Funniest Item from your Horsey childhood *nostalgia alert*

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skewbald_again

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For no apparent reason this morning while tacking up, I remembered a saddle I had as a kid.

We were not exactly well off and parents were not in the least horsey, and I desperately wanted a *jumping* saddle - which I duly obtained, probably through a selection of parent torturing techniques - and I remember it cost the princely sum of £25 which was a bally fortune.

Oh it was ghastly. Remember that orange indian leather? That's the one, stiff as a board, bright orange SUEDE knee pads (and it had *knee rolls* as well, so yah!) and when you put oil on it (which I did, liberally,) I mean it changed total colour!

I thought I was the cats pyjamas. Oh what did people *think* of me. I am blushing as I recall, nearly 40 years later ...

Oh you *know* I love my nostalgia threads ... go on, who had the 'Pat' riding trouser from 'Jacatex'?! What ghastly coloured reins and string girths did you have? Own up, I say, did anyone have 'batwing' jodhs?!
 
I remember all of those things. Also the first jods in a stretch material! In those days we all wore beige ones and used to put our hacking jackets on to go for a hack!!!!
 
I am 29 now, i started to ride at age 5 at local riding school, all the ponies had either red/black or blue/black suede synthetic saddles and rubber reins to match! When i was about 9 i had a pony who wore a white string girth and all his accessories where red.
Theres a few old piccies from the eighties with my mum and dad with permed hair at the stables :D
Thats as vintage as it gets for me :D
 
skewbald_again said:
Oh it was ghastly. Remember that orange indian leather? That's the one, stiff as a board, bright orange SUEDE knee pads (and it had *knee rolls* as well, so yah!) and when you put oil on it (which I did, liberally,) I mean it changed total colour!
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OOoo hold up, i think my anuntie had one of these indian orange leather type saddles for her horse!
 
OMG, some of the things I had when I was a child!! I remember the first "horsey" thing I ever owned was a brown whip, which I saved up for months to buy (think it cost £3 and I was on 25p pocket money a week), and my mum hated m buying as "you don't even have a horse". I still have that whip :)

I do remember playing horses/riding school in my back garden, and my big brother had just bought some fancy A-frame thing to lift engines out of cars (he went on to become a mechanic) when it was disassembled, the top of the A fram stood about 2ft high, and I would haul it around the garden and use it as a jump for my imaginery horses!! What the neighbours looking out their windows must have thought!!
 
I am only 33, but remember when horse rugs were not invented. We have canvas rugs as turnouts and had blankets for rugs and a duvet underneath, we used to fold the rugs in a triangle at the neck and fold back and placed a surcingle or roller ontop to secure.

I also remember not having feed mixes. We had to mix everything together, the bran, barley, oats e.t.c.

No one had rubber matting, just huge straw or shavings beds. No travel boots, just bandages.

If that were like that now, my yard time would be doubled! Although I still bandage rather boot for travelling.

Those were the days! :)
 
asterid said:
I also remember not having feed mixes. We had to mix everything together, the bran, barley, oats e.t.c.

No one had rubber matting, just huge straw or shavings beds. No travel boots, just bandages.



Those were the days! :)
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I still prefer straight feeds and bandages but then I'm a bit sad!
 
I was desperate for a saddle as a kid but no horse. There was a tack shop near my dad's house in Ottawa, Canada that sold 2nd hand saddles and they had this ancient 1930's saddle with a broken cantle for $30.00. The seat fit me and it was a price that was attainable for me as a kid so went into my dad's change drawer in his van and took all his spare change out and took it to the bank to exchange for notes. LOL, I got exactly $30.00! I was so proud of my saddle that I used to oil and clean it all the time. Despite the broken cantle, the leather ended up being pretty nice!

Bought the saddle and then when I started having riding lessons at the only stable in Montreal that had a bus route to it, I was allowed to use it on their school horses (it was a crappy stable and they never even checked the tree for me). The thing was FLAT, FLAT with NO knee roles, only a half panel like you see on showing saddles.

I tell you what though, learning to ride on that pancake saddle with no supports underneath my legs and some of the unsuitable horses they used to put me on at that rubbish stable because I was too tall for the ponies (like a wappy 4 year old 16.3 Warmblood mare!!! I think it was only God that kept me seated on that crazy horse and stopping me from breaking my neck!!), that really tightened up my seat and why I prefer flat no frills close contact saddles today when I ride astride.

I still had that saddle until 10 years ago when I moved over here, sold it at a garage sale for $20.00 to some guy who was going to make it into a bar stool!
 
I won a pair of Cosy Pony pyjamas in a competition in Horse & Pony magazine. They were pink, very sweaty and had pictures of frolicking ponies all over.

Hours of fun could be had in the dark with the static electricity the damn things created.

I also won a hat silk in purple and white quarters which I thought was pretty neat. Certainly better than the PJ's!

Have pix of my second pony somewhere wearing a string vest and a jute-y sort of turnout rug....
 
erm... i had a full size sticky back plastic picture of a mare looking over a stable door, stuck to my bedroom door.. thought it was fantastic !
 
shysmum said:
erm... i had a full size sticky back plastic picture of a mare looking over a stable door, stuck to my bedroom door.. thought it was fantastic !
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roflol oh that's funny!

My very first lessons, my mum took me to a totally crappy stables, we rode our bikes there, and I wore nylon 'trews' (like ski pants with elastic under the foot) and white (I kid you not) 'fashion' knee length boots with a gilt buckle on them. I think even they had the sense to point out that the buckle was dangerous and we just ripped it off.

How on earth did I survive?!!
 
Jute Rugs, Canvas turnouts with no belly straps, stable whisps for dusting off, cream jods with no chaps and diamond padded barbours in green with a cord collar! We made out own haynets, fly fringes and fed only straits. The only supplement we added was limestone flour to broodmares meals and all horses had boiled barley done in a burco in the yard. I could go on and on!!!

NOTE- I am only 24, I spent my childhood and teenage years in one of the most traditional yards going... hot and cold tubing, kaolin poulticing and a thorough strapping has set me in very good stead!!
 
wax jackets aswell, also everyone on our yard had a puffa jacket - they where either burgundy or navy paisley with scenes of hunting on them
Quite ghastly! :D
Also i remember my sister and i working on the riding school, you where givin a pony to look after but you had to buy all the feed yourself!! if no-body looked after a particular pony that pony would not get any feed - we all used to chip in to feed the ones with no-one to buy for it :( sad really.
 
don't know about sad, a blooming cheek!
I am still amused by riding schools who 'let' people take care of their ponies as 'their own' apart from the fact that they are used umpteen times a week in their riding school!
 
When i started jumping at about 9 or 10 years old my mum who is very supersticious gave me a tiny china monkey to put in the pocket of my showjacket that she told me would keep me safe - it obviously made her feel better - its still kept in my showjacket pocket now and im 28! She firmly believes it will stop me getting hurt and now im paranoid if i get rid of it i'll fall off!
 
I had a riding hat which my mum stuffed with newspaper and stitched an elastic chinstrap onto. I started riding when I was 2 (hatfree!), and when I was 4 I got my 'Kangaroo badge' (no idea of the significance of the kangaroo) to pin onto the front of my new hat because I could do round the world and scissors and trot in a straight line.

I also bedecked my ponies in red and black, and made my own browbands out of old bits of ribbon. My favourite piece of horsey clothing was a jumper that I begged my grandmother to knit for me, it was a brown base with a horses head on the front with a long mane made of wool (and a bright green eye which I was very upset by). I also had one of those puffas that you unzipped the sleeves from and could wear inside out.
 
Wax jackets, puffa jackets, hats with a piece of elastic as a chinstrap. My first ever grooming kit which was all in green, and had to be tried out on the neighbours shetland on Christmas morning (he was less than impressed).

The funniest though....the red addition to my grooming kit. Yep, you guessed it, one of those little plastic red hoofpicks that came free with Horse and Pony mag every few months. It was useless at picking out feet, but I thought it was great! I was only 8 mind...
 
skewbald_again said:
roflol oh that's funny!

My very first lessons, my mum took me to a totally crappy stables, we rode our bikes there, and I wore nylon 'trews' (like ski pants with elastic under the foot) and white (I kid you not) 'fashion' knee length boots with a gilt buckle on them. I think even they had the sense to point out that the buckle was dangerous and we just ripped it off.

How on earth did I survive?!!
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:D

Brilliant, I was very similar. Only with turquoise jogging bottoms and wellies coz my Mum wouldn't buy me anything until my birthday
 
My "Eric Morecambe" style jodhs - cavalry twill with not an inch of stretch anywhere. Hell to get on and off, and very warm!

Also had a "mock" riding hat made from from corduroy - no helf an' saferty in them days!
 
I remember buying my mare a new bridle that had white rubber reins (the shame) and white piping all over the browband/ noseband, she also had white bit guards to go with it
 
I also started to learn to ride in those ski pant thingys with the elastic under the foot. Was very excited about my first pair of johds, but my god didn't they take HOURS to get on and off in those days?! I have so many memories of sitting at the bottom of the stairs, clinging to the banister while my dad tried to pull them off.

I was also very proud of my red magazine hoof pick!
 
shysmum said:
erm... i had a full size sticky back plastic picture of a mare looking over a stable door, stuck to my bedroom door.. thought it was fantastic !
Click to expand...

Oh God - I had that! Chestnut horse? I'd wanted it for ages and my parents put it up for me whilst I was at school - it was there when I came home one weekend and I was over the moon.

And yes, I also had those Jacatex riding trousers, with the stirrup fitting, as well as the nylon reins and girth - in a lovely red..........
 
JVB said:
I remember buying my mare a new bridle that had white rubber reins (the shame) and white piping all over the browband/ noseband, she also had white bit guards to go with it
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OH my goodness, years and years and YEARS after the indian saddle, I had a little mare with white reins, white piping, white bit guards white MARTINGALE STOPS and (ta da) white excercise bandages. With gamgee!

We liked to fink of ourselves as sheow jampers, see :D :D :D
 
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