YorksG
Over the hill and far awa
That is because you are
Who remembers the old days?
- Thread starter geronimostilton
- Start date
Barleyboo
Well-Known Member
Wasn't there a wormer called Frisk that was little blue granules?
All of this is bringing back such memories. Jute rugs were a pain because once your pony had rolled in a pile of poo the stain was there forever. I've still got my first quilted rug somewhere, brown with beige edging and considered a bit flash at the time!
The new-zealands with surcingles were awful. If the rug slipped it stayed slipped as the surcingle would keep it there and we would always be trying to put bits of foam underneath them to protect the pony's back but then of course they would leak like mad. Many an evening was spent sewing leg straps back on or mending triangular tears in the rugs. We also used to sew silky or furry material on the insides to try and stop bald patches developing on the shoulders because the rugs were so heavy and would always pull back. When new-zealands without surcingles came out they were called 'self-righting' rugs but they still came off all the time and still had to be waterproofed every autumn. We used to buy fabsil spray from camping shops that was meant for canvas tents.
All of this is bringing back such memories. Jute rugs were a pain because once your pony had rolled in a pile of poo the stain was there forever. I've still got my first quilted rug somewhere, brown with beige edging and considered a bit flash at the time!
The new-zealands with surcingles were awful. If the rug slipped it stayed slipped as the surcingle would keep it there and we would always be trying to put bits of foam underneath them to protect the pony's back but then of course they would leak like mad. Many an evening was spent sewing leg straps back on or mending triangular tears in the rugs. We also used to sew silky or furry material on the insides to try and stop bald patches developing on the shoulders because the rugs were so heavy and would always pull back. When new-zealands without surcingles came out they were called 'self-righting' rugs but they still came off all the time and still had to be waterproofed every autumn. We used to buy fabsil spray from camping shops that was meant for canvas tents.
Storminateacup
Well-Known Member
Paying 30/6d for the Blacksmith to shoe my horse in between him making wrought -iron gates and fixing ploughs.
Wearing beige jods with cuffs at the bottom that had no lycra in (twill - I think) - couldn't get them on or off without help.
Jodpur boots that were so solid they took years to wear out and got handed down to my sister.
Only rich people stabled their horses. The rest T.O 24/7 with a canvas rug on.
No poo picking
No back specialists
No horse whisperers
No equine massagers
Very few lame horses
Pouticing puncture wounds yourself, cold hosing and doing all minor first aid and then waiting a week or so before calling out the vet.
Vet was a general animal vet - no equine vet then.
Horse ownership was so much cheaper in the old days (1960s)!
Wearing beige jods with cuffs at the bottom that had no lycra in (twill - I think) - couldn't get them on or off without help.
Jodpur boots that were so solid they took years to wear out and got handed down to my sister.
Only rich people stabled their horses. The rest T.O 24/7 with a canvas rug on.
No poo picking
No back specialists
No horse whisperers
No equine massagers
Very few lame horses
Pouticing puncture wounds yourself, cold hosing and doing all minor first aid and then waiting a week or so before calling out the vet.
Vet was a general animal vet - no equine vet then.
Horse ownership was so much cheaper in the old days (1960s)!
DiggerandWill
Well-Known Member
Echo all the above. My 'golden age' was the seventies.
I don't recall a single case of laminitis and ponies were turned out 24/7. No muzzles or fly rugs. Extra tail was the only fly repellent available. Also:
Hoof oil that smelt wonderful in red cans
Bar saddle soap was only one available (still prefer it)
Half panel saddles for ponies
No saddle fitting - if you could see daylight it would do
Choice of jodphurs or riding trousers. Cream only.
And what about Jacatex(sp)? In London and always advertised very cheap riding clothes all over Pony magazine. Bought my first hacking jacket there having saved up for weeks.
Ahhhhhhhhh....
I don't recall a single case of laminitis and ponies were turned out 24/7. No muzzles or fly rugs. Extra tail was the only fly repellent available. Also:
Hoof oil that smelt wonderful in red cans
Bar saddle soap was only one available (still prefer it)
Half panel saddles for ponies
No saddle fitting - if you could see daylight it would do
Choice of jodphurs or riding trousers. Cream only.
And what about Jacatex(sp)? In London and always advertised very cheap riding clothes all over Pony magazine. Bought my first hacking jacket there having saved up for weeks.
Ahhhhhhhhh....
itsme123
Well-Known Member
string girths,
Hats which you padded out with newspaper because your mum refused to buy one that fitted and told you 'you'll grow into it'
'thatching' with rugs and leg bandages
an old tin bath as a trough
brasso
feeding carrots by the bucketload.
an old blanket as an 'under rug' we never had fleeces or anything.
NZ rugs which were so heavy when wet you couldnt lift them.
when 'barefoot' was almost unheard of.
Jumpimg anything you could find, in parks, fields and village greens.
There was none of this 'my horse isn't quite right for me so i'll sell it', you either got on with it and stayed on or you broke your neck. I remember riding 16.2hhs regularly when i was 11 or 12.
I remember my FIRST pair of black nylon harry hall Jodhs, which i wore with a checkered shirt, a pair of long rubber boots and my wax jacket. I thought I was sooo cool!
I still ise old blankets as under rugs, and still use thatching, and use a folded blanket as an exercise sheet.
Hats which you padded out with newspaper because your mum refused to buy one that fitted and told you 'you'll grow into it'
'thatching' with rugs and leg bandages
an old tin bath as a trough
brasso
feeding carrots by the bucketload.
an old blanket as an 'under rug' we never had fleeces or anything.
NZ rugs which were so heavy when wet you couldnt lift them.
when 'barefoot' was almost unheard of.
Jumpimg anything you could find, in parks, fields and village greens.
There was none of this 'my horse isn't quite right for me so i'll sell it', you either got on with it and stayed on or you broke your neck. I remember riding 16.2hhs regularly when i was 11 or 12.
I remember my FIRST pair of black nylon harry hall Jodhs, which i wore with a checkered shirt, a pair of long rubber boots and my wax jacket. I thought I was sooo cool!
I still ise old blankets as under rugs, and still use thatching, and use a folded blanket as an exercise sheet.
Halfstep
Well-Known Member
I remember the "old days", but want to throw a bit of cold water on this nostalgia fest....
Do you remember how HEAVY and SMELLY those New Zealand rugs were? And they rubbed like buggery and were not breathable at all - nasty.
Horses had no routine dental care, I dread to think how many sharp teeth and ulcerated mouths went untreated for years and years.
Whilst feeding straits is fine so long as they are balanced, in the past they often were not balanced as the understanding of nutrition was rudimentary! Hence horses suffering from Azorturia or colic or ulcers (usually unrecognised and untreated).
Wormer powder was pretty useless against tapeworms and encycsted larvae, hence colic problems again.
Rudimentary saddle fitting, leading to bad backs - but this would not be recognised as such, or treated in any way.
Firing for tendon damage. Need I say more?
Those horrid, smelly, stiff waxed jackets that were not waterproof and were horrid to ride in. Give me my lovely, breathable Musto any day!
Breeches so stiff they made your knees bleed.
Those ridiculous hats with chin cups, that would probably break your neck if you actually fell of while wearing.
I could go on!!!
Do you remember how HEAVY and SMELLY those New Zealand rugs were? And they rubbed like buggery and were not breathable at all - nasty.
Horses had no routine dental care, I dread to think how many sharp teeth and ulcerated mouths went untreated for years and years.
Whilst feeding straits is fine so long as they are balanced, in the past they often were not balanced as the understanding of nutrition was rudimentary! Hence horses suffering from Azorturia or colic or ulcers (usually unrecognised and untreated).
Wormer powder was pretty useless against tapeworms and encycsted larvae, hence colic problems again.
Rudimentary saddle fitting, leading to bad backs - but this would not be recognised as such, or treated in any way.
Firing for tendon damage. Need I say more?
Those horrid, smelly, stiff waxed jackets that were not waterproof and were horrid to ride in. Give me my lovely, breathable Musto any day!
Breeches so stiff they made your knees bleed.
Those ridiculous hats with chin cups, that would probably break your neck if you actually fell of while wearing.
I could go on!!!
geronimostilton
Well-Known Member
It's a wonder we ever survived to adulthood with no hats, body protectors etc!
I also remember going out for day-long hacks with friends, nobody knew where we were going (neither did we!) or how long for. One friend fell off once and fractured her arm but we got her back on her horse and rode home, including a gallop! She went to the hospital the next day because her mum was fed up of her moaning it was still sore
We all felt a bit bad when we found out it was broken.
I also remember going out for day-long hacks with friends, nobody knew where we were going (neither did we!) or how long for. One friend fell off once and fractured her arm but we got her back on her horse and rode home, including a gallop! She went to the hospital the next day because her mum was fed up of her moaning it was still sore
We all felt a bit bad when we found out it was broken.WishfulThinker
Well-Known Member
GOD, I'm 26 and I feel old reading that! I am a traditionalist, and if I could do everything the old way I would.
What about riding bareback to take ponies back to the field, whilst leading 2 toher ponies. You giggled if you fell off and someone had to catch your ride whilst you were dragged along by the other 2 and you never once considered suing!
Falling off was something to be proud of.
People cared what you could do, not how you looked!
And it was ok for a 12year old to be riding a 16 or 17hh horse UNsupervised
.
Oh bring back the old days!!
What about riding bareback to take ponies back to the field, whilst leading 2 toher ponies. You giggled if you fell off and someone had to catch your ride whilst you were dragged along by the other 2 and you never once considered suing!
Falling off was something to be proud of.
People cared what you could do, not how you looked!
And it was ok for a 12year old to be riding a 16 or 17hh horse UNsupervised
Oh bring back the old days!!
humblepie
Well-Known Member
Came across an old schedule couple of nights ago - 1974. The jumping classes were 30p to enter. No prize money but I still have the very nice "to keep" salvers that were given first to third in class (seem to have four of them think I was first and second in the 13.2 and 14.2 classes). That's another thing do any local shows still do 12.2/13.2/14.2 with age restrictions and then an open. Mind you I can remember my father moaning about the cost in those days!
diamonddogs
Well-Known Member
Someone's bound to have said these already but worth repeating:
Half panel saddles
Those wonderful old halters made of woven cotton in blue and red, with a rope for leading.
The more battered your hat was the cooler you were - the peak of mine was detached from the hat and flopped around inside the velvet
Riding in Levis (no 501, 509 or ladies' fit in those days) and parkas - jods (beige, white or yellow) for best only
Tweed hacking jackets
Smelly rubber riding macs that you could spread out behind you to keep pony warm and dry
You were really posh if you had a school - we just rode round with oil cans to mark the corners
Yup, we thatched our ponies too - we had one rug between about seven of us
We went to the stables (none of this "yard" rubbish) at 8am and stayed till it got dark in the summer holidays
Cutting our own chaff with a chopping machine bigger than ourselves to mix with oats and pony nuts. A supplement was a tablespoon of Super Solvitax
Bathing the ponies in Lux soapflakes or green Fairy household soap
Livery (or keep as we called it) was £1 a week and £1.50 in winter to cover the hay
Jumps were oil drums with poles balanced on top
String girths with plaited nylon reins to match
Numnahs? What are they? Oh, you mean those things under your half panel saddle that you made out of an old bath towel?
Riding lessons always had a session of "round the world", "half" and "full scissors" and other tortures - often performed at the trot
Haynets you made yourself out of hairy string or baler twine covered in Stockholm Tar
Hacking to the blacksmith (farriers hadn't been invented in those days)
I've still got my trusty folding hoofpick, and still carry baler twine in my pocket.
And every week Pony magazine delivered! My god it was so up itself in the old days!
Half panel saddles
Those wonderful old halters made of woven cotton in blue and red, with a rope for leading.
The more battered your hat was the cooler you were - the peak of mine was detached from the hat and flopped around inside the velvet
Riding in Levis (no 501, 509 or ladies' fit in those days) and parkas - jods (beige, white or yellow) for best only
Tweed hacking jackets
Smelly rubber riding macs that you could spread out behind you to keep pony warm and dry
You were really posh if you had a school - we just rode round with oil cans to mark the corners
Yup, we thatched our ponies too - we had one rug between about seven of us
We went to the stables (none of this "yard" rubbish) at 8am and stayed till it got dark in the summer holidays
Cutting our own chaff with a chopping machine bigger than ourselves to mix with oats and pony nuts. A supplement was a tablespoon of Super Solvitax
Bathing the ponies in Lux soapflakes or green Fairy household soap
Livery (or keep as we called it) was £1 a week and £1.50 in winter to cover the hay
Jumps were oil drums with poles balanced on top
String girths with plaited nylon reins to match
Numnahs? What are they? Oh, you mean those things under your half panel saddle that you made out of an old bath towel?
Riding lessons always had a session of "round the world", "half" and "full scissors" and other tortures - often performed at the trot
Haynets you made yourself out of hairy string or baler twine covered in Stockholm Tar
Hacking to the blacksmith (farriers hadn't been invented in those days)
I've still got my trusty folding hoofpick, and still carry baler twine in my pocket.
And every week Pony magazine delivered! My god it was so up itself in the old days!
nick3216
Well-Known Member
Rinsing my grey pony's tail with a blue bag to make it look whiter.
Turning up to the yard dead early on a show day in beige jods and rubber riding boots, cleaning my pony, hacking in a massive group to the show, 3 jumping classes in the morning, gymkhana in the afternoon, hacking home with the pony decorated with the day's rosettes.
Feeling dead grown up when I got my first pair of white jods.
Thinking that the girl who was showjumping with a martingale must be REALLY posh.
Trying to peer through the open doors of horseboxes to see what they looked like inside (I still do this)
Travelling in a trailer with my pony.
Then, later, being really jealous of people who could afford those clacky overreach boots: I think they were Westrop? You could mix and match the leaves to make stripey coloured ones.
Turning up to the yard dead early on a show day in beige jods and rubber riding boots, cleaning my pony, hacking in a massive group to the show, 3 jumping classes in the morning, gymkhana in the afternoon, hacking home with the pony decorated with the day's rosettes.
Feeling dead grown up when I got my first pair of white jods.
Thinking that the girl who was showjumping with a martingale must be REALLY posh.
Trying to peer through the open doors of horseboxes to see what they looked like inside (I still do this)
Travelling in a trailer with my pony.
Then, later, being really jealous of people who could afford those clacky overreach boots: I think they were Westrop? You could mix and match the leaves to make stripey coloured ones.
charliesarmy
Well-Known Member
My pony was fed on Molichop,bran and Main Ring Blue...with a scoop of limestone flour...the only suppliment around was Vit-Min but we used to give Veggie oil instead
choice of jute rug with surcingle with bath sponge tucked into spine area...never had molasses blocks just molasses added to feed...thought I was dead posh when first pony got some westrop Ovrereach boots(they make a noise when zooming) and we all swapped pieces so we all had red white and blue boots
oooh ho cool were we
charliesarmy
Well-Known Member
Then, later, being really jealous of people who could afford those clacky overreach boots: I think they were Westrop? You could mix and match the leaves to make stripey coloured ones.
[/ QUOTE ]
OMG I'd just posted about westrops...me and my mates swapped leaves....I'm one of those people you hated/was jealous of....BUT I had to save weeks and weeks of pocket money for mine and was sooo proud when I got some...
