Back in the olden days....

kirstyl said:
I remember doing bareback Chase Me Charlie at college when training for my AI! And lots of gridwork (and not small fences or distances no matter wht size horse you were riding) with no stirrups, reins and eyes shut - eek.
All the stirrups and bits used to be made of nickel, do you remember?
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Yes nickel..I still have a nickel kimblewick and horses seem to like it!
 
kirstyl said:
They did! But it was an acceptable smell :) Just remembered my boot jack for getting off my Loveson rubber boots - now they did smell... despite the amount of talc I put down them
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My dad used to drag me all round the room trying to pull mine off :D Used to be quite happy to ride bareback and two up on our ponies as well, gallop all round the fields and when one fell they took the other with them, pony then either stood looking or b*****d off depending on whose it was and nary a worry about pony squishing or elf and safety. :D
 
Equinus said:
Ghostie Did you also want to put him out NAKED? You know it is far too cold, might rain next week, and a fly might land on him so you need a fly rug at least, and a veil, and probably boots and overreach too!
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I most certainly did, he may not have quite grown his clip out, but why on earth he needs a rug to stand in a small paddock for four hours in the sunshine is unclear. Equally why they insist on overreach and brushing boots (yes really). What do they think he is going to do, pop out for a bit of XC?! They make me feel like the worlds worst horse owner, but I maintain he isn't made of glass!
 
Please may I join? I used to have a little games pony. He was brill but only had one drawback - you had to ask him nicely to stop. We galloped along grass verges, along the disused railway track ( yes the rails and ballast had been taken up), we galloped everywhere - all the villagers thought what a bold young devil I was. They didn't realise I couldn't stop. Riding hat no saddle not for years. I did have a kineton noseband made for him - still have it,and the serge lined saddle and string girths. Do I qualify ? please. I haven't laughed so much in ages
 
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Can I come please, I promise to sew all my plaits with thread, bone my boots and wear my olive green padded jacket. Can I ride in my half pannel saddle too.
 
I must be really old fashioned.
My boy has a cotton rug, a wool rug, a wool blanket from the charity shop, a jute rug and a canvas rug. Any combination of them is enough for him. He doesn't have neck rugs or hoods, I just leave his mane a bit longer.
He doesnt' wear boot, even for jumping. I rely on a 16HH Tb being able to get over the tiny jumps he does without hitting them or himself.
I've still got my wax jacket and body warmer.
Actually, I'm a tight a*** and don't buy anything new unless the old is past repair.
Kx
 
I still have my green puffa jacket.and my full length wax that you poppered round your legs for riding in the rain. Might just dig them out to treat my yard :D
 
Hysterical,

But someone has to consider safety!!!!! Therefore I will come along and ensure I have my metal hoofpick in my pocket that will impale me if I fall off, and I will bring along 10p, if someone has an accident then I can ride for an hour to find a phonebox and call for help. I may be a while as 10p will allow me to speak on the phone for about 5 minutes.
Bear in mind though, I wont call for an ambulance, I will call my mother who will tell me to stop being so stupid and warn me that if you have have ripped your jodphurs falling off then you will have to stitch them up, forget the leg broken in 3 parts underneath it!

What do you mean you need a lift home? You can walk the 3 miles home along country roads, through fields and forests like you usually do and be home before dark!
 
Im only 28 have not laughed so much in ages this whole thread is brill :) :). Love it.. My horses dont realise there is lap of luxury they still live in the good old days they out 24/7 . We saddle up and have FUN, think thats forgotten alot now. Used to say if we not falling off we not taking enough chances and trying new things, "no pain no gain". please please can i join, I will ride the token naughty pony that tanks off and causes all the horses to go for a mad gallop on a civilized trek :).
 
I remember going to my tack shop to p/ex my saddle that I bought. I had saved up the grand total of £18 to put towards a better one. This got me away from serge lined and I got a lovely falcon hawk event (very second hand) and still had money left over for a very lovely red string girth! Of course, saddle was never fitted to pony and we had many years of fun with it!
This thread has made me very nostalgic for the days of only one rug for turnout, jute for indoors (that's if you were posh enough to have stables!) and no one apart from the RS had a ménage!
 
Can I come and play too please? I promise to wear my hair in plaits, sew the mares plaits, carry a hoof pick and ten pence, have boots on that my Dad used to have to pull off for me (rubber ones of course). I will wear my hat with the elastic sewn back on where it had come off due to me twanging it and swinging the hat round by it when it was not on my head :D I will have my sarnies in a plastic bag in my pocket and I promise that I will not tell any responsible adult where I am going :D
 
Now I am getting flashbacks :eek:
I used to always put the elastic on my hat back under my hairnet - always impeccably dressed for hacking you know :o

Also I had a 'crop' with a loop that went over my wrist :eek: I was 40 at the time :eek: (*snigger* I was 11 :))
 
I've still got a very heavy landsdown new Zealand, with the leather clip on front leg straps. Only don't use it cos wet it weighs half a ton.
 
OMG this did bring back memories.

Good old waxed newzeland rugs (I think I had a masta one) a Chillcheeta stable rug in Blue with red binding (i was posh honest) loveson boots, puffa jackets and harry hall jods beige of course. loved my waxed long jacket great for riding in the rain and it kep you warm - it did stink but I got used to that after a while. I now have a synthetic one (can;t afford a waxed one nowadays)

Snaffles kimblewicks pelhams - was there any other kind of bits. Cavaletti's (oh boy did I want some of them) baler twine grass reins. Horses turned out in all weathers, mixed herds, big fields. Westropp over reach boots (the clicky kind - I always wanted a pair). grooming trays with the waterproof covers not boxes. a dandy, body and water brush a metal curry comb and a hoof pick and metal mane/tail comb was all that was in them.

I loved the summers spend hosing the NZ rugs then painting the waterproofing on them and leaving them to dry - much more cost effective that the ones we have nowadays, Warm bran mash, pony nuts, sugar beet (soaked for 24hrs) and treacle. makes me yearn for the good old days and the easier life.

I have to say that once I get my new horse (soon I hope) I AM going back to more traditional ways of horse management, - i.e out in all weathers, rugged when needed not for convenince that sort of thing (not battering horse with a "crop" just because lol). I personally think that we are spending too much on unnecessary equipment/feeds. simple is the way forward.

I remember my RI. by god she was evil, feet tied to stirrups, which were tied to the string girth, hands tied to reins which were tied to saddle, chasing us and hitting us with said "crop" when we didn't do it right................... those were the days:D
 
I've got a pair of flappy Westropps :D I've also got a velvet browband, just the bog standard king, none of this poncy rosette malarky!

If the horses come back sweaty, are you going to thatch them and rub them down later with a wisp? Are you going to get the dirt off the saddle with a 'jockey' (rolled up ball of hair)?
 
Beausmate said:
I've got a pair of flappy Westropps :D I've also got a velvet browband, just the bog standard king, none of this poncy rosette malarky!

If the horses come back sweaty, are you going to thatch them and rub them down later with a wisp? Are you going to get the dirt off the saddle with a 'jockey' (rolled up ball of hair)?
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Yup, tbh I have always thatched a horse when wet/sweaty (always had a string vest rug too none of these fancy coolers ) there's just some things you learn that stay with you all your days,:D

never got a velvet browband tho but always wanted one your soo lucky and I'm sooo jealous and as for the westropps - send them to me plllllleeeeeeeaaaaaassssseeeeeeee :D
 
Did you chuck an inside-out rug over the top while they were drying off? Dry horse and warm rug to go on, much more sensible than all these silly coolers and fleeces (not that I have any of course....).

My Westropps are black and blue, so I have matchy matchy when my horse plants me :D

My velvet browband is yellow and green, it was right at the back of the shelf in the tack shop, cheap too, probably been there since 1982!
 
I want to join in too, I used to wait for a lift for my weekly riding lesson outside our house dressed in yellow poloneck or shirt, fawn jodhpurs, brown jodhpur boots polished with Dubbin and a checked tweed jacket that Mum found in a second hand shop....possibly slightly overdressed but I lived in a haze of Jill and the Radley Riding Club and Janet Must Ride.....

I never remember anything having anything other than a drop noseband and a bit as thick as your forearm with saddles as thin and hard as concrete, probably with baler twine grass reins and a crupper for good measure.

Then I would spend an enjoyable (?) hour either jumping with no stirrups and arms folded, or on one of my less good days, falling off in the indoor school and getting foot stuck in stirrup so I was galloped round and round the school banging off the boarding.......
 
Beausmate- I think you are me! I have originally blue westropps, each have a black petal tho from when one got damaged & I couldn't get navy replacements. My 23 yr old still wears hers, they're her signal she's going jumping!
 
YorksG said:
Will do :D and canter on any and all grass verges!
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Oh yes! Cantered on anything that wasn't rock hard :rolleyes::D

Johdphur boots - Moss Bros all leather - spend hours polishing the things :cool:

Frist pair of jodhs that were two way stretch! Thought they were the height of fashion and luxury :D :D :D

My old Ma buying me the best hat on the market - fixed peak and a chin strap complete with chin cup - if I'd come off and landed on the peak it would have broken m'neck for me :cool::rolleyes:
 
littlelegs said:
Beausmate- I think you are me! I have originally blue westropps, each have a black petal tho from when one got damaged & I couldn't get navy replacements. My 23 yr old still wears hers, they're her signal she's going jumping!
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I'm off to search e-bay and try and find a pair or two of these, just coz I have no horse, I can start buying things now.

And even tho i'm not out jumping I can put them on for nostalgia's sake and prance round the country side going clickety clack

(and i'm not joking)
 
x-di-x said:
And even tho i'm not out jumping I can put them on for nostalgia's sake and prance round the country side going clickety clack

(and i'm not joking)
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You're not the only one :D Do you put them on wrists or ankles?:p

I had the polo neck and tweed jacket too, but rubber boots. Used to spray them with furniture polish and shine them up. I had a piece of foam in my hat for ages because it was too big-elf n safety? Nah. Remember trotting without stirrups until my boots fell off and having a lesson (outside of course!) in a driving hailstorm.

No wimps allowed in those days!
 
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