Nostalgia!

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casinosolo

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I've recently got back into riding after a 10 yr gap and was just reminiscing with my sister about the old stables we worked at in the late 80s - late 90s. It just struck me how things have changed! We all had hats with a bit of elastic under the chin that then progressed into chin cups and string inside; beige/ cream jodhpurs were considered very 'untrendy'; I don't remember anyone wearing half chaps!? The horses all had thick fleecy numnahs and brass brow bands and bit rubbers. And where have drop nosebands gone!? I also found all my old Julip stuff in the loft at my mum's the other day but that's a whole other thread...lol.

Anyway, I just thought it might be fun/ interesting to reminisce about what was the 'done thing' or cool way to do things when you started riding?
 
God I know. Half the hats didn't even have elastic.

I had a Barbour jacket from a posh shop in Edinburgh and boots from Aitken and Niven. Cost 2 quid for an afternoon ride which went up to 2.50 in about 1990.

Highlight was getting to do the Currie ride out and a gymkhana.

Read every novel available, Jill books, Shantih books, Pullen-Thompson books. Saddle club. Trying to remember the name of the horse the girl got given in the end as no one could ride I but her.

I still have a massive collection of books, quite a few doubles til :D
 
It's so long ago since I learned.. I forgotten what we used. We were started young ;)

westartedyoung.jpg


Teg :D

hair nets
string gloves
jute rugs
bran mash
kaolin poultice

new set of shoes 10/- (50p)
 
FfionWinnie said:
God I know. Half the hats didn't even have elastic.

I had a Barbour jacket from a posh shop in Edinburgh and boots from Aitken and Niven. Cost 2 quid for an afternoon ride which went up to 2.50 in about 1990.

Highlight was getting to do the Currie ride out and a gymkhana.

Read every novel available, Jill books, Shantih books, Pullen-Thompson books. Saddle club. Trying to remember the name of the horse the girl got given in the end as no one could ride I but her.

I still have a massive collection of books, quite a few doubles til :D
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Ah I never had a Barbour jacket, although remember being jealous of my friend who had her own horse and wore her Barbour jacket to school. I had an old wax jacket that had no wax left on it that my mum bought second hand off someone on the yard! I remember we always had to sell boots/ hats/ jods that we had grown out of by putting a little notice up on the pin board :)
 
FfionWinnie said:
God I know. Half the hats didn't even have elastic.

I had a Barbour jacket from a posh shop in Edinburgh and boots from Aitken and Niven. Cost 2 quid for an afternoon ride which went up to 2.50 in about 1990.

Highlight was getting to do the Currie ride out and a gymkhana.

Read every novel available, Jill books, Shantih books, Pullen-Thompson books. Saddle club. Trying to remember the name of the horse the girl got given in the end as no one could ride I but her.

I still have a massive collection of books, quite a few doubles til :D
Click to expand...

I think I read most of the Saddle Club too, although not in order as had to borrow them from the library so just used to snaffle one up when they had it in! I remember Sandylane Stables ones too, and one about a girl in Scotland who gets a wild Arab horse after seeing it on the moors or something? The name escapes me! And of course Horse & Pony mag :)
 
I was a jinny fan, though would've prefered one of their highlands to that daft arab :D

Personally never like jill, too jammy. I also liked the "riders" series, which just scare me as an adult - 13y'old going out with a 18y'old :eek: loved the blow by blow account of a xc course where her pony banked a table though :p

My fave horsey books were random though - the Far Distant Oxus (which nobody ever read :( ), Alison's riding adventure and Showjumping Secret (lad with polio going on to an sj career - epic).
 
FfionWinnie said:
Jinny Manders and her mad Arab Shantih. I really wanted to be Jinny!! Or maybe Jill (Jill's Riding Club etc) she was so competent at everything :D
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Jinny! That's it! Loved those books :) Might have a look on Ebay for one now; could do with a summer read... :D

Have also just remembered that none of us used to hack with our hat straps fastened!? We used to just leave them dangling as it showed you were 'cool' and a good rider. Absolutely awful and my mum would have killed me if she knew! Maybe people still do that but I never would :/
 
I'm not sure the jinny books could stand an adult re-read. You might ruin the magic. I reckon a Pullein Thompson or a Jill book might stand it though...
 
JFTD said:
I was a jinny fan, though would've prefered one of their highlands to that daft arab :D

Personally never like jill, too jammy. I also liked the "riders" series, which just scare me as an adult - 13y'old going out with a 18y'old :eek: loved the blow by blow account of a xc course where her pony banked a table though :p

My fave horsey books were random though - the Far Distant Oxus (which nobody ever read :( ), Alison's riding adventure and Showjumping Secret (lad with polio going on to an sj career - epic).
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I've not read any of them, but they sound interesting! Being an English teacher I now have a reading box in my room for the younger years so may need to add some equestrian titles! :)
 
casinosolo said:
I've not read any of them, but they sound interesting! Being an English teacher I now have a reading box in my room for the younger years so may need to add some equestrian titles! :)
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The latter two of the second para are out of print. However The Far Distant Oxus is in print by Fidra books atm. They're very Arthur Ransomy in style, written by two school girls and taken to AR to read - he sent it on to his publisher with a very positive recommendation. Pretty inspiring stuff for your kids I'd say :D
 
JFTD said:
I'm not sure the jinny books could stand an adult re-read. You might ruin the magic. I reckon a Pullein Thompson or a Jill book might stand it though...
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No, you're probably right. And I'm 100% sure that the Saddle Club would annoy the hell out of me now! Those girls were really whiney and annoying lol.
 
AprilBlossom made me watch the tv series of the saddle club on youtube recently. Given that as a child I disliked the books, finding them somewhat implausible and distinctly americanised, I was unsurprised to find them annoying as hell as an adult! :D

eta, by "made" I mean she suggested it and I took it as a challenge :p
 
JFTD said:
AprilBlossom made me watch the tv series of the saddle club on youtube recently. Given that as a child I disliked the books, finding them somewhat implausible and distinctly americanised, I was unsurprised to find them annoying as hell as an adult! :D

eta, by "made" I mean she suggested it and I took it as a challenge :p
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Yes, I've seen the tv series on the Horse & Country channel and thought it was cringey! It didn't seem to be very much about horses at all; it was more about boyfriends and bitchiness and hiding some 'scheme' from the Yard Manager!?
 
I'm also just browsing on the Miss Selfridge website for some holiday dresses and can't believe they have a 'wellies' section!? Can you imagine back in the day all the high street shops selling Hunters? Bizarre.
 
JFTD said:
I'm not sure the jinny books could stand an adult re-read. You might ruin the magic. I reckon a Pullein Thompson or a Jill book might stand it though...
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Jinny gets even better as a grown up! Seriously. I re-read them when I was writing my book and was struck by how deep they are. Life lessons on how to cope with change and death, of letting go of things and people, the difficulties of being creative... They're pony books with a Buddhist subtext :)

Jill is hilarious on rereading though. Much funnier to a grown up - I took them very seriously as a child and now I see the humour in them.
 
Yup I too can confirm that the jinny books are no less wonderful as an adult... although I did find her a teensy bit whiney. Think I thought that off her when I was younger too however!x (disclaimer: I am only a technical adult, still 14 inside)
 
JFTD said:
I was a jinny fan, though would've prefered one of their highlands to that daft arab :D

Personally never like jill, too jammy. I also liked the "riders" series, which just scare me as an adult - 13y'old going out with a 18y'old :eek: loved the blow by blow account of a xc course where her pony banked a table though :p

My fave horsey books were random though - the Far Distant Oxus (which nobody ever read :( ), Alison's riding adventure and Showjumping Secret (lad with polio going on to an sj career - epic).
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I hated the Jinny series, far too silly for me plus I didn't like Arabs either! :rolleyes: but the Jill books, the Punchbowl and Romney Marsh series, both by Monica Edwards were brilliant and believable. Same goes for the KM Peyton and Gillian Baxter books, all good reads.

I have the Alison Riding Adventure, also the Alison Pony Adventure although haven't read them for years now.

As to nostalgia, did anyone else have a knitted yellow polo neck jumper with a horse head motif or did anyone else knit their own gloves with dishwashing cotton?
 
I devoured all the pony books and reread them when there was nothing new published.I had a jacatex jacket and the old fashioned rubber boots.Not many people had leather boots in those days,only the hunt people and serious competition riders.Feed was straights and we always gave hot bran mashes after a long day at shows.There was little in the way of health and safety and everyone mucked in to help without so much as a CRB check.Endless summer days and hacking for hours.Also swimming in the river in the summer of 1976 which our parents knew nothing about,in fact they knew little about our exploits as we were out of sight and out of mind.I still long for those days and would not swap my experinences for all the stuff todays kids have.
 
I didn't have a pony either so my jodhs, crop, long rubber boots and Thelwell sweatshirt were my treasured possessions, along with bits of grooming kit that I'd saved up for - I think I have about 10 of those plait combs you used to get free with horse and pony magazine!

I've been reading my old Jill books to my 9 year old daughter who seems to enjoy them - at least they have better storylines than the dreadful current crop of magic/rainbow/fairy pony books! If you're keen on pony books and want a real trip down memory lane try Jane Badger's website, its brilliant!

http://www.janebadgerbooks.co.uk/ponybooks.html

Bodger
 
Bodger said:
I didn't have a pony either so my jodhs, crop, long rubber boots and Thelwell sweatshirt were my treasured possessions, along with bits of grooming kit that I'd saved up for - I think I have about 10 of those plait combs you used to get free with horse and pony magazine!

I've been reading my old Jill books to my 9 year old daughter who seems to enjoy them - at least they have better storylines than the dreadful current crop of magic/rainbow/fairy pony books! If you're keen on pony books and want a real trip down memory lane try Jane Badger's website, its brilliant!

http://www.janebadgerbooks.co.uk/ponybooks.html

Bodger
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Oh my! That website is wonderful! Just looking at the series A-Z now; I had that EXACT copy of 'A Horse for the Summer' with a hologram-thingy sticker on the front :) I honestly don't remember it being about a boy though!?

I can see I am going to end up spending a silly amount of money purchasing copies of these old favourites :)
 
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