Light hearted- old yard ways

[J&S]

I remember a yard near us having the hydroponics thing, us kids thought it was very impressive. Dads reply - TURN THE BL**DY THINGS OUT!!!

Thing was that when I was very young in the late 50's many riding schools were quite urban, they did not have any grazing on a daily basis, horses and ponies would be trekked off to the fields at the end of the week end which were quite a way away. As some have said, Monday was a day off then they came back to work for the rest of the week. Yes, we cantered along the grass verges then too.
The stables where I kept my first pony was lovely Northants hunting country, surrounded by fields and woods but some of the ponies went up to a field in the village which we had a winter share with the horses from Fossett's circus. My friends and I rode with out saddles or hats and it never occurred to me not to go wall jumping like this! I paid (or rather my father did) 10/- a week in the summer and £1.00 in the winter. Shoeing was 30/- I think, and we rode to the farrier, it was a great day out! We hunted locally and piled into big lorries to go to gymkhanas in the summer. To get to the stables I had to cycle about 3 1/2 miles right through the town and one time I was knocked off
my bike and landed under the feet of a horse and milk cart! Dear thing didn't turn a hair.

 

[Elbie]

I recall being given classes of beginners to teach each weekend at the age of 16....I doubt I was insured to do so and for sure had no formal qualifications. We would ride the riding school horses and ponies to their field in head collars bareback and lead the others. We made up huge buckets of sugar beet soaked for 24 hours then fed to each horse or pony with”pony nuts”. My own horses were fed straights..with boiled at home linseed and warm bran mashes after hard work. Hay was piled into stable corners or into racks/mangers. Out hacking we would canter on grass verges with traffic passing us and jump any bit of fallen tree or ditch. I wish I was as gung ho now!

Yep I used to teach at 17/18 without qualifications and probably no insurance either.

Used to canter on Road verges too.

The livery and riding school horses used to all eat barley that was rolled on site with chaff that we made ourselves and sugar beet. The sugar beet was so watered down for morning feeds it was basically sugar beet flavoured water. Used to have battles with the yard owner over that! The technical thought behind feeding was horses had one scoop of barley and the bigger ones got two!

 

[Lexi_]

I worked Sundays at a riding school from 1992-2001 and it was a lovely place ? Still quite old school in some ways - everything got rugged up in the winter with a jute rug, neatly folded back blanket and surcingle: no posh stable rugs!

The ponies all went out in one big gang in the Long field and it was a case of open the field gate, open 16 stable doors and let them turn themselves out. To bring in, open all the doors, shake a bucket of pony nuts and they all neatly brought themselves in again!

 

[tda]

When my sis and I had ponies in the late 70s-80s they lived in a field, never owned a rug. My dad sometimes let us put them in the pig sheds at home, or in a small patch of land behind the house. Later the sheds were converted to stables and we kept more ponies there. I bought my first rug, a cotton knitted cooler in 1999.

 

[Gloi]

One place boiled barley and linseed for feeds in half an oil drum in a metal frame over a fire in the corner of the yard. I must admit it did smell good but it wasn't the safest set up.

 

[Archangel]

DIY in August 1979 and have been DIY ever since.
I remember hunters just being turned out at the end of the season.

 

[Frano]

Did you go to the same RS as me ??

A riding school near Cirencester?

 

[J&S]

DIY in August 1979 and have been DIY ever since.
I remember hunters just being turned out at the end of the season.

What about the polo ponies that got chucked out for the winter when the hunters came in!? Which reminds me, I used to ride polo ponies in the NF belonging to an old comedian called Jimmy Edwards, we rode them to the polo fields at Brockenhurst on a Saturday so he could rock up and play. I years later bought some brown polo boots from the chap who looked after these ponies (who actually were horses!) he was ex cavalry and his black boots were too tight for me to get in to. I asked him how he could possibly have got them on, "silk stockings and ballroom chalk" he told me!

 

[pansymouse]

What about the polo ponies that got chucked out for the winter when the hunters came in!?

The polo ponies round us are still turned away naked for the winter.

 

[Ceifer]

I kinda miss all of the old equipment we used to use. Old leather tendon boots, bandages, Clarendon boots etc. In my stage 3 a pair of speedy cut boots appeared and I was the only candidate who could identify them and fit them after another candidate wasn’t sure what they were and put them on upside down.
Also I think how much fashion has changed. It was all muted colours we wore, I got a dark purple striped puffa jacket and thought it was pretty ‘out there’. I also wanted a pair of mucker boots as a child - But was told no and my cheap wellies were good enough. I saw a pair a few years ago for a tenner so got some. They were very uncomfortable and fell apart quickly so maybe my father was right after all.

 

[SamBean]

I kinda miss all of the old equipment we used to use. Old leather tendon boots, bandages, Clarendon boots etc. In my stage 3 a pair of speedy cut boots appeared and I was the only candidate who could identify them and fit them after another candidate wasn’t sure what they were and put them on upside down.
Also I think how much fashion has changed. It was all muted colours we wore, I got a dark purple striped puffa jacket and thought it was pretty ‘out there’. I also wanted a pair of mucker boots as a child - View attachment 40464But was told no and my cheap wellies were good enough. I saw a pair a few years ago for a tenner so got some. They were very uncomfortable and fell apart quickly so maybe my father was right after all.

I loved my mucker boots, I nagged and nagged for a pair and never took them off!

 

[Ceifer]

I loved my mucker boots, I nagged and nagged for a pair and never took them off!

I’m jealous. All the kids wore them and I was desperate for a pair ??

 

[SamBean]

Lol @Ceifer, I don't think my liking them has faded even no! My current winter boots have the same type material on the foot with thermal upper up to my knees. Not the most waterproof if I have to do mud battles in the field but warm and comfy so I'm happy

 

[Teajack]

I was a Saturday helper at a riding school/livery in the 70's. Schooling ring at the bottom of the big field was usable for a few weeks in summer and lessons raised a dust cloud, otherwise you went up and down a track. Beginners were led in walk, trot and canter by us on foot or from another horse. Going out for hacks totally alone aged 13 and sometimes arriving back long after the pony but you still had to pay : -)) Oats, bran and boiled barley if it was freezing, ponies only got a bucket if they had come in to work. Not a rug on the place. Big field was huge and contained a sheer drop of about 15 feet near the gate; only one horse ever went over it as far as I know. School horses had their tails 'pulled' by running clippers up the sides. Used my cork-lined hat to collect brambles and it ended up purple inside.

Jimmy Edwards playing polo sounds quite scary I used to get back from my first riding lessons in time to watch Whacko! on the telly.

 

[Leo Walker]

Clarendon boots

This are still going! My favourite boots are a set of Clarendon event boots. I use them for fast work as they are indestructible!

 

[Esmae]

Plaits....7 or 9. No variations. Forelock plait should be "knobbed" outwards and not plaited inwards. Tail plaits with ridge outwards and not inwards. Straw beds should be set fair and the bit at the front finished with a plait of straw at the front to keep it tidy. Never, ever brush a tail. Should be hand picked to clean it. (still do that, very therapeutic). Horse should be finished off after grooming with a velvet cloth with a little petrol on it and rubbed over. Does make a bay shine really well. There are plenty more but you get the picture.

 

[Snowfilly]

The ponies all went out in one big gang in the Long field and it was a case of open the field gate, open 16 stable doors and let them turn themselves out. To bring in, open all the doors, shake a bucket of pony nuts and they all neatly brought themselves in again![/QUOTE]

My local riding school still practices this! Go down at 6.30, make up hard feeds and place in stables, open gate and stand back as 30 beasties pour into the yard. They get chucked out again as their working day ends.

In the winter, the oldies to in the indoor school and are hay fed over night, so you get two stampedes.

 

[scats]

Remember those horsey coats everyone had in the late 80s and early 90s, that were a variety of different stripes and cross pattens? I remember getting a Loveson one and thinking it was the most amazing coat I’d ever worn.

 

[Ceifer]

Remember those horsey coats everyone had in the late 80s and early 90s, that were a variety of different stripes and cross pattens? I remember getting a Loveson one and thinking it was the most amazing coat I’d ever worn.

I still have this coat from 1992. It had detachable arms which unfortunately got lost some time ago and is reversible. I still occasionally wear it.