How horse care has changed....

So which of you 70's children remember the WH Smith "Own a Pony" competition that they used to run each year. The winner got a pony, livery, tack and all expenses paid for the first year.
 
Appy's got a wife-beater string vest, yorkshire felt brushing boots with tapes and I can never leave any trace of dirt / straw / hay on the cobbles after being severely bllokd 40 years ago by a retired cavalry major I worked for at a posh riding school in Kingston. I had no idea I was living in the past.

I used to have a cork riding hat with elastic that used to follow me over the jumps. But, this winter I'm going back to feeding straights, beet & chaff - saving money and better for the chaps.
 
I always entered the WH Smith Win A Pony competition, never won :( BUT a girl (customer) at the riding school where I worked did win and we got the pony on livery.

It was a dark grey 5 year old, nice enough pony but far too green and too much for the girl, it turned nappy and was a real pain in the proverbial. We advised them to send it back and get something older, been there done that type of pony that the girl could enjoy. The owners decided to take it away to another yard where it could have 'more intense schooling' - dunno quite what happened there but needless to say it came back to us about 6 weeks later and now it reared!! My boss thought it would be good for me to hack it back on my own, to see what she was like. The guy at the other yard took one look at me and gave me a pair of spurs and a very big stick :eek: but apart from a slight disagreement at the first turning, she was fine (though I did trot the whole way, down a VERY steep hill).

I don't know how it turned out in the end as the owners decided to give her a bit of a break turned out to chill and she somehow managed to cut her leg badly in the field so she was on box rest when I left. It was such a shame, she was very sweet, just not the right pony.
 
I remember the win a pony competition too, but I wouldn't have remembered it was WHS.

Riding hats were amazing, as teenagers we thought it just wasn't cool to have elastic round our chins so we put ours over the top of our hats. This meant nothing at all held them on. They fell off at the drop of a hat (haha).

When we fell off, the hat hit the ground a few seconds before we did. But we were always made to wear them. There were rules about safety, you know. :)
 
Anyone remember the Learn to Ride programme on telly in the late 60s? Dorothy Johnson did it. She was very well known, I used to sit in on her lessons (couldn't really afford to pay for lessons once I had Bamber's keep to find).

Dorothy was very sweet, she used to put on talks and riding demonstartions at a big indoor riding arena at the stables I kept my horse for a while. My friend and I used spend hours watering the arena to damp it down for her. Once, we accidentally left the hose on overnight and she had to get a team of men to dig it out and drain it. Oops. Sorry Dorothy.

I wonder if she's still alive?
 
When I had my bad jumping accidenty - Horse somersaulted - I was wearing my sisters velvet hat - nylon material with foam padding covered in velvet with an elastic strap. I had the strap up inside the hat and somehow I was so lucky as it stayed on my head and when I came too and aware again I had a perfect hoofprint broken out of it where the horse had stood on me as it got up. I must have a tough skull!
 
Horse & Pony used to run 'own a pony' competitions too. To be fair to them, potential winners were whittled down to a dozen, then half a dozen and then finally a winner. All the while, they were having to complete assessments and courses and depending on the pass mark, whether they stayed in the competition or not.
Potential winners were also vetted as to where the pony would be kept and checks were carried out during the first year.

The only one I really remember reading about was a girl called Emma (I think) who lived on Exmoor on her family's farm and won an iron grey gelding called Sam. I think he was four or five years old. He must be in his late teens/early twenties now and Emma (if she was called that) must be about 27 - 29. How time flies! :eek:.

I have a string vest for my mare but I prefer my JW cooler. Only because it was a bargain car boot find :o :D. I could never afford it otherwise.
 
Toffee44 said:
Can anyone still make a wisp?????


I got as far as rolling it the other day and then got lost.
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With a few tries I probably still could. I wouldn't guarantee it would be of any use though! :o :D. Mind you, the price of hay now I'd rather not be wasting it to make wisps with :o :eek:.

However, I can make haynets from baler twine or strong cord :D.

Does anyone else have the same obsession as me of coiling the leadrope up on the headcollar when the headcollar is hung up on the hook? You know, double part of the rope up, coil the remainder around that and then tuck the end in to the loop at the bottom so it looks all neat and tidy :D.

Or am I the only saddo that does it? :o :D.

I also can't believe the amount of people who don't strip down their tack to clean it. Once a month my bridle gets completely stripped down and individually soaped and oiled. The same happens to my saddle where it has girth, leathers, irons and numnah removed and ends up being soaped and cleaned :D.
 
Tinker_Belle said:
With a few tries I probably still could. I wouldn't guarantee it would be of any use though! :o :D. Mind you, the price of hay now I'd rather not be wasting it to make wisps with :o :eek:.

However, I can make haynets from baler twine or strong cord :D.

Does anyone else have the same obsession as me of coiling the leadrope up on the headcollar when the headcollar is hung up on the hook? You know, double part of the rope up, coil the remainder around that and then tuck the end in to the loop at the bottom so it looks all neat and tidy :D.

Or am I the only saddo that does it? :o :D.

I also can't believe the amount of people who don't strip down their tack to clean it. Once a month my bridle gets completely stripped down and individually soaped and oiled. The same happens to my saddle where it has girth, leathers, irons and numnah removed and ends up being soaped and cleaned :D.
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Errr yes to leadrope just do always have.........

Suppose its the same about sweeping the stable, it has no use and the horse is gonna be in for 5 minutes and have bedding everywhere but you have to sweep that little area in front.


I am awful at cleaning tack but when it does get to see some saddle soap its stripped, irons in hot soapy water with girth. And then gets a neatfoot dressing.....
 
Had to make a wisp when I got my first pony [six years ago!] and did not have anything at all, except the head-collar and lead-rope it came in, but I soon gathered a few brushes and hoof-picks when I went "foraging" round the yard, also an abandoned water bucket up "The Hill" and even a lunge rein found in a swamp near the arena.
On the minus side, I lost my best green gloves when the muck heap was emptied out one day [how did they jump off the wall in to the muck heap], I found one in the field a few months later, but not in great condition!
I cleaned out my stable with Jeyes Fluid, apparently Virkon is "the real thing"
 
Always roll my leadropes up!
The other thing that was drummed into me was to shut the stable door/field gate when I took a horse out so that everyone else would know it had not escaped.
"Broken winded" applied to horses that made a noise (not coughing - that was just treated with cough medicine) - alot were hobdayed - something you do not hear of so often now.
 
huntley said:
Always roll my leadropes up!
The other thing that was drummed into me was to shut the stable door/field gate when I took a horse out so that everyone else would know it had not escaped.
"Broken winded" applied to horses that made a noise (not coughing - that was just treated with cough medicine) - alot were hobdayed - something you do not hear of so often now.
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"Hobdayed", this was popular in the 1890's, kinda died out though!
I used a grey powdered Aconite for my cob who was broken winded, it was made by "Harvey"
My cob did cough, because this was 1973 when a lot of horses coughed.
I always "shut the gate", it was automatic.
 
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It used to be cruel to leave plaits in overnight and foolhardy to travel a horse in a trailer without a partition.
Our pony had a saddle fitted in the late 60s - the first one out the van fitted. However by the mid seventies we had to try several!
At the livery yard the ponies went out in a mixed herd of about 10 horses. Barbed wire was a good idea if you couldn't afford post and rail so long as it was taut.:cool:
Your pony would be ill if you washed it all over:eek:
 
Broken wind was where the elasticity of the lungs had been damaged, usually through working the horse too fast and hard when it wasn't fit enough.

Does it still happen? Or is it called something else?

My horse was broken winded from his previous home. It limited what I could do with him but the only "treatment" offered was cough medicine.
 
huntley said:
Always roll my leadropes up!
"Broken winded" applied to horses that made a noise (not coughing - that was just treated with cough medicine) - alot were hobdayed - something you do not hear of so often now.
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Surely hobdaying is done when they're a problem in the larynx? But broken wind was the lungs.
 
Tinker_belle did you train at the same place as me? :D
Yes I'm an obsessive rope coiler - I think they look really smart coiled up, tangled ropes are a pain. I also strip clean my tack after every five uses but speed clean it after every use. Does work too when you take a selection of tack into Pony Club for an HM session and all the kids coo over how nice my tack is.

I remember the whisp making lesson - could never quite fathom out why we used it as it shed pieces of hay all over my clean pony! I had a leather pad for 'whisping' with. Easier to use and left a shine in its wake.

The only pads for under bandages was gamgee and one place I worked at we had to blanket stitch around the edges so the gamgee didn't fall apart for the horses that were bandaged at night.

Dandy Brushes were not made of Nylon and didn't make your horse all static they worked but they eventually fell apart as the bristles broke off. All body brushes were made of pure bristle - no synthetica and were backed with leather unless you got the one with 'Pony CLub' printed on the top.

Plastic and rubber curry combs didn't exist - you removed the mud & loose hair with the metal curry comb. I still do!
 
as a 17 year old and someone who doesn't come from a horsey family, this has been absolutely fascinating to read through! May I ask exactly what a wisp is?

Have found myself "missing the good old times" and I didn't even live in them! lol!
 
A wisp is hay that you twist and knot to make a make shift brush. Gosh I'd forgotten about those, haven't made one in about 17yrs
 
Hullabalooh said:
as a 17 year old and someone who doesn't come from a horsey family, this has been absolutely fascinating to read through! May I ask exactly what a wisp is?

Have found myself "missing the good old times" and I didn't even live in them! lol!
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Ditto this!! Haha, I'm 18 and found this thread fascinating! I was wondering what a wisp was too :p
 
Southwestwhippett I also had a safety obsessed mother so I was the first at our yard to have a skull cap. It was hideous! Made by jofa and covered in velvet to disguise the fact it was a skull cap yuck! Hated it! It had a chin strap and these ear things to protect your temples.

I also had the not really stretchy 70s jodhs (hand me downs from a neighbour) and my mum used to shake me into them, she'd hold the waistband while I stood in front of her, then while I tried to stand still she would lift them up with all her might, often lifting me off the ground in the process! To get them off she'd hold an ankle and put all her weight behind pulling them while I held the door frame! This meant jodhs weren't outgrown quickly, from the age of 2 until 22 I had just 5 pairs of jodhs!
 
Bettyboo222 said:
Does anyone know how to plait a straw bed, as a 16 year old from a non horsey family, I have wanted to learn this to keep my bed in place but no-one know how
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OMG, now you have taken me back!
The old fella at the yard I did my BHS stuff in did that for the front row of stables! It looked lovely too!

Making a wisp takes about 2 mins and Timothy is one of the best hay's to use.

Leading onto strapping - does anyone do that these days?
 
And only one pair were bought new! One pair was homemade, the rest hand me downs.

New stuff wasn't the norm back then. People look disgusted about second hand things now.
 
Yes I still have a blue and red Lavenham rug that use to fit my 13.2hh, it use to slide all over the place, but looked really smart when you put it on her and it's nearly 36 years old, I will get rid of it some day honest.:o:o:o:o
 
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