Are you a tack bigot?

eva said:
most of the time people have a damn good reason to have this tack or that,
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More and more though I think people don't know why they've put their horse in certain pieces of tack. Given some of the comments on this forum, some people clearly have no true idea of what they're doing. They're doing it because their mate told them to/they've seen others do it etc etc. They've not researched it or picked the brains of experienced people or gone through a process of trial and error. And the horse is the one who invariably suffers in some way, be it in a small or a big way.
 
tallyho! said:
I absolutely hate coloured horses!!! They don't match anything in the shops and should be banned.

:p:D:D
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ahahah... seriously, coloureds were really looked down on in the 70s and up until fairly recently, we all sneered at them!!! Oh and yes... we did only have New zealands, jute rugs and dropped nosebands, there were no 'back' people either.
 
Nigsha said:
ahahah... seriously, coloureds were really looked down on in the 70s and up until fairly recently, we all sneered at them!!! Oh and yes... we did only have New zealands, jute rugs and dropped nosebands, there were no 'back' people either.
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I know! Now all jute is good for is carrying your wine back from Tesco!!!
 
Well, I have correctly fitting, good quality, havana tack, French link bit, No martingale or flash etc. I like traditional stuff. That's for me though. I personally don't give a stuff if your tack is pink with purple spots. Not my business. I don't like to see ill fitting tack though as it must be really uncomfortable for the horse, but there is nothing I can do about it so there is no point in getting wound up.
 
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i used to be, but that was because I did not understand how a lot of the "newer" or more complex sorts of tack worked so thought that anything other than simple snaffle/cavesson combination was cruel.

I would rather have a piece of tack on that i did not need and be safe that not have it on and have an accident. it has become more dangerous for riders out on the roads and in some places bridleways which are being used by cyclists and quad and motor bikes etc when perhaps they should not be.

I hack out in a martingale and most of the time I don't need it and it does not come into action unless the head is lifted beyond a certain height, but there have been times when it has been very useful not just for the head lifting but the neck strap is useful if you need something extra to hold on to in an emergency!

bits are as strong as the hands behind them, a stronger bit again will not come into action until you to put it bluntly you pull more! I ride out in a snaffle but I know people who ride in gags and mainly have them on a longish rein without a lot of firm contact but the extra is there should there be an emergency.

in the school it is different as you are very unlikely to meet a mad driver speeding along or have some sort of animal/bird burst out of the bushes and surprise/frighten your horse, it is an enclosed area so if you do fall off at least there is a limit to where your horse can go.
 
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miss_bird said:
Oh no i think i must now be in trouble i breed coloureds, i do have sheepskin numnahs, and i ride with my stirrups long.
But all my tack fits correctly, so think i might have just redemed myself a little bit
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OMG you BREED them?????????????????????????????:eek::eek::eek:

What on earth for??? ;):D:D
 
I don't think I'm a tack bigot - I hope I'm not anyway!

I prefer havana to black tack, but when my horse was being fitted for a new (to him, secondhand) saddle, I told the saddler I didn't care on the colour, so long as it fitted. Sods law, I got black!
 
no, i'm not a bigot at all - live and let live and all that. mind you, i probably would say that - given that i ride both of mine in treeless saddles, rope halters, bitless bridles or bridles without nose bands. And god forbid, i ride arabs. :D
 
tallyho! said:
I know! Now all jute is good for is carrying your wine back from Tesco!!!
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I actually still possess a jute rug..............and have even been known to use it. I also have a twisted snaffle, remember those....................it's what we used to use if they were a tad strong in a plain snaffle.
 
I don't mind synthetic saddles because we use them purely because we can't afford leather ones and our horses have a habit of throwing themselves on the floor and ruining tack.

I agree with the hatred for coloured bridles, I used one we had lying around to get puzzle bitted and I was embarrassed!!!
 
skewby said:
Am I on my own here? And please don't fill the thread with replies of "but I use blah blah blah because blah blah blah", I am not making any observation here really other than, I am more than slightly uncomfortable with my prejudices!
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My only observation is... yawn
 
Eeyore.1 said:
his big shoulder can move freely underneath and is not restricted like the tree saddles. :rolleyes:
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I have a horse with a big shoulder and have a correctly fitted treed saddle that enables his shoulder to move underneath it (although sadly not the first saddle I bought, which resulted in bruised shoulder blades!)

Have just realised I'm one of those people in a martingale for no reason simple other than I'd forget to pick up my breast plate if it wasn't attached :D

I don't like raised/padded noseband/browbands, plain flat hunter style all the way.
 
miss_bird said:
Because my stallion is coloured and he keeps making little coloured foals
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Hehehehe:D we used to call them ***** horses!! No offence, I think they are lovely now!! Dont think I ever saw a black saddle in the 'olden days' I've got one for my young boy now though as he is grey and looks very handsome in it! And I had a synthetic which was brilll to clean but not too comfy, so soon got a lovely english leather.
 
Well, i used to think i was. But after reading this thread i'm positively open minded!

My only tack irk is people using items without fully understanding it or needing it.

I ride in a dutch gag either snaffle ring only or with double reins. I don't like them used with one rein on any other ring but the snaffle though. But if you understood how they worked and why, and your horses sensitive mouth, then i don't see why anyone would use one rein.
 
Well I have used synthetic saddles and my current horse brought her black tack with her (she's grey).
My tack gripes are mainly about bridles/bits. I can see no justification for strapping a horse's mouth shut with any type of nose-band - so cavesson all the way for me.
I certainly can't see that strapping the mouth shut round a single jointed snaffle is likely to be comfortable. Although single jointed snaffles were certainly the most commonly used bits in the 60s and 70s. I think it's always better to find a bit the horse is comfortable with than to strap it's mouth shut. It drives me crackers that is is nearly impossible to find a bridle with a cavesson noseband for sale, you seem to have to buy them separately these days.
I agree that many people do not understand the principles of bitting and have no idea about the conformation of the horse's mouth. They simply follow fashion blindly.
Whoopit - I can frequently be heard commenting on the 'My Little Pony' mentality of many riders & owners
I'm another who thinks that Pelham's/gags should be used with 2 reins.
And I hate to see draw reins, particularly out hacking.
 
Spot_the_Risk said:
I don't think I'm a tack bigot - I hope I'm not anyway!

I prefer havana to black tack, but when my horse was being fitted for a new (to him, secondhand) saddle, I told the saddler I didn't care on the colour, so long as it fitted. Sods law, I got black!
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Same here! Plus...it's synthetic, which I generally am a tack-snob about, buy hey, it fits, is adjustable in the tree, and he is growing/changing shape.


Whoopit said:
As many have mentioned - if it's meant to be ridden in with two reins, please kindly do so or rather than muddle around with roundings, just take a lesson in how to hold more than one rein and a whip and a hipflask :D

Sort it out - it's not a My Little Pony you're on! :D

Additionally, if you feel the need to strap it down and kick on with spurs, please go to a BDSM dungeon :eek:
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That's just too funny :-D Quite right too...especially the part about the roundings...hate them! Two reins are not that difficult!

I must add that at the moment my black synthetic saddle is used with Havana leather stirrup leathers, as I haven't actually got round to buying black ones. Makes me feel quite rebellious actually.

Will I be allowed back in here again now???
 
Wow, slightly scary thread! Of course, we all have our prejudices (I don't much like really lumpy saddles, too-short stirrups, and excessive dead sheep [especially those nose-marshmallows!]), but it's a worrying thought what people may be thinking when encountering us in the woods :confused: : scruffy, extra-furry, partially muddy pony with natural mane; elderly synthetic saddle (black, oh woe!); alas, a black bridle (though with cavesson and snaffle, phew...but slightly raised, oh NOES!! [it was the only one without a flash loop]). No wonder the local dead-sheep-and-bling experts seem to look down on us sometimes...of course, their horses are also much taller, for the most part, so that could explain it too... :p
 
spookypony said:
Wow, slightly scary thread! Of course, we all have our prejudices (I don't much like really lumpy saddles, too-short stirrups, and excessive dead sheep [especially those nose-marshmallows!]), but it's a worrying thought what people may be thinking when encountering us in the woods :confused: : scruffy, extra-furry, partially muddy pony with natural mane; elderly synthetic saddle (black, oh woe!); alas, a black bridle (though with cavesson and snaffle, phew...but slightly raised, oh NOES!! [it was the only one without a flash loop]). No wonder the local dead-sheep-and-bling experts seem to look down on us sometimes...of course, their horses are also much taller, for the most part, so that could explain it too... :p
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Got to admit though the nose marshmallow works wonders for my horse :) Its only temporary though and I'd rather use that then strap his head down with a martingale
 
ok here goes.
people adding more and more tack to compensate for their awful riding !!!!

but have to add i use a variety of stuff
simple snaffle no flash black tack and spurs !!-- dressage

waterford gag 2nd ring, running martingale, no flash, dead sheep noseband !!and spurs! -- showjumping/xc

but can i redeem myself as i occasionally school or hack in a hackamore which my horse is fab in.
 
I also hate flash nosebands, mainly because most people don't seem to know how to fit them.

I also dislike black tack, especially on chestnuts.

I also don't understand why people use matingales that are so loose they are ineffective, why give yourself more tack to clean for no reason?

I also hate bridles with buckle billets.

I hate cheap, nasty tack and bling.

No horse should ever have to suffer the indignity of wearing pink!

I have no problem with the number of reins on pelhams and gags, but hate to see horses in strong bits they clearly don't need.

I hate to see kids' ponies smothered in tack, most don't need it. Case in point, reletives of the OH bought a 12.2 pony for their daughter as a snaffle mouth - a quiet, polite, sensible pony. Since they have owned it it has sported a flash, a pelham, a gag, a martingale and even a Market Harborough!

I am old-fashioned, I like old-fashioned stuff.

I admit to liking a bit of dead sheep though!
 
pip6 said:
Doesn't matter what tack looks like, as long as safe & correctly fitted.
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Quite.

I don't care what other people dress themselves, or their horses in - unless it is hunting, and then I am the most awful stickler for dress, turnout and manners.


My bridles have neither nosebands nor throatlashes, some fasten with leather, others with screws. They are all embossed leather, my reins are rope and my bits are mainly curbs. Oh, and my saddle is synthetic:)

Do I give a flying fig what anyone thinks about me based on what tack I choose to put on my horses? Not in the least, they may think what they wish.

I think that old quote is very appropriate -

"Those that mind don't matter, and those that matter don't mind"
 
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PoppyAnderson said:
More and more though I think people don't know why they've put their horse in certain pieces of tack. Given some of the comments on this forum, some people clearly have no true idea of what they're doing. They're doing it because their mate told them to/they've seen others do it etc etc. They've not researched it or picked the brains of experienced people or gone through a process of trial and error. And the horse is the one who invariably suffers in some way, be it in a small or a big way.
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^^^^This

There is always a considered reason why my horses, or my daughter's horses, are wearing what they are wearing and it's usually out of the 70's Manual of Horsemanship! Although sometimes, like yesterday, I was asked why my horse didn't have a martingale on after she smacked me in the head with her head. The reason my horse was NOT wearing a martingale on an exciting first-time beach ride was because it was in the tack locker on the lorry and the lock has broken - that was also the reason she didn't have boots on! She wouldn't normally use either boots or martingale though.

As for pelhams and roundings - if it's the only combination the pony will XC happily in whilst giving my novice daughter the feeling she can stop if necessary then that's what he'll be wearing. Pony normally is happy in a loose ring thick-mouthed snaffle but panics if you take a strong hold and his panic is a true bolt, not what you want with a novice up XC on an enthusiastic and capable pony. A nice thick-mouthed vulcanite pelham he seems to find very reassuring, it doesn't matter if she grabs a handful of it to slow him up, he responds without panic and both pony and rider have a lot of fun. Look askance if you wish but actually I do understand the bit action, the rider and the pony and if you find a combination that works then changing it seems pointless.

Anyway that was years ago! Yesterday she was out on a ginger ninja in black tack (it's what fits him), synthetic (why wear leather on the beach if you don't have to?) with an American gag used with two reins, together with a cavesson noseband and no martingale (he never has a martingale, it wasn't left off for the same reason mine was:D). American gag is only used for emergency brakes as we weren't sure of the his reaction to the sea and the huge expanse of sand. He loved it:D
 
monkeybum13 said:
What do you guys think about drop nosebands then? ;)
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Not enough of them about. Can you even buy one in a tack shop anymore? A simple drop with a snaffle might solve problems quite easily, whereas your tack shop will just advise you upgrade to the "bubble bit" (and no mention of two reins either ;)).
 
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