Horse-related things in living memory of older forumites that would surprise the younger ones.

[vickyb]

I had my first pony in the early 60s. She came with a half flap saddle that was lined with a woolen fabric. In those days, using a saddlecloth on a pony was unheard of. It was pretty disgusting as there was no way to keep it clean. I reckon it was probably pre WW2. There were two choices of noseband; cavesson, or, if your pony was a hard puller, a drop noseband. Grackles were for racehorses, and flash nosebands didn't exist. Bitting up was frowned upon and the majority used eggbut snaffles. The alternative was a pelham. Trying to control a strong pony was considered character building! (Having said that, I was taught to ride at a stables run by an ex cavalry man, and all the ponies had pelhams with two reins. I can remember how my little hands used to ache after a lesson from holding them. I was 5).
Jute rugs? Of course. My mother wondered where all her spare woolen blankets had gone - they were under the jute rugs on my pony's back. No cheap man made lightweight fabrics then - wool rugs were expensive too. Do anti-cast rollers still exist? I was very proud of mine as it was expensive and I had to save up for it for ages.
The only equipment I had for my first pony was a saddle and bridle, a rope halter and a small grooming kit. It all did the job though.

 

[Merry neddy man]

Having to hack 6 miles to the blacksmiths forge and six miles back to get a horse shod (we had 27 horses at one time).

 

[Rowreach]

I have seen pictures of the front of beds being plaited, and we were told about it in PC but never shown. Did you sit/crouch on the floor and literally plait the straw, or just turn the edge neatly with a fork so that it resembled a loose plait?

Yup literally side plaited the straw, but straw was much longer than it would be now.

A properly done straw bed looked wonderful and the painting (in case anyone doesn't know) was to stop the bed being dragged into the (immaculate!) yard

 

[Rowreach]

I don’t know about colours being limited in the 80s , but in the late 60s my pony proudly went to shows with blue brow band , blue nylon plaited reins , blue nylon string girth and blue “string vest” sweat rug . We all wore white “gym shoes” for gymkhana classes . Oh and usually hacked around 5 miles each way to the shows .

Back then (60s) the family yard colours were royal blue and red, all the wool travel rugs were specially made, and the velvet browbands. I've still got one of the rugs.

 

[Rowreach]

Yup, purple spray was the go to, along with white or black wound powder, but Dermobion topped the lot

I really miss Dermobian. Not just because it was really effective but the smell was amazing

 

[Alibear]

Does anyone else remeber the copper sulphate and oil mix to treat mud fever?
The travel boots with elastic fastenings that were just squares of felt.
Rubber riding boots we're the norm
Wormer was a powder from the saddlers that you sprinkled on their feed.
More recent but something that came and went, those barley oat rings that became the thing to feed for a while.

 

[Mrs G]

I didn't get to own or care for horses until I was an adult and this pic is only from about 1986/87 but its one of my earliest examples of wearing my horsey clothes as a badge of honour and I was so proud of having my own riding hat, complete with the elastic band that dug into our throats! I was a horsey child in a very non-horsey family, we lived in the middle of suburbia with no horses locally so I only got to go riding once a month or so and when funds allowed, to a riding school miles away with the most terrifying lady yard owner who used baler twine to fasten her trousers! I was also incredibly shy so my little sister got dragged along too to keep me company!

 

[dorsetladette]

I had a pair of navy cord jods in the late 80s/early 90s and thought I was the bees knees.
When I upgraded to a jockey skull cap with a chin strap I thought I'd made it in life! constantly had a spotty chin from sweating in it.

Jute rugs with duvets or blankets under, folded neatly with a roller over the top. Ponies were wider than tall in winter if they were showing as we didn't clip, just rugged ALOT to avoid thick coats growing.

Dad used to pour lead and opium into hooves of anything with thrush or any kind of infection. it would fizz and sizzle for a while but would cure anything. God knows what it did. It was kept on top of the medicine cabinet (all yards had one) in a corona pop bottle and was the colour of the blue panda pop. Know idea where he got it from and probably better not to ask these days.

Everything travelled to shows in gamgee, bandages and square boots. None of them did the silly travel boot walk. Tail bandages and tail guards which you tide to a roller to keep them up.

Tying horses straight to metal rings without a piece of string.

Dad rasped teeth of anything that dropped weight. The vet did any extractions.

Suede full length chaps were amazing in winter, but by spring they were a little heavy.

I remember thinking continental reins were the best thing ever until I wet out with no gloves on a strong horse on a wet day. I didn't ride again until the skin grew back on my hands.

Saddles were all quarter panel saddles with no knee rolls or support at all. (might have been different on other yards) apart from the hunters who had minimal knee support and were REALLY heavy.

Everything fed straights until barley rings arrived on the scene.

Dress your best day at school meant I got sent in wearing my showing gear!

 

[Glitter's fun]

The farrier was called a 'blacksmith' and he didn't come out to the yard, he had a forge in the village & we went to him.
The horses were ridden (bareback) or ponied, there & back.
It was a feather in your cap to be asked to take them because they were always crazy on the way home.

 

[cauda equina]

I didn't get to own or care for horses until I was an adult and this pic is only from about 1986/87 but its one of my earliest examples of wearing my horsey clothes as a badge of honour and I was so proud of having my own riding hat, complete with the elastic band that dug into our throats! I was a horsey child in a very non-horsey family, we lived in the middle of suburbia with no horses locally so I only got to go riding once a month or so and when funds allowed, to a riding school miles away with the most terrifying lady yard owner who used baler twine to fasten her trousers! I was also incredibly shy so my little sister got dragged along too to keep me company!

Love the school shoes!
I've a pic of me aged 10 doing a PC hunter trial in my school shoes

 

[Caski]

I have just unearthed my 'Westropp' petal overreach boots, a pair of white shiny plastic tendon boots and sorriest thing of all, white rubber reins.

Poor ruddy horse had to endure that lot for jumping!!

 

[Lucky Snowball]

Some great memories above. In the 70s pony club camp involved actually camping in a tent and ponies tied in temporary lines with straw bales between them.
I helped / worked at the stables from 7 til dark just to ride bareback for 5 mins to the field. Sometimes we galloped round the field in a head collar then ran back in case the owner asked why we’d taken so long.
We backed ponies without hats and were told to go home if we didn’t get on. No arena, leg up and chased up the lane! Strangely the ponies all turned out fine and I don’t remember any accidents.

 

[little_critter]

I remember my full length riding mac, white rubberised cotton of some sort, very heavy and cumbersome. Not very waterproof out all day in Dartmoor rain either!

Everyone wore waxed jackets (and stank to high heaven)

 

[Beausmate]

Polywarm rugs. Front leg straps on rugs - didn't last long, thankfully! The Abbot Davies Balancing Rein Kit and the Schoolmasta I think it was. Muticoloured 'biscuits' and matching padding on bridles. Flattening bandage tapes out on fence posts or door tops. Hampa boots and what were those hard, moulded boot that were common for XC? I've actually got a pair that I've never used! Sindy horses that actually looked like horses and you could get stables and even a gig for them. Hat silks only had ties, not elastic. Terrifying XC fences and no body protectors. Nickel bits and stirrups were still fairly common.

1980s and 1990s.

 

[PurBee]

I remember it cost £3 for a 1 hour lesson at my local large RS in about 1989. It stayed at that price for years, surprisingly! For that you could book a jumping lesson, ‘flat’ schooling lesson or a hack. Great hacking countryside.
No surprise it’s 10x that amount now considering costs have risen so much.

I loved hanging up my wax jacket occasionally and giving it a new spray of wax, it lasted years and kept me very dry. Much more effective than these ‘gore-tex’ type modern waterproof materials. The smell of warm wax jacket and horse mixed together has been seared into my memory, a most favourite smell!

 

[Beausmate]

'Nappy' straps on body protectors. Gamgee under bandages. Thatching and putting the turnout over the top, inside out so the lining didn't get wet and it warmed up for when you put it back on. Gymkhanas and chase-me-Charlies. Horse And Pony magazine 'win a pony' competition.

 

[nagblagger]

No passports or ID chips
The knackersman actually paid you to take them away, then it was for free, not the £££s you pay them now.
My first white jodhpurs not the normal beige, any other colours were unheard of.

 

[feesh]

When I started riding (late 80s), I wore my mom's old helmet, which only had an elastic under the chin to keep it on, so we bought a slip-on harness that went over the top. I can't remember how long I rode with it before I got a "modern" one. Presumably around the time that lesson barns started using language like "riders are required to wear boots with a 1/2" heel and a riding helmet with a fixed strap."

 

[poiuytrewq]

In the 80s and 90s de-nerving was still quite common, but tendon firing died out earlier on.

And purple spray could apparently fix any would

Tendons still got fired until fairly recently. Not very often but I'd say within at the most 5 years easily. Bar or Pin fired
I'd not be at all surprised if it does still happen.

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

Batwing jodhpurs, yellow itchy wool roll neck jumpers, cream rubberised waterproof riding mac that was so stiff it could have stood up on its own. And of course the useless riding hat with a piece of stretched old elastic to go under your chin. The jodphur boots were always great though, the leather ones with the cross over straps and my Dad put the steel toe and heel tips on ours with the old fashioned iron shoe last. We made a lovely clickety click sound as we walked across the concrete yard.

 

[SantaVera]

Feeding straights

 

[cauda equina]

Polishing bits and stirrups with Duraglit

 

[equinerebel]

I started riding c.2006, so I can't relate to many of these. But I was in the era of Robinsons and Shires catalogues. Oh, I miss them.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

We got our first horse from a 2-line ad in the Saturday Yorkshire Post. The only photo ads were for really posh/expensive horses in H&H.

 

[Jenko109]

Them god awful felt type browbands with the little rosettes in the corners

 

[Errin Paddywack]

I started riding in 1960, cost of rides then was 5 shillings, just got allocated a pony and taken for a hack. I had only ridden at local fetes up to then but had managed just about to master rising trot. My friend and I were just taken out but 2 girls who rode off in front, occasionally shouting instructions back to us. Had to cycle 5 miles to get there. Found a local RS and moved there, slightly more expensive at 6 shillings. They closed down and we moved to the RS that I started work at about 4 yrs later. That was 7 shillings and 6 pence but later went up to 10 shillings. After I left in 1969 I remember someone being scandalised that my ex boss had charged someone £1 for a bale of hay. Ordinary ponies usually cost well under £100. While working there I was teaching people to ride, both adults and children having never had a proper lesson in my life. Learned everything from books and the horses themselves.

 

[Ahrena]

Does anyone have a photo of the plaited beds? It sounds great but Google isn’t producing much.

 

[Kunoichi73]

Sindy horses that actually looked like horses and you could get stables and even a gig for them.

1980s and 1990s.

I had 3 Sindy horses and the foal. They were great. I also had the stable, the gig and a horse trailer. I had a Barbie horse that wasn't as good because it had movable legs and was a nightmare to stand up.

 

[Nonjumper]

What a fun thread. I stated riding in the 80s and rode up to the early 2000s. I sadly haven't sat on a horse since, much as I'd like to.

I remember the saddles from the 80s and earlier being ghastly things with barely any flocking and rigid as a plank.
In the 80s Everyone had Jute stable rugs with a roller, string vest sweat rugs and canvas New Zealand rugs. Then during the 90s the modern synthetic rugs hit the shops and it was like a revelation! Names came and went but then Horsewear arrived and basically blew everything else out of the water. There was one point where I didn't know anyone whose horses didn't wear Rambo rugs. The wool rugs were out and replaced by the likes of Thermotex and later Thermolux synthetic rugs. At one point getting your hands on a Thermotex was a feat in itself as they were so popular they were sold before they even hit the shelves!
Brushing boots where almost unheard of and were generally leather until Woofwear produced their easy fit neoprene brushing boots which started of either black or white then eventually the velcro straps started to come in snazzy colours. All of a sudden almost every horse sported a set of woofboots.
Horses were travelled with gamgee cloth and bandages in the early 80s but these were dropped in favour of these funny little pads that had synthetic fur inners and cotton outers and were velcroed into place. They only covered the cannon bones. Later on (90s) massive synthetic travel boots came onto the market. From memory Horsewear made these in the same style as their Rambo rugs (this was of course the set I had) but I believe there were rival companies doing them too. Horses walked in an exaggerated way when they were first put on.
When the safer jockey skullcap came out there was an uproar about how ugly they were and people refusing to wear them. I remember getting bullied because I had one! A similar uproar started over the body protectors. These days people wear them just to go hacking!
I remember the chaps craze. That came and went quite quickly, but they certainly helped your jodhs stay clean.
Does anyone remember Sabre leatherwork from the 90s? OMG I loved their stuff and had Sabre bridles and leather headcollars. I don't think the company lasted sadly.
Early 2000s when I gave up, DIY livery was £14 a week. A hot shoeing with full set of shoes was £45. The last horse I bought (1997) was a 5 year old warmblood dressage prospect and she cost £3000.
An Ifor Williams Trailer cost £2500 new.

 

[suestowford]

I have a pair of needlecord jodhpurs. I think I bought them late 90s, they are Harry hall make and light brown. I still fit into them and they are still as comfortable as they were when I got them. I think because they are 95% cotton I don't get too hot in them.

Does anyone else remeber the copper sulphate and oil mix to treat mud fever?

I don't remember that but I do use oil mixed with flowers of sulphur to treat feather mites. Only now you can buy it ready mixed instead of having to mix it yourself.