Who remembers the old days?

[geronimostilton]

Following on from 1Kimmy's post about her horse's mane being rubbed, there must be plenty more out there who also remember the 'good old days'!

As I mentioned in that thread, I remember when 'turnout rugs' were simply a canvas new zealand with a roller surcingle to hold it in place, and we'd have to wax it to waterproof it! There was none of this lightweight/mediumweight/heavyweight nonsense, one rug did it all!
Stable rugs were jute rugs and we'd put a blanket underneath if it got VERY cold, again with a roller to hold it in place - cross surcingles were unheard of!

What other memories do we all have?

 

[mattilda]

And you only had one to rug and one stable rug!! I had a srting vest sweat rug and fed bran on a fegular basis. Feed consisted of bran, chop, nuts and molichop. None of your fancy balancers or mixes.

 

[Divasmum]

When the first nylon rugs came in to replace jute ones you could only buy lavenham rugs in blue. None of this changes of colour to go with fashion for that year.

 

[joey1999]

I have still got one of my old farrier bills from the seventies! £5 for a set of shoes!!!

 

[sueandtoto]

Washing my pony in fairy liquid

Bran mash in winter

Hacking for miles and miles to a show , compeating then hacking back

One bit for everything

Cantering down the grass verges and jumping the drains

No outdoor school

And I loved every minuet of it

 

[disco]

Beige or Brown Jodpurs were the only colours available and I can remember when BLUE very first came out!! You were very IN if you had some....which were closely followed by Blue Hunter Wellies!

And then....reversible PUFFA Jackets in Rainbow!!

 

[SNORKEY]

Ahh yes the string sweat rug, and going to the feed store and having a choice of just nuts or mix! and old chin straps on hats that had those horrible cups on your chin lol!

 

[Slinkyunicorn]

Cork lined riding hats - with a bit of thin elastic to hold it on which you NEVER wore under your chin but above the peak!!

 

[Boater]

My first riding lesson was 2/6d for half an hour. £1 all round for a set of shoes and we used Extra Tail for fly spray and Bloom to wash ponies down. Had a yellow poloneck sweater, yellow string gloves and beige jods and thought I was the bees knees!!

 

[geronimostilton]

And jod boots were just for kids, I felt ever so grown up when I got my first pair of long boots

 

[marinitagsd]

LOL, I remember the "good old days". Yes, the old rug that had to be waxed. Under rugs were old bed blankets and brushing boots were just coming out, we always bandaged before then. Gawd I feel old now!!
Anita
x

 

[ironhorse]

I went to work for a breeder who fed only straights - so horses had oats, bran, sugar beet, soya or fish meal, boiled barley and linseed etc etc etc...with huge nets of beautiful meadow hay; after only ever feeding nuts thought I'd never cope and it was very complicated, but goodness his horses looked well, and not a feed balancer in sight!
They also wore jute rugs ( no legs straps or X surcingles on his brood mares ) and were bedded on straw. It was like stepping back in time, but his methods clearly worked.
I also learned how to strap, with a pad or a wisp (yes I can still make a wisp) and long happy hours were spent in the tack room plaiting baling twine to make lead ropes which were only ever attached to leather headcollars (regularly cleaned and soaped).

 

[sueandtoto]

My Parents used to pay £1 a week to keep him and the farmer who's field he was in used to feed him toast every morning

 

[sueandtoto]

God , I feel really old now

 

[mccarron6769]

Rubber riding boots, only the rich folk had long leather boots.
Rarely heard of mares and geldings being grazed separately.
Horseboxes were mostly old wooden things and cow transporters.
Far less roads and WAY less traffic.
Riding in the fog without a need for High Viz from top to bottom.
Riding without a hat or a hat which, let face it, compared with today's standards wouldn't have saved your head anyway, and nobody batted an eyelid.
Kids being able to help out for rides and riding schools being able to teach kids without stirrups and let them fall off without H&S spoiling all our fun.
People being happy to pick up my pony's poo from the road and put it on their gardens rather than shouting at me, putting it in a non recyclable bag and dumping it at the farm gate !!!
One blanket and two rugs did me five years.
Another memory of string vest sweat rugs

Bran mash and pony nuts with a few oats was as complicated as it got.
Hardly ever heard of supplements let alone used them.
NOBODY had a "trainer"

Happy days, miss them like crazy

 

[disco]

Wow I'm really enjoying this post!!

Does that now make me officially OLD?????!!!!!!

 

[kafue]

I helped out for rides (got to yard for 6am and left at 6pm - loved it)

Jumped the ponies bareback in the field

Hated the silly chin strap (which tended to end up being chewed on, as opposed to being on my chin!)

Loved the string sweat rugs! and the jute rugs.
All the horses would have bran mash in winter
Not a supplement in sight.
Miss those days!

 

[stencilface]

People just had to deal with horses, and maybe not fill them to the eyeballs full of food and keep them cooped up 24/7 and then dope them up on calmers because they are uncontrollable

 

[Hippona]

No T/O rugs at all....ponies just got hairy!
One headcollar....brown.
One numnah...probably brown as well
Leadrope was just that...rope!
Wax jacket ...none of this lightweight technical stuff
Buckets were steel or black
Riding in the dark...no high viz in them days...although I do recall my dad fashioned some bike lights for my stirrups
Feeding straights....looking back, its no wonder my pony was demented and HAD to be ridden daily.....
Strapping with a wisp!
Opening bales of hay with a length of twine and 'burning' it open..

No martigales...straight-bar snaffle for every pony in every discipline!

Plus....NOTHING WAS PINK! (or purple, or baby blue......)

 

[Hippona]

[ QUOTE ]
Cork lined riding hats - with a bit of thin elastic to hold it on which you NEVER wore under your chin but above the peak!!

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm having a flashback!

 

[StaceyTanglewood]

[ QUOTE ]
No T/O rugs at all....ponies just got hairy!
One headcollar....brown.
One numnah...probably brown as well
Leadrope was just that...rope!
Wax jacket ...none of this lightweight technical stuff
Buckets were steel or black
Riding in the dark...no high viz in them days...although I do recall my dad fashioned some bike lights for my stirrups
Feeding straights....looking back, its no wonder my pony was demented and HAD to be ridden daily.....
Strapping with a wisp!
Opening bales of hay with a length of twine and 'burning' it open..

No martigales...straight-bar snaffle for every pony in every discipline!

Plus....NOTHING WAS PINK! (or purple, or baby blue......)

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh god i still open hay like that and only feed straights !! !

 

[Hippona]

You're so retro...you're hip

 

[marinitagsd]

I used to pay £3.50 a week for my stable, £2 for hay and £1 for straw, forage doesn't seem to have gone up much but stabling has! This was back in early 80s
x

 

[Vetty]

OMG, I remember chewing the chin-strap on my hat and my mum going mad! And how much fun was cantering on the verges and jumping the drains?!!!

I also feel v. v. old...... lol!!!

 

[0ldmare]

My mum remembers travelling her horses on the train to compete at the White City Horse Show (which was the HOYS of her era). Can you imagine what Network South East would say if you asked them about travelling a horse! ha ha)

 

[frazzled]

Rugs, only posh people rugged their ponies ,most just lived out 24/7 and got really hairy.
Hacking to shows or if you were very very lucky getting a lift one way in local farmers cattle truck.
NO PINK!

 

[sam1am]

"And how much fun was cantering on the verges and jumping the drains?!!!"

I still do that!

 

[SNORKEY]

[ QUOTE ]
My mum remembers travelling her horses on the train to compete at the White City Horse Show (which was the HOYS of her era). Can you imagine what Network South East would say if you asked them about travelling a horse! ha ha)

[/ QUOTE ]

Blimey, how did she travel her horse by train! id hate to think of the ticket price for that if they done it these days! lol
Blimey thinking back to all of those simple things we had then makes me realise how expensive things are now and how much we have available to buy now!

 

[Archangel]

string girths, very posh people had the 3 fold leather with a strip of something in it that you had to oil.
Drop nosebands

Sticking straw under jute rugs to dry sweaty horses (rug inside out) then when they were dry (after you had walked them round the car park for days) you put the SAME

rug on the right way round.
Pitchforks with handles 10 foot long, would prob stab myself or the horse if i used one now.

 

[ladyt25]

Going to shows (obviously hacking there - only the rich had trailers/horseboxes!) and competing in bareback showjumping competitions amoungst others that H&S would have heart attacks about now!

Doing XC without back protectors (they hadn't come out/weren't compulsory anyway).

Riding out for hours on fat, hairy ponies and sometimes not even having a 10p coin to 'ring home in case of emergencies'!