hand me downs

AMW

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the how many rug threads got me thinking, my pony 4yo, owned since a foal has all hand me downs from previous ponies
her saddle, bridle, bit & leather headcollar all belonged to a mare we had, rugs to a colt we had, even her buckets and brushes are pre owned. and if Im honest the saddle was 2nd hand when I bought it lol.
No matchy matchy, just boringly good quality Jeffries, Numed & Ideal.

Anyone else a cheapskate or is she truly deprived lol

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eBay all the way - I'm bidding on an Argentinean polo pony halter - don't ask why, because it's cool and it's cheap. Be a nice talking point - the pony will probably never wear it!

New rugs are nice, but when I get a new bridle (his is very tired) I shall miss the suppleness of old leather until it wears in - old leather is lovely.

I still have keepsakes from old ponies that may one day fit another.
 
Well I've only ever had one horse, so a lot of my stuff was bought new BUT I do have at least two rugs that were given to me many years ago that I still use and I keep all my stuff for as long as possible. I only ever buy new turnout rugs when the waterproofing and then the re-waterproofing goes, and I still have all the stable rugs from when we bought her 11 years ago, use the same saddle cloths, brushes etc...it's amazing how well things last if you look after them!
 
Quality counts, when you buy something that is well made it will last if you look after it. If you have had several horses/ponies over the years then it would be financial suicide not to use what you already have if it fits the new horse. To sell everything just to replace it all with new for no reason is ridiculous. The horse doesn't care if he's wearing new or not, why should we?
 
I'm another peasant. I've had mine 21yrs, so her vast collection of stuff has built up. The majority is either top quality second hand or been on sale. Had daughters 4 yrs & most of her stuff is the same. Plus I've done swops of stuff of my mares when kids have moved to a bigger pony & got their small pony size stuff. And I helped out a friend with an old retired mini when he got ill. As a result I got his tack, rugs, show stuff etc. And as a groom & having done freelance work, had lots of presents & rich peoples cast offs. One thermatex was a gift for nursing a clients horse through an illness in an old job. The other was given when a very rich owner got it as a gift in the wrong size.
 
Not at all I think it's really sensible with a growing pony, as long as everything fits then I'm a huge fan of second hand horsey stuff. My boy is three and has loads of growing and filling out to do so there's no way I'm buying brand new expensive rugs for him to grow out of, I'd rather buy a rug for £20 then sell it for similar when he grows out of it!! He also wears a second hand wintec I bought with the correct gullet and my old arabs Stubben bridle and old numnah :D
 
We keep everything - just in case. We have tack from all my grown up daughters ponies. When my next baby gets her first pony (she is now 3) we should be able to kit her ponies out without spending too much (ha ha ha).

I love old tack, its generally better quality and has patina and history. I realy like to get in and have a good rummage at equine car boots etc.
 
Lots of my stuff is hand me downs from other horses. Ive got a good collection of equipment and tack which has built up over the years.
I must admit though, nowadays anything I buy isnt dedicated to belong to one horse, its my stuff that is being used on this horse at this time. Reason being, I have stuff hanging around that was my old horse's that I cant bring myself to sell or use on another horse as it has sentimental value, so I dont like to say this belongs to X horse now, so in effect everything is hand me downs/interchangeable :)
 
Hehe !
Is this because I said on the rug thread that I feel guilty that my pony has hand me downs ? :D
I've only bought her a headcollar and leadrope, and a white rope halter from new. Everything else she has is inherited from my last pony, plus things I've had for years. My cob size bridle was bought new in 1998. I LOVE that bridle and have used it on a 14.2hh chunky Welsh D type, a 12hh Exmoor, a 14hh coloured cob, my last New Forest pony (13.2hh), used it while backing my Welsh D 4yo (14.3hh) before I sold her, now it's my current (13.3hh and growing) New Forest pony's bridle. I just bought pony size headpiece and cheekpieces to use on the ones with a shorter head (the Exmoor and both NF's). It's a nice flat hunter bridle and is good enough for showing classes.
One saddle, a 16" WHP saddle, was bought new in 2002 for the Exmoor. It also fitted my last NF and I'm keeping it to try on my current NF when she's old enough to start backing. My other saddle, a 17" Ideal, was bought 2nd hand (fitted by a SMS saddle fitter) for my Welsh D last October and is extremely comfy.
Rugs, they all belonged to my last NF. I do admit to spoiling her and bought her new stuff ALL the time.
Things like grooming kit, boots, bandages, headcollars & ropes, haynets, girths, numnahs/pads, etc, I've either had for years or bought them for my last pony.
I still feel the need though to buy Callie something of her own from new though. :D
 
I've got the equivalent of a tack room for three horse and don't own a horse. The horses these belonged to died 35 years ago, 26 years ago and 18 years ago. All in good condition and I have used the odd bit on the last loan pony we had. Wouldn't think twice about using it again if it fit :D
 
Olly was the first equine I bought and the majority of his stuff was either bought from a tack sale or given to me. I have sold the other horse's rugs as they didn't fit him.
 
There is something rather nice about 'hand-me-downs' from one well-loved horse to the next, a bit like a horsey version of family heirlooms almost.

The Welsh princess has lots of inherited tack, her headcollar still has the nameplate of a past horse on it. I thought to get her own nameplate done but I rather like the old one, its a nice gentle memorial.
 
hand me downs and second hands are great as far as I'm concerned!

Sadly there aren't many things from my old girl that fit the lad but the ones that do are all in use such as headcollars, brushes, boots, numnahs etc.

things that don't fit get sold on ebay or to friends and the money is used to buy ones that do fit ... just been selling all my old rugs that are too small and the postman has delivered a nice used l/w stable rug that i got off ebay this morning!
 
I have plenty of second hand stuff and hand me downs. My beloved late mare's attire is now being used on my new young mare. Initially I was terribly upset about the idea of using her stuff on the new girl but had a good think about it after a dear friend questioned me and ended up keeping it. Her saddle and Bridle fit my new girl so I use them on her, the saddle was a second hand bargain when I bought it too! Its good quality stuff so would have been daft to start afresh as it fitted...
 
I use all the tack I used with my last horse - everything! (current horse is about an inch taller than the last one and the same breed). Have invested in a few new rugs and a brand new headcollar (have never used the latter) - oh and a new lead rope and a couple of new haynets! God, I have numnahs and girths that are about 20 years old!
 
When I got H he came with just bridle and saddle, but my friend had lost her similar sized (beloved) mare and gave me all her stuff, most of it was new or nearly new. I did give her something for it all, but she wouldn't take the full value - she was just pleased that it was being put to good use.
 
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