Channeling your inner hoarder and overattachment to sentimental but useless tack

[Fransurrey]

Well, I still have the first thing I ever bought for my first Exmoor. I think it was about £10 at the time - a yellow headcollar with reflective strips on it. It's now used on my little mare. The strips are half hanging off and the buckles are rusty, but it's still functional. Still my favourite. I still remember buying it in an excited frenzy.

 

[Skib]

I gave a lovely John Whittaker bridle to my old horses new owner (we are still friends) and i wish i hadnt. She no longer uses it and i really loved that bridle!

If you are still friends, could you ask for it back?

I "gave" my mane and tail brush to an experienced groom who looked after my old share and when the horse eventually died, she returned the brush to me.

It had come top choice in a H&H list I think and she liked it, but I never needed to use it until my current share. Showing that one does need to hang on to stuff, just in case.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I'd say "keep it". If you get rid of it then in years to come I fear you will regret that decision.

It is only a relatively small item and won't take up much room. Enjoy it and cherish it would be my advice.

From one who's got the clutter of years in their tack-room! Total nightmare, having to sort it through; still haven't got a grip from stuff when I lost my two oldies 3yrs ago now. I'm a terrible hoarder!

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

If you ever saw my tack collection you wouldn't feel bad for keeping 1 bridle ...

 

[Dasher66]

I’ve just cleared out a load of old tack; the horses went a few years ago. We gave away a lot of everyday stuff at the time but kept the “good” things.
So last week we got it all out and cleaned up the leather and googled new prices Even after pricing at 50% of the new prices there was a good £500 lying in the spare bedroom. It will be going on local Facebook when we’ve done some photos.
We have kept one of the Albion bridles.
id say keep it but look after it, leather does go hard and it would be so sad for it to moulder away.

 

[AFB]

Keep it.

I've got an 11 year old Stubben that was the first 'nice' bridle I bought, horse no longer wears it as prefers shaped headpiece but I can't sell. Plus it's a good fit for cob/full so I'm confident it will come in handy for the next one

(I actually found it growing mould in the bottom of my cupboard a few day ago so it's currently getting some TLC)

 

[Annagain]

I'd buy some shorter cheek pieces in the same width or have some made to fit. I wouldn't shorten them in case you have a need for a bigger bridle again in future.

 

[eggs]

Keep it (although you are taking advice from some-one who has a serious hoarding problem ....). My old mare had a lovely bridle which was too big for her son so I had the cheek pieces shortened (or you could maybe buy some shorter ones instead) if you wish to continue to use it.

 

[iknowmyvalue]

Keep it,. I‘ve got a box of Rosie’s things I couldn’t bear to part with and I’m glad I have them. Not a huge amount: her stable plaque, a set of shoes, some tail hair, her bridle and her show headcollar with the engraved plate with her name. Plus a collection of our “best days out” rosettes/photos. One day I’ll get a nice wooden box for it all.

I’ve still got the rainbow crystal brow and I bought for my first pony when I was 11, and I’ll keep Henry’s “nice” bridle when he’s sold too.

 

[SibeliusMB]

Definitely keep. If you can have it altered to fit your current horse great; if not, just keep it in great condition and hang it in the house. I have two old bridles I inherited that are nothing but great house décor now - one old sewn-in bridle and one old flat Crosby, both from the '70s. They fit nicely into my country chic interior design.

 

[Annagain]

I must admit, as nice as Charlie wearing Archie's old saddle, rugs and (until he decided he didn't like them) Archie and Monty's old bridles is, my motivation is more financially rather than sentimentally motivated! I don't have anything of Ebony's left. His things weren't him and never made me feel closer to him. I also never had money to buy him really nice things so he never had anything I 'loved' for its own sake. M's bridle would be that thing now but I still think I'll sell it as C hated wearing it so he won't make use of it again.

 

[honetpot]

I have brushes that I bought with pocket money over forty years ago, still perfectly useful, complete with garish green sticky tape, so no one would nick them. My leather backed brush which I bought with my first proper wages, the handmade bridle I had made for my first horse, and odds an sods of bridle work from ponies long dead. They are no longer things, but memories, but like and old cardi, you can slip your hands into them and the feelings come back.
I made a mistake once of selling my horse's tack, as it was all good quality when I bought a horse for my daughter it cost over twice as much to replace.
My absolute shouldn't have bought it, never used, but I love it is a Thematex rug with my initials on it, in gold on both sides. I use it on my bed when it's cold, the twelve year old self huddles inside my sixty four year old self underneath it when its used. There are worse things to hoard.

 

[MagicMelon]

I dont even have much of a story other than I never want to be rid of my very first ponies saddle. Its ancient, but I have lent it to a friend who has promised they'll give it back when they dont need it anymore. I have absolutely no use for it whatsoever but I wont ever sell it.

Im also considering selling my WOW saddle, it special as its what I rode my last (probably ever) 1* in on the best horse I'll ever have who is now a retired field ornament, but the saddle took me to the highest level I've got to competition-wise and probably ever will.