Just for fun... your oldest in use item

Griffin

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I have a Mystical Snug Rider coat that is at least 20 years old. I only use it in the garden now but it is still waterproof and warm.
 

rabatsa

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The oldest item in daily use here is a hay fork. It must be close to 100 years old. Tack wise it will be one of my military bridles that was sold off after the second world war.
 

Ceifer

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I have a Mark Regent coat that I got when I was 7. The arms are detachable to make it a body warmer. It still fits me 25 years later as a body warmer. Which either means that the coat was very big when my dad purchased it or I’ve not grown very much!
 

cremedemonthe

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It's refreshing to see, from a traditionally trained (1987) Saddler's point of view, quite a few who still use saddlery that is 40 years old or more. It shows with good maintenance saddlery can last a lifetime. I still have a saddle as well as lots of bridlework and harness that I made in 1987 that's like new. Well done to all of those who still use theirs, Oz
 

JillA

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A metal feed scoop with a wooden handle, bought in the mid '60s in a Moss Bros shop in Chester (riding department - I had to come out with something!) Still in daily use, although it is wearing thin in places
 

Rowreach

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It's refreshing to see, from a traditionally trained (1987) Saddler's point of view, quite a few who still use saddlery that is 40 years old or more. It shows with good maintenance saddlery can last a lifetime. I still have a saddle as well as lots of bridlework and harness that I made in 1987 that's like new. Well done to all of those who still use theirs, Oz

I have two beautiful double bridges which are over 50 years old, made from the most gorgeous leather. I had them taken apart and restitched a few years ago but otherwise they are as they were.

I've also got woollen show rugs from the fifties. My oldest horsey items would be a Victorian bridle hook and a Georgian cupboard which came out of a stable in Portsmouth and still has the slots for stall slip rails screwed on the side.
 

HashRouge

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I'm 28 and have owned my Arab mare since I was 11. I still have the Chill Cheeta stable rug that my Mum bought for her the day she arrived. So it's 17 years old and going strong. She hasn't been wearing it in recent years as she lives out, but it certainly would be perfectly usable. I still had her Wintec saddle (bought at the same time) until recently but sold it as she is now retired.
 

Cortez

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Not in daily use, but the oldest thing I have used is an original 17th century bit that I occasionally bring out for displays. It is very small (would be pony sized) so can only be used on the little lads; luckily Spanish horses tend to have small jaws.
 

Sussexbythesea

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Probably many items but I know my sweat scraper is at least 30 years old.

Mine is too - at the very least. It has my pony’s name scratched into it “Star”.

I also have a plastic brush for washing with his name painted on it. It looks like a Magic brush.

I’ve got many things 15-20yrs old such as rugs and tack.
 

tda

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Folding hoof pick and plastic plaiting comb circa 1980-2.

Both were free gifts in a pony magazine for pony-mad pre-teens. The chrome plating has just started to flake off the hoofpick. My body brush and dandy both date from around the same time and are still perfectly good. I love using them.
Ive had one of those plastic plating combs in my tack box for years, I've never plaited anything, but it was free when I was a teenager 40 yrs ago 😁
 
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My spare saddle is over 20 years old I think(?). Comfiest thing ever. Doesn't fit my mum or her horse so she gave it to me. :) It's not my main one, though, just a spare. I originally only wanted it for the colour lol but it's fits me the best of any saddle I've ever sat in so I'm not throwing it out now.
I've got a headcollar and bucket that were again, given to me by my mum which she used on her first pony too but they aren't used. Probably a good thing as they were new about 40 yrs ago!
 
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Karran

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I have a red fleece that I got when I was 16 which lives at the yard and is still in use.

Last winter I reluctantly retired a pair of black jods that I'd had and worn at least once or twice a week since I was 14 as they had gone a bit too threadbare!

I'm 35!
 
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ester

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I still have my Mum's tweed jacket and long leather boots that she used for her BHS exams at 18, so 42 years ago. Unfortunately I can't squeeze into either currently! The long boots were my main riding boots for most of my teen years and I used the jacket for showing the first few years I had Frank.
 

scruffyponies

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Two sets of leather full collar pony harness which were old with evidence of much use and prior repair when they were put into storage before WW2. I had to re-do some of the original repair work, as well as re-line the saddles, and make a complete new crupper for one where something had eaten the original - presumably to get at the linseed filling.

Also my governess cart and a little iron shod rally car, both c.1900.
 

eggs

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Quite a few pieces of grooming kit that I had with my first ponies - including proper dandy brush, leather backed body brush and metal curry comb. Must be about 42 years old and you can still just make out where I painted their names on with my mum's nail polish.
 

Highflinger

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I got my first pony 40 years ago and still use a lot of the stuff I got then - a lot was second hand so goodness knows how old. I did buy a new cottage craft headcollar - the first thing I bought when we agreed to buy him and it is still in use. Still use a dandy brush, curry comb, hoof pick , water brush and I still have a "Lavenham" stable rug and string sweet rug in very good condition but don't use as too small for current neddies.
I think most things were made to last back then - I rather doubt much bought today will still be in use in 40 years time!
 

TPO

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I've got a "uni-groomer" that is now 24yrs old. It's a palm sized rubber curry comb with soft rubber "spikes" rather than ridges. They were really popular when I was 11 but haven't seen them anywhere in decades. The horses all love being groomed with it and the spikes are all worn down with use now.
 

Hollychops

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A leather backed body brush bought when i bought my first horse in 1984. Still works well, is lovely and soft and is in perfect condition...or maybe i need to use it abit more lol!
 

Annagain

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I have a dandy brush that was part of my first ever grooming kit when I was about 11 (I'm now 40). Everything else has got lost or damaged over the years but somehow, that brush has survived. I only threw the body brush from the same set out about a year ago when the handle fell off and the bristles started falling out. I also have my club top from my uni Riding Club that I still wear. I started Uni in 1996 and must have bought it in my first year.
 

supsup

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My grooming bag - a blue cotton bag with a cartoon pony printed on it. Bought some 30 years ago, and still doing daily duty. I also have a couple of brushes of similar age, but they don't get used much due to hairy pony and fine body brush not really suiting each other. I also still have my first pair of full seat (real leather - complete PITA to wash) breeches, which are probably 25 years old (and still fit :)))
 

Clydiegirl

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I've still got a pair of jods from when i was 16, obviously don't fit me now but they have been used by my kids and currently waiting for the 10 year old to fit in them. I'm 44 so they are 28 years old and still almost perfect condition.
 

Beausmate

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I have a Mark Regent coat that I got when I was 7. The arms are detachable to make it a body warmer. It still fits me 25 years later as a body warmer. Which either means that the coat was very big when my dad purchased it or I’ve not grown very much!

I've got one of those! It's gold and green stripe on the smooth side and green on the fuzzy side. Got it in the mid/late eighties and still wear it most winters.

I've got a couple of old saddle racks, possibly Victorian and some bridle parts that are over 25 years old. But the oldest thing in regular use that I can age for definite, is my Rice Beaufort trailer which turns 40 next year.
 

Ceifer

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Beausmate- Yep mines green stripe but blue on the other side. It still looks as good as new but I try only to wear it occasionally now.
 

Fiona

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I have a 28 yo GP saddle still used regularly, and a tweed jacket which my mum bought second hand for me 30 years ago that still fits.

Fiona
 

kathantoinette

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My grandparents lived in a beautiful old house with Victorian stables. I used to play in the stables for hours, taking care of a yard full of invisible horses, attending to their every need. One day I found a big old leather backed body brush in one of the feed mangers. The leather had been half eaten away by mice but all the bristles still intact. I was so excited to have found a physical reminder of the horses that had once been there. My dad repaired the back of the brush by trimming away the remains of the old leather and filling the back of the brush with some sort of filler. I kept the brush all through my horseless childhood (even though it was too big to hold comfortably in my hand as a child, it was one of my prized possessions) and now I have horses as an adult it’s in daily use.

There hadn’t been horses in those stables for at least 30 years, and I was probably 8 when I found it. Which makes it at least 63 years old if not older. A daily reminder of my grandparents, my dad, the magic of those old stables and my dreams of owning a horse when I was little 😊

What a lovely story 😀
 

HeresHoping

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The plaited reins on my bridle are 40 years old. I used to compete in them in my teens and they were 'old' then. I have in my tack box pretty much all the tack from my youth - most of it older than 30. And it used to get treated with neats foot oil... shhhhh.
 
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