Great, but simple, ideas ...

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Greylegs

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Someone has just shared a brilliant idea on my FB newsfeed .... a pair of over gloves draped over a saddle (when not on the horse, of course) with the stirrups curled back and tucked into the padded bits at the end where you would stick your hands to protect them. Keeps the stirrups secure and doesn't mark your saddle. Inspirational ....

Anyone else ... ?
 
I use a dustpan brush (or you could use one of those brushes you clean the dishes with!) to wash off horses feet without having to get your hands wet- particularly useful in the cold!
 
Socks over irons to stop them marking saddle. Buy scrubbing brushes to use as water brushes etc (much cheaper) Small trugs as feed buckets. Use old towels for drying horses legs etc. Use cheap shampoo and conditioner for manes and tails (keep special horsey shampoos and conditioner for showing season) Ebay a God send for rugs etc etc etc. Use cheap gardening gloves for mucking out filling haynets other heavy duties save hands and 'good' gloves.
 
Not to do with warmth but...a piece of wood attached to baling twine and then attached to hoof pick. This HP was never lost for years... until the wood fell off..
 
Faracat said:
Soak sugar beet in a hard plastic, lidded, cool box. The beet stays cool in the summer and doesn't freeze in the winter.
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Genius idea, and I have got one that is never used. End of throwing away stinky over heated beet in summer after 40 years of keeping horses.
 
Cut up a thick bath towel into 4 pieces, sew around the edges and you have 4 leg wraps that you can bandage on to horses legs to dry them off after washing. Much cheaper than thermatex leg wraps and just as good.
 
Leo Walker said:
Now that is a really good idea!
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Use an old wool blanket, cut into 8 rectangles of required size, stitch in pairs like an envelope, turn through, stitch across open end to close and add velcro fastenings. Best leg drying wraps ever but remember to close velcro when washing and only use a cool wash.
 
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Use a soft toothbrush on plaited reins and other nooks and crannies of your tack where grease and dirt can gather and it comes off a lot easier than just by scrubbing with a cloth.
Use a dustpan for emptying that annoying last little bit of water out of the trough that can't be upturned for whatever reason but doesn't have a plug to help you empty it. If the trough is plumbed in you can then use the dustpan to catch some water and rinse the sides off and re-empty before filling back in.
I saw the oven glove stirrup iron trick and thought it looked much better/less faffy than stirrup covers but not sure I'm keen on the leathers being bent all of the time?
 
Take an old leather saddle, cut off the flaps as high up on the flap as you can (stanley knife with care) give it to your local Saddler and ask them to stitch the 2 halves together straight edges overlapping so it ends up looking like a runner bean shape for want of a better description. Then ask them to punch a Trace End punch through each end and you have a tough but simple stud guard to go on your girth for Jumping.
Oz
 
Loop the noseband headpiece over the top of a bridle headpiece rather than beneath so that the wider leather is against the horse - increased comfort (and easier to straighten noseband!)

make a long tassle of frayed out baler twine and attach to end of whip as a flywhisk (please accustom horsie to it first though)
 
I make my own mane and tail spray from 50% baby oil, 25% water and 25% hair condition - much cheaper than buying even bargain brands and works as well as the most expensive brands.
 
my bfg said:
Rubber o-rings/washers/grommets used as surcingle rubber rings, 99p for 50 on EBay
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D'ya know, I've never once used the original rubber rings. I didn't even know that's what they were for until I saw it explained on here one time. Didn't see any reason to start using them once I found out, though..!

I'd like something like the oven glove trick to stop my dressage girth straps dangling on the ground when I'm using my Saddlemate box!

http://www.jetsetequestrian.com/sites/default/files/2202.jpg
 
Floxie said:
D'ya know, I've never once used the original rubber rings. I didn't even know that's what they were for until I saw it explained on here one time. Didn't see any reason to start using them once I found out, though..!

I'd like something like the oven glove trick to stop my dressage girth straps dangling on the ground when I'm using my Saddlemate box!

http://www.jetsetequestrian.com/sites/default/files/2202.jpg
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What are the rubber ring for!?! I have no idea! :o
 
Champers and Co said:
What are the rubber ring for!?! I have no idea! :o
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Edited because I looked it up :D I think you fasten the T bar through the slot as normal then stretch the rubber up and over it, to hold it in place. Though who fiddles with that every time they want to change a muddy rug has far more patience than I do! Or rugs more prone to coming unclipped (mine never have, thankfully)
 
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If you are going hunting or competing in the winter put hot water in a water container & wrap it in a heavy weight rug, it will keep warm for hours & you can wash your horse down in warm water.
If there is snow on the gound take hay out to the field on a sled.
 
I always change the rope on my haynets for nylon covered smooth rope. You can buy it in B&Q by the metre. I buy it in 3m lengths and that's plenty long enough that you don't have to hold the hay net up really high to feed it through the ring. As it's smooth it doesn't catch on the ring so it's much easier to deal with, doesn't wear out anywhere near as quickly as the ordinary rope and doesn't get twists of the rope stuck in the quick release knots so it undoes much more easily too. It costs about a fiver and the last bit of rope I bought is on its 3rd haynet. It's lasted years and is so much easier to tie and untie. Plus it makes your haynet really identifiable so it can't be 'borrowed'.
This sort of thing http://www.knotandrope.com/store/pc/Double-Braid-Nylon-Rope-c22.htm
 
One more. If you have trouble with water pipes freezing in winter, invest in a plastic dustbin with a good lid, bury it 90% of the way up in your muck heap and fill with water when cold weather is forecast. Secure the lid well to stop bits of muck falling in. The heat from the muck heap will stop it freezing.
 
I've just bought a plastic garden sieve from Aldi to hopefully pick out the tiny bits of poo in my pellet beds (not every day! Not that fussy!). Thought I could have a good sort through a couple of times a week and the holes look big enough to let the whole pellets through whilst catching the small bits of dung that fall through the fork. If it works, it will be £1.75 well spent!
 
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