we are all so close together.

Sometimes we all choose to go to the same shows. We haul each others horses, share each others food and lodgings, split the cost of the tack room stalls and gas. And I save a dime by selling objects of tack that I will not be using again.

So even though I felt a fool for cleaning a mask that ultimatly turned out to be just garbage- it is something I am used to doing. I will continue acting a fool for my horse.And putting those pennys into a 'horsey' bank!

BTW- that is the same way I refrain from spending at those fabulous auctions!  A penny for a horse statue- or a penny for the real thing? Guess which I choose almost every time?  You are correct :)

How do y'all save your pennies for your horses?