Following on from 'how many rugs' post

[guido16]

I had a red and a purple "string vest" sweat rug.
Seriously, they were the strangest shape EVER!.

They had necks big enough for an elephant, the front part was deep enough for a pigeon and the back part was deep enough for a giraffe!! Mind you, I was so chuffed when I got them that I still used them...

 

[DunRoamin]

Who folded the blankets back into squares and who into triangles?? my old boss always did triangles and they always stayed in place but i could never manage it, My first pony came with a proper new zealand rug, but had a cosy pony stable rug not a jute

 

[brighthair]

I had Cottage Craft girths, rubber riding boots (they had red lining I think?!), wax jackets, oh sugar beet that you had to soak for 24hrs! I still don't trust Speedibeet lol
Thatching under those vests

 

[DunRoamin]

my old yard still uses sugar beet that has to be soaked for 24hrs

 

[MrsMozart]

whitney rugs! the art of folding them back at the neck

leather anti-cast rollers

milk powder. bran mashes.

first pair of jod boots - second hand, all leather (bl00dy slippery soles lol).

jods with no stretch in them

going to work in jods, polished boots, white shirt, tie, v-neck blue jumper, hacking jacket, hairnet, hat.

being able to get on any horse from the ground lol.

 

[rockysmum]

Aother thread just reminded me of this one

Towing a great heavy Rice trailer and two horses with my Volvo Estate

Come to think of it, how many bales could you all get in your Volvo Estate, my record was 8

 

[marmalade76]

I still use sugar beet that has to be soaked for 24 hours. Much cheaper than speedibeet and a sack lasts ages.

My Grandad towed a Rice Beaufort with an Escort once (landy had broken down) The back wheel arches were touching the wheels! Those days most people towed with a car and the only 4X4s were Landrovers & Range Rovers.

 

[Chavhorse]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm probably showing my age now.. but does anyone else on here remember the 'good old days' when New Zealand rugs came in bright grren canvas with a blanket lining & stable rugs were made of jute, also with blanket linings (which you'd put on inside out if pony was still wet from being naked in rain). Sweat rugs were like your grandads string vest! There was no variation in weights/colours/neck covers. Those were the days when horses were waterproof & survived the British winter time without the wonders of modern fabrics & velcro!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes I do indeed, back in the day I had a New Zealand and a stable Jute and they lasted for ohhh years! so please explain why my beast is the current owner of;

2 x duvet style stable rugs

2 x light stable rugs (autumn and Spring obviously!)

2 Heavy weight turnouts

2 light Turnouts

3 fleeces (assorted colurs 1 with neck cover)

1 summer rain turnout

1 fly rug complete with neck cover and full face and ear guard.

Also can someone please explain why I can only buy rugs that suit his colouring.....my husband shakes his head when I pass over the "in the sale" blue rug to buy the full price chocolate brown one because " it suits him better".....the words "darling he doesn't care, the other horses will not make fun out of him just because his rug clashes with his tail" have been said much recently!

You can tell my husband is non horsey

 

[molly7886]

I've never started a thread like this before & I feel so much better knowing I'm not the only old fart on here that remembers simpler times!
Another thing I haven't seen for years is a linseed boiler...

I've been trying to remember farrier costs from back then but that would just depress me

 

[MrsElle]

Oh yes, I remember only having NZ rugs, they weighed a tonne!

We also used to make our own haynets from baling twine, OH caught me knotting one up a few weeks ago and pointed out that we already have several nets we don't use, and they only cost a couple of quid anyway

I still wear a waxed jacket. I love them, although I did go into a saddlery a couple of years ago to buy another and the shopkeeper looked down her nose at me and told me they didn't sell them as 'horsey people just wouldn't wear those anymore'

We hacked to shows, sometimes several miles away, with a packed lunch in a bag

Ahhh, memories!

 

[SuzySue]

Ah ha, remembered more! I still have 2 Cottage craft girths, brown ones, and would use them cept they don't fit. Easy to wash by bunging in machine, and vaguely remember first pony having a white string girth before Cottage Craft ones came out - she got girth galls - do they even exist anymore

And towing, OMG! I towed 2 horses in a rented Sinclair trailer with my Ford Capri!! All the way from London to North Wales and back again. Got stuck in traffic on way home and think it took over 12 hours! (I still have a Ford Capri, not the same one! but wouldn't dream of fitting a towbar to it - my precious!)

I still oil every new piece of tack I buy - do you not need to do that anymore!!

 

[marmalade76]

I've got a Sinclair trailer! They went out of business 15-20 years ago? Shame 'cause they're really good trailers.

 

[Enfys]

[ QUOTE ]

Another thing I haven't seen for years is a linseed boiler...



[/ QUOTE ]

I thank the gods for that! It wasn't boiling the linseed it was cleaning the blasted things out afterwards that did my head in.

The yard I did my AI on always had blankets under jutes (corners folded into triangles and turned back over the jute under a foam pad and surcingle.

In the mornings the blankets came off, jutes were turned blanket side out and fronts turned back then surcingles back on.

I have string girths now too, never use anything else. I thought they were gaining popularity again recently, I was told that they were used for the Police horses (in Bridgend)

 

[marmalade76]

I think the string girths popular today are a bit different from the ones we used on our ponies years ago!

 

[Enfys]

[ QUOTE ]
I think the string girths popular today are a bit different from the ones we used on our ponies years ago!

[/ QUOTE ]

Cotton, not nylon and some funny name, Stubben I think

I had yellow, YELLOW, nylon girths when I was matching things up with my plaited nylon (don't tie a knot in them or you are doomed) reins

 

[marmalade76]

Yes, I had some of those too, mine were red!