Horsey items that just don't wear out...

[Natch]

I was recently practically bullied into throwing away a pair of holey but useable jods which had lasted me 15 years. They were third hand when I got them

 

[lhotse]

I have a hoofpick which was attached to an edition of Pony magazine that I have had since I was 6!! I'm now 40, can't believe it's not been lost. It's one of the those nice forged metal ones. Have a Jefferies bridle that I've used for the last 15 years that is still immaculate, even after having a soaking in the rain on monday. The Woof boots that I've had for the last 22 years are still ok, and I have an Equigel pad that is at least the same age that I still use. Then there is my wool witney exercise blanket which I don't think will ever wear out! I think the best out of the lot though is a Cottage craft headcollar that was used on my old mare everyday for 20 years, and could still be used now, but it's hanging up with my old boys headcollar on the rainbow rack now.

 

[zoelouisem]

The liveryman clippers my dad bought me when i was 13 and im now 30 are still ging strong. Ive used them when i worked in a riding school and clipped all the riding school ponies for 2 winters. When i ran a livery yard for 4 years also ive clipped for others every year last year i think over 1 4 week period i clipped over 20 horses, Plus others. And ive always clipped my own which has been a minimum of 2 horses. Theyve never let me down, ive always got them serviced though and look after them. There put back spotless everytime.
I have a newer pair which pretty much sit unused cos i dont like them like the other pair!!!

 

[Boulty]

I've not been in this game as long as some of you but I've got a 7 year old Saxon rug that's still in use (only problem is it looks like a blooming mini-skirt!), my first ever crop which must be about 13 or 14 years old (doesn't get much use these days) and a headcollar and leadrope still alive and kicking after 8 1/2 years (buckles are a little rusted but plenty of life left!)

 

[Marydoll]

My 2 horseware wugs which ive had for 15 years, they wash up brilliantly every season, best money ive spent.

 

[buddylove]

My toggi jacket (puffy one) bought over 10 years ago and still going strong!

 

[emmah1979]

My 2 horseware wugs which ive had for 15 years, they wash up brilliantly every season, best money ive spent.

I agree. my horseware rambos have all been super hardwearing. I wouldn't buy any other type of turnout now.

 

[Chestersmummy]

I have a set of woof wear club boots that I've had for about 6 or 7 years and have a tiny nick on them but otherwise look as good as new. Also my bossy bibs which is about the same age. Had my puppy not got hold of it, it wouldn't have any marks!
I have rugs that are a similar age. In fact my fav rug ever is a lw masta stable rug that cost £30 8 years ago, is on its 3 horse and 1 of them was a prolific rug destroyer. I also had a pair of aquacat boots that mum brough for my 16th birthday that I finally had to part with 2 years ago so they lasted 10 years!

 

[Zerotolerance]

Original green Horseware Rambo turnout rugs - approx 21 years
Loads of different Horseware rugs - 15-20 years
Yellow striped witney blankets - 30 years
Cavallo breeches, various pairs - 21 years
Ariat boots - 15 years
Stubben Daland Suede saddle - 25 years
other Stubben saddles/bridles 20 years
Lister Stablemate clippers & Moser Rex trimmers - 25 years
Bernard Wetherill Jacket - 20 years
....etc etc....
Probably my oldest item - a rug roller that came with my first horse, so not new when I got it - 38 years minimum.

It's such a shame that most of the stuff you buy now just isn't the same quality...

 

[Big Ben]

I bought an old bridle for my first horse, which was going to "do for now" I have no idea of the age if it, I know I paid around a fiver for it.

That was over 30 years ago, and I'm still using the thing, it tends to be the first bridle that goes on a new horse here, until they get their own one. The thing has fitted everything from the little 14.2 cob it was bought for, LOL, and still has a disc with his name on it attached, right up to 17hh of Big Ben.

Best fiver I ever spent

 

[nic85]

I had a pair of Hunter wellies that were 10 years old, the were worn ALOT but sadly no longer stood up on their own due to worn down heels.....bought some in June which have already split and look more worn than my 10 yr old pair!! >:-(

 

[monkeybum13]

I use loads of my mums stuff that is at least 30 years old. 'My' hacking jacket looks as good as new ones and the stock I wear with it is just as old. Stirrup leathers are ancient but I now use them as neck straps. Set of four woof wear brushing boots that were bought when woof wear had just started business. Have a few of the 'holey' sweat rugs, I love them. There's loads more that I can't think of quite now.

 

[tabithakat64]

I have a couple of rugs that are 15 years plus both weatherbeetas a Saxon and a rocky, both have been looked after and have many years of use left in them as does my shires lunging equipment and leather headcollar.
I have a couple of bridles and a toggi coat that are ten years plus old.
Some of my Anky pads and my otto Schumacher headcollar are five years or more old and still look like new despite daily use
My oldest item was a crop that was 20 years old before it broke.

 

[EmmasMummy]

Equitech jods...........had a pair since I first sat on a horse properly and I can STILL weat them. They dont look pretty, but no holes.

They were first worn in oct 1994

 

[emmah1979]

I had a pair of Hunter wellies that were 10 years old, the were worn ALOT but sadly no longer stood up on their own due to worn down heels.....bought some in June which have already split and look more worn than my 10 yr old pair!! >:-(

My original pair of Hunters also lasted for about 10 years. The last pair I bought were for my mother and lasted just over 12 months (about 3 weeks outside the 1 yr guarantee) before they split. She only wore them occasionally in the winter for walking the dog.

Phoned Hunter up and explained what had happened and asked whether they would offer me a replacement seeing as 50 pound wellies should last longer than what was effectively 6 months of occasional wear. Also explained that my family (8 people) all wore Hunters so we had been good customers. Hunter Customer Services said sorry but they couldn't do anything so we've never bought Hunters since (not that they probably care!). They used to be manufactured in Scotland but i don't think that they are any more.

 

[chestnutmarelover]

I have a weatherbeeta rug that must be at least 15 years old, one patch but still in brilliant condition. A pair of hedge shears that were my grandads so they must be getting on for 40 years old, brilliant for tackling them brambles!!

 

[rowy]

Lister showman clippers are the oldest thing I own. I have only had a horse for 8 years but got the clippers from someone else (they lent them to us and never asked for them back, we even messages them to ask if they wanted them and no reply) I am estimating they must be at least 10 years but work like a charm and I can't clip with any other clippers now!

 

[tankgirl1]

My original pair of Hunters also lasted for about 10 years. The last pair I bought were for my mother and lasted just over 12 months (about 3 weeks outside the 1 yr guarantee) before they split. She only wore them occasionally in the winter for walking the dog.

Phoned Hunter up and explained what had happened and asked whether they would offer me a replacement seeing as 50 pound wellies should last longer than what was effectively 6 months of occasional wear. Also explained that my family (8 people) all wore Hunters so we had been good customers. Hunter Customer Services said sorry but they couldn't do anything so we've never bought Hunters since (not that they probably care!). They used to be manufactured in Scotland but i don't think that they are any more.

My first pair of hunters lasted 17 years! I replaced them in January of this year, and before I'd had them a month the buckles had fallen off. Persevered with them, but now after only 9 months the soles are so worn down its ridiculous. I also contacted Hunter who were no help whatsoever!

So I've bought a pair of tyne muck boots for the winter, and so far I'm loving them! Will not be buying hunters again that's for sure

 

[Champion1969]

My Mountain Horse laced ankle boots are still going strong bought them in 1994 and I wouldn't hesitate in paying the £95 they are now, worth every penny.

 

[Champion1969]

My first pair of hunters lasted 17 years! I replaced them in January of this year, and before I'd had them a month the buckles had fallen off. Persevered with them, but now after only 9 months the soles are so worn down its ridiculous. I also contacted Hunter who were no help whatsoever!

So I've bought a pair of tyne muck boots for the winter, and so far I'm loving them! Will not be buying hunters again that's for sure

I love my Tyne boots I have mine 2 years so comfy and warm

 

[proudwilliam]

I have a brown thermatex rug bought in 1987 for £33 in daily use. An antique I think.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Um, welllll...... I'm gonna show my age here (blushes):-

Some of the "more mature ladies" on here will remember the firm "Jacatex". Basically, if you rode in the late 1960's/early 70's (OK I know it's prehistorical for you young-uns) then odds are that you would've had something by them.

I had a pair of their "fawn riding trousers" - the ones with the elastic under the instep. Those were the ONLY pair of riding jods I had (couldn't afford anything else!); and I wore them almost non-stop from when I was about 13, right through to about 17 yrs old when I finally admitted that they were just that bit too small now as they were practically just below my knees! But I wore them for EVERYTHING, from messing about with my pony in the field, to mucking out, grooming, riding, and then they'd still wash up well and spruce up nicely for Pony Club and shows etc. I practically wore them to bed in fact, they really were a super little garment and wonderfully comfortable both in the saddle and out of it. Gosh, wish someone would produce some "riding trousers" like them nowadays; they were a wee bit wider in the leg than the tightness of jods/breeches, and would be a lot more forgiving to the, ehm, mature figure.

I also had one of their "lovat" coloured hacking jackets, and that lasted equally well. Just never seemed to wear out and always looked nice.

Oh yes and I also had a pair of their jodphur boots, which lasted forever; my feet were well and truly squished into them come the end but they never wore out.

Jacatex went out of business eventually which was a great pity and a huge loss - no doubt because their stuff just went on and on and on and just didn't wear out.

I get angy when I look at some of the poor quality, overpriced stuff on sale nowadays which is mostly "made in China" (or even worse, in some sweat-shop in the Third World) but because it carries the "equestrian" tag the manufacturers think that gives them the right to bung on a ridiculously inflated price tag

 

[alwaysbroke]

A Falcon Hawk Event saddle 33 yrs old, the hand made stirrup leathers and hand made double bridle that match. Also round about the same age a black wool hunting coat and breeches and I am pleased to say 3 children later and they still fit me Oh yes my original mane comb and water brush which are 36 yrs old, eek I feel so old

 

[armchair_rider]

A plastic hoof pick, which I got free with Horse and Pony magazine in, I think, the late 80s!

Also my mum's old metal mane comb, which must be about fifty years old.

Is yours red too? Mind you I think mine is early 90s. I've still got a yellow H & P pencil box too.

We've got a shovel which we think was made by my Great Uncle when he was an apprentice in Devonport Dockyard in the late 1940s. Doesn't get used daily but gets used hard. Wish I could get another as good.

 

[Honey08]

I have a body brush from the early 1980s that sits on a stone wall next to a well in front of the house. It has been there for over ten years through rain, snow and sun, previously living in the garage, and is in better shape than the two year old ones in my grooming kit (just a bit small). I also have a hard plastic feed bucket that clipped on the door from the 80s. The handles fell off years ago, but I use it to stand on for plaitting etc. It even has my maiden name written on in nail varnish for my first pony club camp in 1984, which is pretty impressive nailvarnish too. All my 80s waterbuckets have just broken, and I'm gutted as they were so much better than modern ones.

 

[starryeyed]

Another vote for woof boots - they last forever! We also have an ancient Horseware rug which is in much better condition than the newer ones we've purchased (not to say they're not good quality! - but the 'original' has been incredible!)

 

[Slightlyconfused]

Shires chill Cheeter standard neck indoor rug that is 13 years old and still going strong

 

[DizzyDoughnut]

I have a thermatex rug that i got about 15 years ago and it was second hand then so no idea how old it actually is.
My bridle is about 20 years ol.
And I have a dandy brush my auntie gave when I was little, its probably about 25 years old now and has been used on every pony I've had as well as scrubbing various things and its still going strong

 

[Autumn sonnet]

I still have my first pony's Lavenham quilted rug , which my sons pony uses . Navy and pale blue , it was the first quilted rug on the yard in about 1986 , when we still used blankets with a jute rug and roller , and didn't we think we were the bees knees . I can still chuck it in the machine and it comes out like new .

 

[little_critter]

Not horsey but I have a nice set if cotton bed sheets which my mum passed on to me. These sheets were passed to my mum when she first moved away from her childhood home so I guess they are approx 40 years old and not a thin patch anywhere on them!