Nostalgia!

I had virturally no equipment for my ponies in the 70's - the only thing my parents bought was a hat; we rode in flared jeans and wellies and groomed with an old scrubbing brush . I thought I was so posh when I embroidered my initials on an old white tea towel and used it as a saddle cloth :D
 
casinosolo said:
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?
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I think you havethe wrong era ;)

In the mid 80's we were all in half or full chaps round here, wearing 4472 sculls, close fitting saddle cloths. Even the H2 'helmet' hats were out by 1992

It was the early 70's you must be thinking of... ;) :D
 
The Fuzzy Furry said:
I think you havethe wrong era ;)

In the mid 80's we were all in half or full chaps round here, wearing 4472 sculls, close fitting saddle cloths. Even the H2 'helmet' hats were out by 1992

It was the early 70's you must be thinking of... ;) :D
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Considering I was born in 1984 I'm not sure how I would have memories of riding in the early 70s!? Clearly my little backwater stables was behind the rest of the world. NEVER wore or saw a half chap until last year and I have pictures of myself riding my bike in my very first hat that just had an elastic under the chin :) You were clearly much posher than me!
 
casinosolo said:
Considering I was born in 1984 I'm not sure how I would have memories of riding in the early 70s!? Clearly my little backwater stables was behind the rest of the world. NEVER wore or saw a half chap until last year and I have pictures of myself riding my bike in my very first hat that just had an elastic under the chin :) You were clearly much posher than me!
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OOps - you were born the same year as my daughter :D
Yes, must be living somewhere more posh :p - I know she had skull hat & the elastic chinned hats had been binned well before she came along.
Pony club made it mandatory for skulls by 1989 for competition....

Sorry, really not wanting to nit-pick, but all the things you mention were common place in yards in the early 70's - honestly they were :o
 
The Fuzzy Furry said:
OOps - you were born the same year as my daughter :D
Yes, must be living somewhere more posh :p - I know she had skull hat & the elastic chinned hats had been binned well before she came along.
Pony club made it mandatory for skulls by 1989 for competition....

Sorry, really not wanting to nit-pick, but all the things you mention were common place in yards in the early 70's - honestly they were :o
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It's bleak up north, we're always about a decade behind everywhere else ;) Never did any of that Pony Club stuff; that was for the posh kids!
 
FfionWinnie said:
Yeah I wasn't born in the 70's either. My own had had a harness but the ones available to borrow certainly didn't.

Ah yes the Silver Brumby!!
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Oh God, I remember the 'borrowing hats' shelf! If anyone fell off and wrecked their hat (to the point it couldn't be fixed with super glue) they went on the 'borrowing hats' shelf. Even in the mid 90s there were ones on there with just elastic; the stable owner used to hide them in a cupboard whenever we had an inspection :/ Didn't think much of it at the time but all very dodgy looking back!
 
I started riding in 1970!!, had a PAt hat with just elastic under the chin, an old pair of jodhs with sticky out sides, jodhpur boots that had straps and buckles. I rode a chestnut and he had a yellow string girth/reins/numnah, and we thought that looked stylish!! I did prefer the feed then though as you fed bran/oats/chaff/linseed/ at least you knew what you were feeding all the mixes on the market now completely confuse me! Jute rugs with blankets underneath and rollers, new zealands that weighed a ton when wet, neck covers were not heard off, each horse had an inside and an outside rug, my boy now has at least four stable rugs and four turnouts, thats progress!!
Oh and I had a plastic crop in brown and white!
 
NooNoo59 said:
I started riding in 1970!!, had a PAt hat with just elastic under the chin, an old pair of jodhs with sticky out sides, jodhpur boots that had straps and buckles. I rode a chestnut and he had a yellow string girth/reins/numnah, and we thought that looked stylish!! I did prefer the feed then though as you fed bran/oats/chaff/linseed/ at least you knew what you were feeding all the mixes on the market now completely confuse me! Jute rugs with blankets underneath and rollers, new zealands that weighed a ton when wet, neck covers were not heard off, each horse had an inside and an outside rug, my boy now has at least four stable rugs and four turnouts, thats progress!!
Oh and I had a plastic crop in brown and white!
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OMG - that brings back some memories ..... I had a brown and white riding crop and oh the string girths and reins ....
 
Pink_Lady said:
OMG - that brings back some memories ..... I had a brown and white riding crop and oh the string girths and reins ....
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Oh, this could be me!!!! I still have some of my first pony's stuff, in an old trunk - I doubt that many of today's youngters would recognise half the items!
 
70's through 80's child.

If I wasn't at the stables I had my nose in a horsey book. Still have all of them incluidng the Jill books and the Silver Brumby, My friend Flicka etc. If I didn't stink of horse I wasn't happy.
I still have hundreds of Horse and Pony magazines from that time in really good nick. Still a really good read.
I was ecstatic when I got a NZ rug for my 3/4 Arab, 1/8 TB mare. She grew a woolly mammoth coat in the winter.
I've got a NZ rug lurking in the shed somewhere.
1 saddle for 2 ponies though most of the time I prefered to ride bareback.
My gran used to be a nurse so I used to pinch the bandages for my ponies.
I still have 3 brown leather cavesson nosebands,a halter and a yellow string girth from that era. The nosebands are still really supple and in great condition as is the girth. (Ok, I admit I hoard!)
No idea what 1/2 chaps were.
My cousin and I used to disappear for the whole day hacking (on main A roads sometimes) and no-one used to know where we were on even worry about us much.

Highlight of my Saturday afternoons was going into to the local tack shop whilst my mum was shopping and looking at all the stuff for hours but hardly ever buying. They must have hated me!
 
OMG, you have got me thinking. String girths, no ready mixed feed, had to make our own up, plenty of oats. A hat as hard as concrete with an elastic chin strap, baggy jods, riding to shows, noone owned a trailer. Riding bareback to the woods and spending an afternoon jumping logs, going down dells and playing hide and seek (for anyone who knows them it was Whippendell Woods, near Croxley Green). I cannot remember anyone who had shavings, straw beds were the norm. And a good old NZ rug, the light green one. Oh, and padded surcingles to keep your rugs still. No synthetic saddles and bridles, good old fashioned leather. Nickel stirrups ... starting to well up thinking about my childhood ...
 
Bodger said:
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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Thank you for posting that link - I've just bought a few old favourites on there

I also had my main pony years at the same time as the OP and remember the same things, I remember being very excited by my first proper crash hat with the chin cup strap and still have it!

The thing I will most remember are ponies bedded in deep straw with rugs and a couple of blankets underneath neatly folded to a point, turned back and all secured with an anti cast roller
 
I started in riding in the late 80's and Horse and Pony magazine was my bible, even made the Young Riders Club page with a pic of me and my cousin my aunties cob Paddy! :D

Loved the Saddle Club but looking back I agree with others the girls were a bit whiny! ;)
 
Ahh the blankets under rugs.
My most prized item was my crop with a horses head on it!
I was posh and was one of the first at the riding school with the new huge style PAS015 hats that were huge!!
 
Pony Mag
WHSMITH win a pony competition that I entered every year losing without fail
String girths/ sandbags for backing a horse/hessian sacks as saddle for backing(prior to sandbags).

no Hats/Hats made of cork/lemon balm for flies/the yard owner piercing a warble fly on a horse and a giant maggot thing coming out/the vet slinging the horses nuts in a corner after castration/ bran mash for the oldies or sickies/hoof oil/horrid boots and freezing cold feet/stalls/ stalls with barge board on ropes/smoking in the hay and straw/rolling on the manure heap/no vaccinations at all/no worming programmes/the oldest horse age 28 a rare thing/ sugar lumps/bran as a poultice/a yard of 20 horses only one that was not in a d ring snaffle.

julip? models I never could afford them

leather girths all sweaty afterwards.........Red rum passing in his horse box!
 
indie999 said:
stalls/ stalls with barge board on ropes
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The stables I worked at had mainly stalls! There were only about 4 boxes, the others were all in stalls (the type with no doors and just a lead rope to clip them to). They were turned out all year round and only came in on Tues, Sat and Sun for rides so weren't in there for long really. A lot of the horses actually seemed to prefer them; there was one old veteran called Kerry who got moved to a box for comfort. We couldn't find him one morning after letting all the horses in from the field and putting them away in stables (we tended to just let them all run into the yard and stick headcollars on and lead them in as they arrived!). Anyway, after much searching in the field thinking he was still in there, we found him stood alongside another of the very bemused horses in its stall :D He used to do it on regular occasions after this so got moved back to the stalls as he was much happier there :)
 
Wax jackets, jodhpur boots and frozen feet in winter, woolen pimple dot gloves that were the best technology around they lasted forever and were warm even when wet (unlike the magic gloves of today), velvet hats where the harness was either cut off or fastened over the top of the hat instead of under your chin unless you were at a show or jumping XC. Fleece as a fabric had not been invented yet.

Stockholm tar, Extra Tail fly spray, hoof oil, Gallop shampoo. Saddle soap came in a bar not a spray or tub, and you had to spit on it to get just the right amount/consistancy to shine your leather, after you'd cleaned it with water.

Coloured bit rubbers, string girths, bits were snaffle pelham kimblewick or cheltenham gag. All GP saddles were designed for jumping in and absolutely nobody owned a dressage saddle unless they competed to a high level.

Gymkhana games at every show.

Exercise bandages were for jumping not dressage.

Riding bareback to the field in a headcollar and leading two others.

Bringing home a herd of 20 loose (except for the one I was riding in a headcollar) after they escaped.

Straight feeds, straw beds and stalls.

Exploring for hours alone and frequently getting lost but nobody noticed unless you were gone for more than 5hrs

Riding to the forge for shoeing.

We fell off plenty, had heaps of fun, were either brave and fearless or gave up horses after a few lessons/the first fall. All horses hacked (whether they were a PITA or not - you just got on with it and the horse eventually improved!) and nobody was scared to jump.

Lessons were from friends, through the pony club or local riding school. Nobody had a freelance instructor unless they competed seriously or were rich/posh.

Life seemed so much simpler when I was a child. Grown up lives are far more complicated. I still occasionally hop on bareback hatless and with a headcollar/rope reins just so I can feel carefree again.
 
Here yah go – secondhand jodhs from the shelf in the riding school office (where you could also get secondhand cream riding macs) and a battered old hat held on with some kind of leather and shoe string strap. Jumble sale anorak, wellies (feet grew too fast for proper boots) and reins all over the place. String gloves not allowed because it got in the way of holding the reins properly. :p

SocksStanford.jpg
 
SusannaF said:
Here yah go – secondhand jodhs from the shelf in the riding school office (where you could also get secondhand cream riding macs) and a battered old hat held on with some kind of leather and shoe string strap. Jumble sale anorak, wellies (feet grew too fast for proper boots) and reins all over the place. String gloves not allowed because it got in the way of holding the reins properly. :p

SocksStanford.jpg
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Wonderful picture :) I hardly have any pics of riding as a youngster as it was way before the camera phones/ digi cam age of taking pictures of everything down to your dinner, but the few I do have give me much nostalgia and amusement!
 
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