# For the Olds, What things do you remember from way back



## ebonyallen (30 September 2011)

Do not know why but today was thinking back to where it all began and the things we had and used before the days of velcro.
So what can you remember ?
Here are a few I thought of

Jute Rugs with the roller
New Zealand Rugs
String Girths
Hats with the chin thingy
No choice of colours

There must be more but can't think of any at the moment, what else can you think of love to be reminded of the good old days lol


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## Marydoll (30 September 2011)

Being inspired by white horses on the tele on saturday morning.
Feeding straights as its all there was
Baggy breeches
Hacking to shows


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## Waterborn (30 September 2011)

Bran with every feed
Galloping bareback on ponies without a hat or a care


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## The Fuzzy Furry (30 September 2011)

lots on these:

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=476742&highlight=plastic+browbands

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=341719&highlight=plastic+browbands

etc


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## Persephone (30 September 2011)

String girths and matching plaited cotton reins (mine were green!)

Chaff Cutters (H & S nightmare)

1/4 panel serge saddles.


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## dumbnag (30 September 2011)

We only fed hay oats and bran, except weekly boiled linceed and barley, the smell!!
Took the straw out of stable to 'dry' most days.
We just got on and rode, no boots, bandages, nosbands, martingales.
No need for back protectors, riding hats only if hunting or going to a show.
I could go on!! but the glass eye and hearing aid just fell out, and I've lost my zimmer frame!!


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## mulledwhine (30 September 2011)

Have still got a string girth, don't use it mind you.

New Zealand's soo heavy you could not get them off ( was only small lol )

No ' naught ponies' just full of character lol 

Bits,,, snaffle, rubber snaffle and pelham

Fun fun fun and no worrying about if you were doing it ' right' pony was happy healthy and active no matter what!!!!


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## mulledwhine (30 September 2011)

Oh and ps, did not mind my bum being seen in jods


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## alliebaxter (30 September 2011)

saddles fitting properly with no numnahs in sight!


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## juliag (30 September 2011)

looked at this one thinking you must mean much older than me when titled for the olds, lol  but NO I remember the string girths and matching coloured reins.... mine were red! New zealand rugs which were a nightmare to dry and as stiff as board. Jute rugs with rollers..... there was no other choice really. Sweat rugs like string vests, not the super smart small mesh coolers we have now. Bandaging our horses for travel with thick gamgees underneath... no travel boots.  Hacking miles to shows with a packet of sandwiches and a pound in my pocket...... get the violins out.


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## ebonyallen (30 September 2011)

Persephone said:



			String girths and matching plaited cotton reins (mine were green!)

Chaff Cutters (H & S nightmare)

1/4 panel serge saddles.
		
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I'm gutted never had the matching reins , oh and those saddles lol


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## Marydoll (30 September 2011)

Omg persephone, i forgot about the chaff cutter


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## Alfiem (30 September 2011)

Stiff leather brushing boots wit lots of stiff leather straps
proper leather knee boots
canvas NZ rugs with no x surcingle just a nylon strap where the girth goes went on like a roller.
anticast rollers - haven't seen one for years!!
string girths
hats with a  bit of flimsy elastic to hold them on.
bran with everything, chaff cut with a chaff cutter - the elf and safety brigade would have a fit if they saw one!!
thatching with straw for a hot sweaty horse
boiled linseed and barley = bluddy mess!!
one saddle fits all - very uncomfy flat seated things with serge panels.

I could go on - I am a dinosaur!!


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## Dancing Queen (30 September 2011)

string girths - still got them!

i have plaited cotton reins as well.

jute rugs/NZ rugs, No BP. Hats with elastic strap.

i still thatch my horses with straw!


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## ebonyallen (30 September 2011)

marydoll said:



			Being inspired by white horses on the tele on saturday morning.
Feeding straights as its all there was
Baggy breeches
Hacking to shows
		
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On white horses snowy white horses, yes forgot that one, and what about Follyfoot and Black Beauty the series awww those were the days.


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## PitPony (30 September 2011)

fantastic!! Jute rugs and rollers...!! String vest sweatsheets!!
...tatty old velvet riding hats which would never have saved your head in a fall
dandy brush, body brush, rubber curry comb, hoof pick and hoof oil plus brush that was it as far as the grooming kit went and then you didnt use it all!!
...bran mash with epsom salts for colic - start and end of treatment!
...putting straw under the jute rug if your horse was wet
...dropped noseband was as elaborate as a bridle would get!
oooohhhh got me thinking now!!!
...doing 'round the world' on your pony and at the crucial moment your pony would move!
...cavelletti jumps with the crosses either end
...one type of horseshoe fits all and does the job for everything!!
 ...Brill!!!


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## ThreeTB's (30 September 2011)

Being told by instructor - 'I'll send you out on a hack with pound notes between your knees and the saddle'! Have never forgotten that one (and a lot of you probably don't even remember pound notes, lol!)


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## Persephone (30 September 2011)

I still have two cavaletti!

Horrible plastic 2 coloured browbands, like velvet ones but wipe clean 

CAM Equestrian!


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## Dancing Queen (30 September 2011)

Persephone said:



			I still have two cavaletti!

Horrible plastic 2 coloured browbands, like velvet ones but wipe clean 

CAM Equestrian!
		
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OMG I have about 6 decent Cavaletti which i still use! xx


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## ebonyallen (30 September 2011)

ThreeTB's said:



			Being told by instructor - 'I'll send you out on a hack with pound notes between your knees and the saddle'! Have never forgotten that one (and a lot of you probably don't even remember pound notes, lol!)
		
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God Major Fairbrace used to this to me and shout man could that man shout and reduce you to tears, and that was ok,because he was teaching you to ride, mind you you caught on very quicky hee hee


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## PitPony (30 September 2011)

fantastic...I remember my first lesson over a cavaletti...it was like I was at Hickstead!!!

My favourite clip at the moment...cant stop laughing at it...French and Saunders Ponies clip on youtube...sums it all up!!!

...sugar cubes!


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## Megibo (30 September 2011)

lots of thread on this topic.......

but i do like reading em


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## Foxhunter49 (30 September 2011)

Horses and ponies living out all the year and no rain rot or mud fever.
Serge of linen 1/4 panel saddles with no knee rolls and hard as heck.
No nylon headcollars - you either used leather or made a halter from 'proper' baler twine (sisal)  
Chilling water for hot horses (a misnomer if ever there was one because you added hot water)
Farrier always cold shod and made every shoe himself.
Drenching a horse for colic whereby most went over you and not down the horses throat.
Falling off called for teasing and laughter.
Very few people owning their own horses/ponies.
Gymkhana events for 2/6d (12.5P) a class
Lead rein classes where the child was led from another horse.
No rubber reins, only plain or plaited though they did bring in the nylon plaited coloured reins.
All children wore Jodhpur boots with straps rather than elastic.
Jodhpurs with big wings made of cavalry twill warm in the winter, boiling in the summer and always itchy! Needed to be dry cleaned as the leather patches cracked and split if washed.
Ponies doing everything at shows from showing classes, jumping and playing games.
Like Alfiem, I could go on forever - I too am a dinosaur!


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## Rose Folly (30 September 2011)

The freedom! We were talking about it today. Friend grew up on edge of Bodmin Moor. I grew up in Roman Wall country. Out on summer holiday mornings - tacky sandwich already seeping through its paper wrapping. No hats! No saddles. Out onto the moors or the neighbouring farmers' fields - they didn't seem to mind. Parents just saying "Be back for tea!" Crossing the river when it was running high. Playing 'Knights and Ladies" (the 'Knight' pulls the 'Lady' from her pony onto his). Or Cowboys and Indians. The ponies loved it as much as we did. We seemed to gallop them into the ground.

Hats were only for hunting
No fancy bridles - you either coped with a snaffle or gave up
Bedding on peat
Making our own hay - stored loose in the hayloft and dropped down through holes in the ceiling above the hayracks. The hay was a wonderful blue/green colour and smelt of summer

Iron mangers with blocks of rock salt in them - the horses used to slam them from end to end when eating their hard feed
Linseed and bran mashes after hunting
Straw thatch (still do it)
And - last but not least, all the wonderful ponies and horses that gave us such glorious childhoods. Gone but never forgotten. Thank you all....


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## PitPony (30 September 2011)

Now thinking about it even the names were different...Copper, Blackie, Scorcher, Freckles, Pandora, Bullet...were some that I learnt on...and they all run rings round us!!!


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## Kaylum (30 September 2011)

Riding twos up over the school field bareback when meant to be at school, whoops.
Hacking to the farrier.
Using motor oil for hoof oil.
Not caring what your pony looked like so long as it galloped. 
Searching for the pony when it dumped you in the middle of the town. 
Feeding it oats because thats what ponies ate.  
Making pony jump over logs in the carpark at the park.
Riding pony over the zebra crossing.  
Walking three miles a day to get to pony and having to walk three miles home with the tack to take it home to clean. 

oh dear you know what people would say these days.  and there was always one called Black Jack.


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## marmalade76 (30 September 2011)

I don't think I'm old but remember most things mentioned.
We had jute rugs, canvas NZs, string girths with matching plaited reins, and rubber reins that only came in orange! I remember when you could win prize money for gymkhana games and kids wore joddy boots WITHOUT half chaps or gaiters. I also remember being told that I did NOT need numnahs 'cause my saddle fitted properly!


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## ebonyallen (30 September 2011)

Just thought when rubber reins came in you could only get them in an orange ish colour,lack of tack shops, my parents used to take me to Crystal Palace to a little place the name escapes me, but they used to place a black and white advert in the newpaper, we lived in Kent so big day out to get a pair of rubber boots or a hat, seem to remember that Moss Bros did a very small selection of riding wear but nothing else.


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## Marydoll (30 September 2011)

Hats and boots were optional,  hacking on and off for the whole day, stopping for picnics and the horses grazed.
There seemed to be more grazing freely available then, and hacking on the roads was a pleasure.
You took your horse to the smiddy for their shoes if they wore them.


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## Paddy Irish (30 September 2011)

I used to help out at a riding stables ( not bhs reg , not any h& s ) after the last ride we would ride a horse out the field LEADING one each side , bare back across a road to get to the turn out field. 
We would hack to the farrier , who was usually half cut and really sweaty ( or so he seemed )
I used to love the old two tone velvet brow bands and had one for my arab mare until i decided to wash it - it shrank doh!


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## ebonyallen (30 September 2011)

PitPony said:



			Now thinking about it even the names were different...Copper, Blackie, Scorcher, Freckles, Pandora, Bullet...were some that I learnt on...and they all run rings round us!!!
		
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Now you have me thinking

Pickles, Chocky, Mr Timothy, Mudlark, Cockney Sparrow, Shady Lady, Doormouse, Mr Whoperty, Doricoles Corkey. Bless them all


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## Bess (30 September 2011)

I remember being really proud of my first riding hat, velvet, with cork as its reinforement and a whacking great brass cone thing inside the hat that would have completely done for me had I fallen off on my head.

Collecting ponies in the field, get their heldcollars on a few, them vaulting on one and leading them all back to the yard.   Going to the Pony Club hunt meet on a riding school pony that had never seen anything outside the yard.....   Fun times.

Oh and they had a smiddy on the yard and we would all gather round to get heated up.


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## PitPony (30 September 2011)

Brilliant names!
We had one called Humphrey...he was so cheeky...he would just get out of the yard and his head would go down to the grass and it took the instructor and a helper to get him back up!! 
The ones that were considered the regular riders and who helped out were allowed to take the horses for a gallop over a field every now and again - totally uncontrolled but wonderful!!!
I also remember there was the list put up with your name on and who you were to ride in your lesson...we used to stand there waiting to see expectantly...then ask for our favourites anyway!! Mine was Blackie and she was a hairy dale - black and she was a madam but I adored her!! Pandora was a slightly mad arab and everyone was frightened if there name was down to rider her!


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## scotlass (30 September 2011)

Jute rugs / canvas NZ
Cavelletti
Hats (velvet) with elastic chin straps
Ponies only wore snaffles / cavesson nosebands - anything in a martingale was eyed with suspicion
Cheering for Ryan's Son / Anglezarke at HOYS (when it was at Wembley and on the TV)
...... and Spangles !!


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## ebonyallen (30 September 2011)

scotlass said:



			Jute rugs / canvas NZ
Cavelletti
Hats (velvet) with elastic chin straps
Ponies only wore snaffles / cavesson nosebands - anything in a martingale was eyed with suspicion
Cheering for Ryan's Son / Anglezarke at HOYS (when it was at Wembley and on the TV)
...... and Spangles !!
		
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Spangles (big grin) now thats a whole different topic lol


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## wowser (30 September 2011)

brilliant ponies that were supper fit
farrier 5.00 a set of shoes
new zealand rugs jute rugs still got 2 
string girths
masive bags of sugar beat
straight feeds
hacking to shows
rolls of gamagee
coloured reins
yellow gloves
brushes that didnt fall apart
half a dozzen different bits now theres hundreds


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## FanyDuChamp (30 September 2011)

Daisydo said:



			Oh and ps, did not mind my bum being seen in jods 

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Yes, glad I am not the only one. 

Boots that were hard to get on and damn near impossible to get off. Tweed hacking jackets that stank when they got wet but most of all those damned NZ, so heavy and took forever to dry!

Hanging on to your pony for dear life if you fell off because you'd get a royal b*llocking if you let go, kids are taught to let go now, it's safer really. Really taught properly, eg no stirrups until you could ride without them. I remember being made to mount and dismount 20 times because I threw my leg over the front instead of dismounting properly and God help you if you banged down onto the horse's back.Being taught that a crop was just an extension of your leg/arm not something to beat the cr*p out of a pony if it refused, we weren't allowed crops until we could ride.  But most of all being told to ask myself "what did I do wrong/badly" when I came off, not allowed to put the blame on the pony and you always got back on after a fall, no matter what. Too much health and safety now! *walks off shaking head and muttering*
FDC


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## jaye1780 (30 September 2011)

Buying horse stuff in Coopers Toys! Plus the rest as before lol  Oh and mucking out properly not throwing half your clean bedding away, 6 to 8 stables a day, the pigs and goats all for a free ride not to forget sweeping 2 big yards (I was 8). 

Riding in headcollars and leadropes too, jumping stiles to get through fields


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## lhotse (30 September 2011)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR6z8GUywyc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0upwJC-XKBI&feature=related

Try to watch these without becoming emotional about a childhood spent with horses!!


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## tinpot (1 October 2011)

saddle soap doesn't smell the same it used to smell lovely ( i thought) used to help out a local riding stables to help pay for lessons before i got my pony and they were mixed lessons ( about 6 -10 in a class) children and adults  at the same level do they still do that these days


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## camilla4 (1 October 2011)

ebonyallen said:



			No choice of colours?  Rubbish - jods came in beige AND lemon!!!  

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## Clippy (1 October 2011)

Stable money £1.50 a week (and that was after decimalisation!) and jods that didn't stretch and hurt your knees! All new tack was London tan and we stained it with hoof oil to make it dark. I remember when black tack was introduced - you were really with it if you had a black bridle. Quilted jackets in green or navy and putting a sponge under the roller on your jute rug. Ah yes, the jute which seemed to go mouldy very quickly!

Who remembers metal water buckets? Hay nets caused a sensation when they were invented too! The only bedding available was straw and the farrier oiled your ponies hooves and trimmed his chestnuts too.

Goldtop riding hats with the broad velvet band, you were ultra modern if you had one of those! The elastic soon went slack so we put knots in it to tighten it up, but the daredevils would put their elastic behind the peak!


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## Kat (1 October 2011)

The most important thing you learnt in riding lessons was "it's never the ponies fault" 

My poor horse has a string girth and an old style sweat rug - still!


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## Clippy (1 October 2011)

KristmasKatt said:



			The most important thing you learnt in riding lessons was "it's never the ponies fault" 

My poor horse has a string girth and an old style sweat rug - still!
		
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I could never untwizzle the string girths, I was glad when webbing was invented, it was a lot simpler.

And of course, you were a proper rider only after you'd fallen off 6 times!


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## Alec Swan (1 October 2011)

Bailer string.  Not the modern plastic stuff,  proper twine!!

Alec.


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## abina (1 October 2011)

lhotse said:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR6z8GUywyc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0upwJC-XKBI&feature=related

Try to watch these without becoming emotional about a childhood spent with horses!!
		
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thanks for these - lovely - It's the music that sets you off more than anything !!

And how thoughtful of the 'white' horse to turn up at the bedroom window like an alarm clock, all spangly clean, not a stable stain in sight and fully tacked up - Clever Pony !! 

.........now trotting off to stable to have a word with my 'White' beastie !!!!


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## OldNag (1 October 2011)

Daisydo said:



			Oh and ps, did not mind my bum being seen in jods 

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^^^ this!

Oh I remember the string girths.  What about the yellow string gloves too! 

I remember with glee getting "4 way stretch jodhpurs"... (beige of course). I thought they were the best thing on earth.

First hat had a fixed peak and elastic chinstrap and was bought second hand.

Jod boots with strap and buckle.


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## OldNag (1 October 2011)

ebonyallen said:



			Just thought when rubber reins came in you could only get them in an orange ish colour,lack of tack shops, my parents used to take me to Crystal Palace to a little place the name escapes me, but they used to place a black and white advert in the newpaper, we lived in Kent so big day out to get a pair of rubber boots or a hat, seem to remember that Moss Bros did a very small selection of riding wear but nothing else.
		
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Wow you mean Jacatex at Crystal Palace.  I remember they had a 3 fold catalogue full of really exciting things (so it seemed to me).  All their range was called "Pat".  The "Pat" Hat etc... That's where I got my new-fangled 4 way stretch jodhpurs from...  I really wanted their riding trousers (anyone remember them?) but had to make do with the jods....


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## emmah (1 October 2011)

I remember when the only colour you could get things in was red or blue....I opted for blue and spent 10 years scraping every penny of my pocket money to buy bits and bobs.....then purple came out and there was a girl on the yard that had parents who were loaded and bought her anything she wanted and she got everything in purple....everyone on the yard wanted to poke her merry little eyes out


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## Ibblebibble (1 October 2011)

our farmer still has a chaff cutter!!!!!!!!!!!
i remember making haynets out of baler twine, 
never using a mounting block, 
trailer with a canvas roof which had a rip in which one pony used to stick his head out of
no dentists or back people or physio's or horse whisperers!


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## sleepykitten (1 October 2011)

Wow! this reminds of when I was about 12 and used to help out on a hunting yard! the horses were all fed "Jim's Magic Mix" which was rolled oats, peas, maize and sugar beet!!! We had old blankets which we put under the horses jute rugs when it was really cold. All folded into a neat triangle and held on with a stable roller. We hacked out in snaffles and hunted in snaffles or a Pelham for the big Irish Draught horse (although we didn't know then he was an ID, he was just a "hunter!")

We had the odd breastplate kicking about, but no martingales. I think we found a drop noseband that I borrowed for my pony once.

One saddle fitted pretty much all the horses (and I swear it did!!) and the horses were tied up in stalls all day, then put into their stables at night! And I was 12 and I could ride all of the horses on the yard. When nowadays I struggle to ride my own!!!!


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## cptrayes (1 October 2011)

No willy cleaners either.


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## cptrayes (1 October 2011)

Black Beauty on the telly taking off for a big hedge wearing a snaffle and landing wearing a pelham


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## DragonSlayer (1 October 2011)

cptrayes said:



			Black Beauty on the telly taking off for a big hedge wearing a snaffle and landing wearing a pelham 

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My goodness, yes!

I have the DVD's to that programme, and I watched it not too long ago....1 minute there was the snaffle, then the pelham....and look, the saddle disappeared for a minute then! Then it was back again...all in the space of a few seconds, and by all accounts, he hadn't even moved!

Jute rugs
Thatching
String girths
Linseed boiling in the big cooker
Padded blue and green jackets
Then wax jackets came in....then it was puffa ones.....
Cycling 8 miles to the riding stables ad back again....leaving at 5am everytime...whatever the weather, I would push me bike through the snow to get there!
Collecting 6-8 ponies at a time from the field, tie 'em together and ride bareback to the stables in just a head collar and lead-rein made out of baler twine!
Going to the chippy on-mass at lunchtime, and having chips and beans, and drowning them in salt and vinegar...
Leading the afternoon lessons...round and round and round...just for the pleasure of riding bare-back to the field again...

Those were the days....!


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## PitPony (1 October 2011)

Mucking out my first stable took an hour...straw...with my best mate! 
We would turn up at the riding stable with our grooming kits (the old box types) and all ready to go...by the time we had groomed and tacked up our horses we were a mess!! We were taught how to look after the ponies - if we were to ride them we should know how to look after them first - we would be inspected too! 
Own a Pony Days were fantastic! Our parents used to love dropping us down there for the day and getting rid of us!!

Just imagine if you could have a yard like this again...now...! how simple it would all be!
Have we just complicated somethings needlessly?!


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## riding_high (1 October 2011)

saying you were off to buy a girth/headcollar/lead rope/reins/etc and not be questioned on which type/brand you were going to buy, they were pretty much just one type/brand or if you were lucky you could get a choice of 2!
new zealand rugs
jute rugs
thatching
not being worried by traffic (so much more traffic now)
flaked maize
bran
sugar beet (needed soaking for 24hrs)
oats
nuts (now known as cubes!)
main ring (now just mix)

back then if someone fed their horses main ring they were regarded as 'well off' as it was about £4 a bag! 

being able to ride for hours and not worry if the horse/pony was fit because more often than not they were very fit because they were ridden every day and taken out on 'proper rides' rather than worked in a school! (i know horses worked in a school are fit it's just how it was thought of back then)


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## paddi22 (1 October 2011)

i remember a new livery arrived at the yard and she had a hoof pick with the little brush part on it, and we all stood around and 'oohed' and 'ahhed'!

she then produced a rubber currycomb and we had a fit of jealousy as we only had plastic ones!


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## juliag (1 October 2011)

PitPony said:



			fantastic...I remember my first lesson over a cavaletti...it was like I was at Hickstead!!!

My favourite clip at the moment...cant stop laughing at it...French and Saunders Ponies clip on youtube...sums it all up!!!

...sugar cubes!
		
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Yep , that was me!!!!!!!!!! lol
Training for my bhsai at urchinwood manor on a yts training scheme, they made us ride skiiny tb's only just backed lunging each other for hours with no stirrups or reins. my balance has always been amazing since those days though! Health and safety would have a field day.... we had the time of our lives!


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## EAST KENT (1 October 2011)

Going down a jumping lane bareback,arms folded and eyes shut....


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## honetpot (1 October 2011)

''frying pan saddles', these must have been new in the 20's and when everyone sat alot futher back. I rode for a small dealer and had my 'own' saddle which fitted every pony.
 Before string girths there was a pair of web girths which you could shorten by stiching.
Old cobbled stables with stalls, the horses where chained up with a noggin on the end.
The end one had a swinging bale for the draught horses so they could lie down and not get cast.
 Second hand shoes, £5 a set. You were really posh if you had new ones.


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## Ibblebibble (1 October 2011)

And piebald and skewbald were called just that rather than coloured and were considered quite errm common and not very desirable!! And i'm not sure if it's just my poor memory but riding horses went up to 16.3hh and anything over that was almost considered a freak,   Oh and kids and teens were happy to stay riding ponies much longer rather than 'needing' a 16hh tb as soon as you reach 14.


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## McNally (1 October 2011)

I never had a Jute rug- I was lucky! all the girls at my yard were borderline Jealous/hilarious when my uncle turned up with a weird yellow stable rug which had a huge tummy flap, god only knows where he got it from but my horse was considered quite cool in his "posh indoor quilt" as the y/o used to call it.

I did have canvas turnouts though- my poor pony had 2 and used to have a soaking wet half tonne rug hauled over him daily.....I wonder now looking at my horses collection of every weight and style rug how on earth i coped!


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## touchstone (1 October 2011)

Making hay wisps, lampwick girths, those funny chin cup things that came in as an accessory for your riding hat.  Boiling barley and linseed and making bran mashes.  Doing your own poultices with bran and epsom salts, animalintex was a luxury!  Most ponies just had a bit of extra hay in winter, no expensive laminitic/diet chaffs were needed or extra feed.
The only supplements we used were cod liver oil for oldies and watered down mollasses for fussy feeders.
Hay racks above head height, they were awful to fill and not brilliant for the horses.
Bits made out of awful nickel instead of stainless steel.
Long rides out for a picnic and not worrying about traffic or getting home before dark.


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## lastchancer (1 October 2011)

I remember when horses and yards were treated with respect and good standards were expected to be adhered to by everyone, rather than stables been used as a playground for kids and a doss house for muppets.


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## FairyLights (1 October 2011)

yellow string gloves. less traffic on the road and lorries wernt as big.


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## a kind of magic (1 October 2011)

I remember helping out at the riding stables from the moment I started riding at 7, getting the ponies in (normally at least 3 at a time!), grooming and tacking up unattended, funky skull caps with the chip cup, an hour's riding lesson was £8, the riding school wasn't BHS or anything but we went there to have stable management lessons too, cleaning the tack and so on so forth.

Hardly any horses had rugs, the ones that did they were NZ rugs although one horse had a Rambo(!), we never rode in a school, just a field, taught about thatching under a rug for a sweaty horse, the string vest coolers (still got mine-love it!), no such thing as fly masks or rugs (our horse had one of the first as he had an allergic reaction and needed something to cover the sores but was going potty indoors), I think the tallest horse there was mine actually, a 15.3hh cob!  Rest were all native ponies, having all manner of people ride them.

All the ponies had the same dinner regardless too!

I miss those days.


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## muff747 (1 October 2011)

ThreeTB's said:



			Being told by instructor - 'I'll send you out on a hack with pound notes between your knees and the saddle'! Have never forgotten that one (and a lot of you probably don't even remember pound notes, lol!)
		
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I remember coming home with blisters on the insides of my knees when we did a sitting trot lesson with no stirrups and could hardly walk the next day my legs were that stiff.
I did have a cloth under my saddle that tied with tapes under the saddle flaps, still got that
Why do some people still pull the horses legs forward when we don't use string girths anymore???


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## alwaysbroke (1 October 2011)

The original Lathenham(sp) quilted jackets in green or navy(daughter now wants the Barbour version!)

Jods were for best jeans for everyday
Only able to ride at weekends in the winter, very few schools or floodlights around
Pony so covered in mud that you just brushed where the tack went, 5 inches of mud 'icicles' under their belly!
No EDT's or back people, laminitis was a huge rarity, never saw a pony or horse with it during my early riding years.


and just about everything else already mentioned


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## muff747 (1 October 2011)

scotlass said:



			Cheering for Ryan's Son / Anglezarke at HOYS (when it was at Wembley and on the TV)QUOTE]

And watching Olympia show jumping at Christmas
		
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## vickyb (1 October 2011)

My first pony back in the sixties - the only pony kit I had was a saddle (serge lined, half panel) a bridle (snaffle and cavesson) a rope halter and a grooming kit. I was perfectly happy with so little - didn't know any different.
Also I have a photo taken at Pony Club camp of me going down a jumping lane doffing my riding hat over each fence! There were various jumping lane challenges; another was to remove your jacket while riding over the jumps. Loads of people fell off. You were just told to stop making a fuss and get back on.
Also my mother used to get furious because i was always nicking blankets from the house to put under jute rugs in cold weather!


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## Maesfen (1 October 2011)

OldNag said:



			Wow you mean Jacatex at Crystal Palace.  I remember they had a 3 fold catalogue full of really exciting things (so it seemed to me).  All their range was called "Pat".  The "Pat" Hat etc... That's where I got my new-fangled 4 way stretch jodhpurs from...  I really wanted their riding trousers (anyone remember them?) but had to make do with the jods....
		
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You beat me too it!  Good old Jacatex, the Robinsons of their day!  They had different straps on the jodhpur boots too so you knew when they were 'proper' boots or not (i had the Jacatex ones of course!) and their range was named after Pat Smythe or so I was told by the staff at the shop; my Dad, bless him said they named it after me. 
Loved the riding trousers, they were so swanky (I thought) and meant I didn't get jeered at for being horsey when I went back home through Croydon.  Many showing people used them too, shame they died out, they're still smart.


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## muff747 (1 October 2011)

I don't remember there being many thoroughbred horses around when I had my pony.  They were only ridden by jockeys.  The big horses were hunter types and the rest were native ponies.
And novices definitely didn't buy TB's or big horses, anyone new to horse ownership bought a cob.


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## nikCscott (1 October 2011)

All of the above plus

Lorries and trailer full of straw- trying to protected the wooden floors.
And you didn't see many coloured horses competing when I was a child, my pony could not get his head around it, and the markings on the legend SJ pony Strawberry Mojo used to blow my ponies mind in the collecting ring!


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## Hairy Old Cob (1 October 2011)

All of the Above for the Horse and for the Stylish! Rider
Non stretch Jodphurs that had to be peeled off inside out
Leather soled Jodphur boots that continualy needed re-soling
Rubber Riding Boots that were devilish get off especialy when half full of cold rain water.
Millar String Gloves and Millar mitts with no fingerends
Hebden Cord Tweed Jackets
Putty Coloured rubberised Cotton riding Macs that kept most of the rain out and ALL The Persperation in
Quilted jackets that were as waterproof as a tea bag


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## janel (1 October 2011)

And then going home to read all the 'Jill' Books by Ruby Ferguson.  Have still got some of the original ones from the late sixties.. I longed to be Jill riding Black Boy & Rapide cantering along the endless grassy verges with not a care in the world!


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## PoppyAnderson (1 October 2011)

Going into town or on the bus in riding gear, feeling ded chuffed 'cos everyone would know you were a horsey person!


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## Clippy (1 October 2011)

PoppyAnderson said:



			Going into town or on the bus in riding gear, feeling ded chuffed 'cos everyone would know you were a horsey person!
		
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Ah yes, there was something about being seen often with a bridle on your shoulder too!


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## PoppyAnderson (1 October 2011)

Clippy said:



			Ah yes, there was something about being seen often with a bridle on your shoulder too!
		
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Or carrying a saddle, which was the absolute pinnacle!


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## Lennyfan (1 October 2011)

lastchancer said:



			I remember when horses and yards were treated with respect and good standards were expected to be adhered to by everyone, rather than stables been used as a playground for kids and a doss house for muppets.
		
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Here, here! Cannot quite believe the appalling behavior of children on yards these days, I would never of dared behave in such a manner when I was a kid!  Working on the yard in cream jods and long boots, no lesson without horse/pony immaculately turned out & you in hacking jacket, oh, and the Abbott Davies Balancing Rein!!


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## steadyeddy (1 October 2011)

Here goes! - string girths, no numnahs, beagler style hats or no hat at all or just a head scarf, jute rugs with roller, green canvas t'out rugs, hacking to shows/meets, beige jods always or breeches,velvet browbands with no bling, plaited reins, snaffle bits with cavesson nosebands only,brown heavy tweed jackets - i could go on!!!!!!!!


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## DragonSlayer (1 October 2011)

PoppyAnderson said:



			Going into town or on the bus in riding gear, feeling ded chuffed 'cos everyone would know you were a horsey person!
		
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...did you sit there with your hat on? I did! I was lucky and was able to get the bus sometimes...and not have to bike...


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## ebonyallen (1 October 2011)

Clippy said:



			Stable money £1.50 a week (and that was after decimalisation!) and jods that didn't stretch and hurt your knees! All new tack was London tan and we stained it with hoof oil to make it dark. I remember when black tack was introduced - you were really with it if you had a black bridle. Quilted jackets in green or navy and putting a sponge under the roller on your jute rug. Ah yes, the jute which seemed to go mouldy very quickly!

Who remembers metal water buckets? Hay nets caused a sensation when they were invented too! The only bedding available was straw and the farrier oiled your ponies hooves and trimmed his chestnuts too.

Goldtop riding hats with the broad velvet band, you were ultra modern if you had one of those! The elastic soon went slack so we put knots in it to tighten it up, but the daredevils would put their elastic behind the peak!
		
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This really made me laugh these replies are fantastic   We still have a couple of the metal buckets,we use to top up the plastic ones, The elastic really made me shreak I have to say put it behind the peak !! Just thought of another who uses a whisp, think that how you spell it lol, do not even know if I could make one now. What about the games Apple Dunking with a pony that was doing its best to get the apple before you could and soaking you in the process


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## flowerlady (1 October 2011)

ThreeTB's said:



			Being told by instructor - 'I'll send you out on a hack with pound notes between your knees and the saddle'! Have never forgotten that one (and a lot of you probably don't even remember pound notes, lol!)
		
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I remember the 10 bob note  and an hours riding was 5 shillings the equivalent of 25p now.


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## ebonyallen (1 October 2011)

OldNag said:



			Wow you mean Jacatex at Crystal Palace.  I remember they had a 3 fold catalogue full of really exciting things (so it seemed to me).  All their range was called "Pat".  The "Pat" Hat etc... That's where I got my new-fangled 4 way stretch jodhpurs from...  I really wanted their riding trousers (anyone remember them?) but had to make do with the jods....
		
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OMG you are soooooo right, for the life of me could not remember, do not worry I never got the trousers either


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## DragonSlayer (1 October 2011)

Here's something for ya.....

http://booksandmud.blogspot.com/2009/05/way-things-were-pony-magazine-in-1960s.html


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## Doris68 (1 October 2011)

Felt saddles and most of the ponies I rode had a crupper!!

PS  If anyone doesn't know what a crupper is, then you're much too young to be reading this thread....  ;-D


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## brucethegypsycob (1 October 2011)

"Champion the Wonder Horse" essential  saturday morning  telly for those of us that only got to ride on sundays lol


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## proudwilliam (1 October 2011)

Riding my pony in the sea in summer!!
Dad bought me a trap we taught the dartmoor to pull it so off on a picnic with pet lambs cat and kittens no mobile no traffic and away all day.
First lorry had a canvas top so we would wind the top back and travel home from shows sitting on the luton waving at everyone.
Winning real money in gymkhana games.
Walk trot and gallop b****y dangerous sometimes.
Wearing pimpsolls when competing in the games.
I had a pony cost 90gns, who won the 14.2.hh show class at the county show then was 2nd in the jumping and finally was in the Prince Philip games team.!!!!
Happy days.


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## Wundahorse (1 October 2011)

I remember as as if it was yesterday.Old fashioned New Zealand's which few people could afford.Shoes £4 a set,hay about 50p and straw next to nothing.Most ponies lived out all year,we had no arena's and used the field to school in,often with other ponies and horses wandering around grazing.No colour choice re jods and clothing.Lavenham stable rugs for those with a stable.But loads of fun and freedom.I would not change my 1970's horsy childhood for anything the kid's have today.I loved those times.Also The adventure's of Black Beauty,now recreated on an advert,and all the horsy books by notable author's.


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## Ibblebibble (1 October 2011)

brucethegypsycob said:



			"Champion the Wonder Horse" essential  saturday morning  telly for those of us that only got to ride on sundays lol
		
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 i used to watch any cowboy film i could just to see the horses lol


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## lhotse (1 October 2011)

Fly by Night. I have a copy somewhere at the back of the cupboard, I must dig it out and have a read.
I miss the smell of jute rugs. Infact, the smell of an old headcollar that I was given aged 7 still takes me back to my childhood. The headcollar is still going strong too!


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## mystiandsunny (1 October 2011)

I must be old then and only in early thirties, as I remember most of this!  Strongest memories are:
- boiled barley with molasses cooking in stable yard.  Was yummy and I'm sure we nicked most of it before the horses got their share!
- hats with chin cups
- hacking out for hours without telling parents where going/when back, or having hi viz. Washing ponies off and cantering around afterwards bareback sitting on a towel - to dry them off of course! No hat either!
- catching 'naughty' ponies from another horse cowboy style (much fun, so not safe but was quite effective!)
- body protector - what was that????
- saddleries that actually MADE tack.  Bits of leftover leather being given to us to make bridles and saddles for our model Julip ponies.
- knotting haynets from baling twine.
- all ponies living out 24/7 and only coming in to stalls just before work.  Only horses had loose boxes.
- colic was the only illness I met when I was a child - it was rare but often fatal.
- only horses got 'feed'.  Ponies had grass and the odd carrot.


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## catkin (1 October 2011)

DragonSlayer said:



			Here's something for ya.....

http://booksandmud.blogspot.com/2009/05/way-things-were-pony-magazine-in-1960s.html



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Oh heck!!! - I've still got that black Harry Hall jacket in the drawing - still wear it too


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## MizzPurpleKitten (1 October 2011)

I'm only 25 and I remember most of the things mentioned......Jute Rugs and NZ rugs, String girths and Matching Reins, Gymkhana's, Only bits used were snaffles or pelhams, as interesting and 'gadgety' as a bridle got was a drop noseband, hacking to the forge for the farrier (Oh the smell of the forge....it was gorgeous!), Feeding straights, Thatching with straw, Anti-Sweat Rugs being BIG string vests, Bandaging instead of Booting......Being Taught EVERYTHING and not just turning up and riding (and if you didn't do it properly you did it again and again til you got it right!), Around the world, thread the needle and backwards rolls from horseback, jumping lessons using cavaletti and of course falling off was a talking poiunt where you'd get dunked in the water trough not rushed to A&E! 

I also totally agree with those who mentioned names and temperements, all of them were 'spirited' in some way or another (Biters, Kickers, Buckers, Rearers and Bolters were all known as 'full of character' at my riding school) and all had such lovely sweet names (Chester, Briar, Duke, Copper, Arkle, Merry, Minstral, Candy, Bobby (Bobby 2 and Bobby 3 as this was a very pouplar name!), Kizzie, Nutmeg, Lady, Lizzette, Boris, Blackjack, Dacron, King and much later Mishka are some I remember very fondly!)

I'm so thankful to the horses, ponies and people at the riding school I learned at as they really set me in good stead for owning my own (I've got 2 now...one of which I've owned for nearly 14years)

I could go on forever lol


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## FanyDuChamp (1 October 2011)

lhotse said:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR6z8GUywyc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0upwJC-XKBI&feature=related

Try to watch these without becoming emotional about a childhood spent with horses!!
		
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OMG the minute the Black Beauty one came on I teared up! Can't ever watch with out feeling sad. Love the White horses as well.I always wanted a grey because of that series!
FDC


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## lhotse (1 October 2011)

I know how you feel, I sat in tears watching those!!

I think the big change came about around 1990/91. Suddenly everyone had quilted rugs, and jute rugs became obsolete. Businesses popped up selling all manner of horsey things in all sorts of colours. Masta made a turnout that had leg straps front and back instead of a surcingle (I still have one somewhere, and it was the best fitting turnout rug I ever used on my old mare). Dodson and Horrell pasturemix became the mainstay of feed, and the art of feeding straights soon became a thing of the past for many people.

I would love to transport some of today's modern-day horseowners back in time to see how they would cope!!


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## Countrychic (2 October 2011)

MizzPurpleKitten said:



			I'm only 25 and I remember most of the things mentioned......Jute Rugs and NZ rugs, String girths and Matching Reins, Gymkhana's, Only bits used were snaffles or pelhams, as interesting and 'gadgety' as a bridle got was a drop noseband, hacking to the forge for the farrier (Oh the smell of the forge....it was gorgeous!), Feeding straights, Thatching with straw, Anti-Sweat Rugs being BIG string vests, Bandaging instead of Booting......Being Taught EVERYTHING and not just turning up and riding (and if you didn't do it properly you did it again and again til you got it right!), Around the world, thread the needle and backwards rolls from horseback, jumping lessons using cavaletti and of course falling off was a talking poiunt where you'd get dunked in the water trough not rushed to A&E! 

I also totally agree with those who mentioned names and temperements, all of them were 'spirited' in some way or another (Biters, Kickers, Buckers, Rearers and Bolters were all known as 'full of character' at my riding school) and all had such lovely sweet names (Chester, Briar, Duke, Copper, Arkle, Merry, Minstral, Candy, Bobby (Bobby 2 and Bobby 3 as this was a very pouplar name!), Kizzie, Nutmeg, Lady, Lizzette, Boris, Blackjack, Dacron, King and much later Mishka are some I remember very fondly!)

I'm so thankful to the horses, ponies and people at the riding school I learned at as they really set me in good stead for owning my own (I've got 2 now...one of which I've owned for nearly 14years)

I could go on forever lol
		
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You must have ridden at murton? Unless all riding school ponies had the same names lol


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## farriersmum (2 October 2011)

Health and Safety - what was that?  Cavaletti with arms folded, cavaletti with arms folded and no stirrups, cavaletti with eyes shut...ditto grids; same as others on NZ rugs (anyone remember the one that was self-righting - £80)? bran - eek! Does ANYONE still feed it? Hacking to the farrier, gloopy feeds, burco boilers, Spillers H & P cubes fed with oats and bran etc. etc.  Oh and going out with the riding school hacking and pretending to let your pony graze so that you could GALLOP to catch up with the leader!


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## amandap (2 October 2011)

Thick, scratchy, (? serge) yellow hunting breeches. 

Being in the country and able to ride wherever I wanted for as long as I wanted.


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## wonkey_donkey (2 October 2011)

Great post . . . . I remember everything so far


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## dunthing (2 October 2011)

Standing in my Mum's kitchen, with my sister, tack cleaning in readiness for a gymkhana the next morning. She always complained that the house stank of "horse stuff". Hacking to shows, sometimes miles away, taking a packed lunch and a few shillings!! Very flat saddles, "brush the serge vigorously with as stiff brush to remove sweat and hair". Yes, I remember Jacatex and those jods with balloons on your legs. I started riding in brown lace up shoes until I saved pocket money to buy a pair of black Joddy boots with straps. I thought I looked fantastic in them. Great times and lots of good memories, thanks owed to lots of ponies who taught us so much.


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## MiJodsR2BlinkinTite (2 October 2011)

Oooohhhh, this is a trip down memory lane, luvvin it!! 

Yes remember Jacatex and their "lovat" checked hacking jackets; they also did a range in "riding trousers". I had a pair of these trousers, and they lasted me incredibly well - I literally wore them out and they were the only pair of riding breeches I had (couldn't afford more than one pair in those days!!). Its no wonder Jacatex ceased trading  - they were a nice little company and their stuff was good, albeit basic. But you didn't get the choice then that you do now!

Also remember plastic dragon-teeth browbands - looked awful, thinking about it in retrospect, but we didn't think so then. The aim was to get thoroughly colour-coordinated and match up with nylon girths AND reins. Hideous!!! I've still got a pair of royal blue nylon reins somewhere, and a brown pair. There was nothing like them; you could ride in the wet and they'd still stay grippy in your hand. Wish someone would start doing them again.

Also remember hacking 8 miles to a show (or hunting, or pony club); doing a couple of competitions plus the clear-round jumping and then hack back again. We thought nothing of it then; unlike today's cossetted generation!

If you had a horse that reared; we were taught religiously in pony club to "get off, stay off, and ring kennels"; nowadays you'd call in an equine behaviourist and spend god-knows-what on every sort of dental and veterinary notion. 

Also can remember getting sent out of class at school for reading one of the Pullein Thompson books in class! (think this happened more than once!!!). Our idols then were Pat Smythe, Marion Mould, David Broome, Harvey Smith, Princess Anne, Lucinda Prior-Palmer, Mark Phillips. In those days you could go to Badminton and literally brush shoulders with the Queen without hindrance. Where the hell did it all go wrong????

They were such happy, carefree days; Elf & Safety would have had a seizure at what we used to do.


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## Wundahorse (2 October 2011)

I remember Jacatex well but am still embarrassed by my jacket which looked cheap compared to Harry Hall.We used to hack miles to shows,compete in lots of classes and hack back,often at a gallop as our ponies knew the way home.Not sure if I'm looking back with rose tinted specs,but i do reckon our ponies were bombproof and had no nasty habits while riding.In fact few people then had problem horses.I used to ride my friends Arab Stallion bareback.Who would dare do such a thing now without elf and safety intervening.One thing i have noticed is that today's kids are far less agile.They almost need mounting blocks,and i have seen no kid who can vault on a section A bareback let alone the 17.2 we used to shin up.My aforementioned friend also used to rescue lots of young ponies from sales,mainly Welsh,and with her brilliant training they all turned out to be fabulous riding and competition ponies.Her Arab was a prime example of a well trained and very kind horse.
I'm loving the threads about White Horses,this was the first horsy programme i ever saw.Also who remembers Champion the Wonder horse,Follyfoot and Horse in the house.


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## millhouse (2 October 2011)

What a trip down memory lane!  I remember all of this from my days at the riding stables.  All the marvellous horses and ponies, and what happy times we all had.


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## ebonyallen (2 October 2011)

farriersmum said:



			Health and Safety - what was that?  Cavaletti with arms folded, cavaletti with arms folded and no stirrups, cavaletti with eyes shut...ditto grids; same as others on NZ rugs (anyone remember the one that was self-righting - £80)? bran - eek! Does ANYONE still feed it? Hacking to the farrier, gloopy feeds, burco boilers, Spillers H & P cubes fed with oats and bran etc. etc.  Oh and going out with the riding school hacking and pretending to let your pony graze so that you could GALLOP to catch up with the leader!
		
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Was it the Chaskit which had the spider thingy that went from the front clips under the belly then around the back legs and did up ? With my first job saved up and got one but I know it cost alot of money back then !!


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## teamsarazara (2 October 2011)

Im only 16 and even from being a wee girl things have changed. We used to go riding at about 7 or 8 years old galloping around the stubble fields and if we fell off our ponies ran home and if we werent home within a few minutes someone would come out looking for us. We used to do "backies" so whoever didnt have a horse went on the back of the biggest horse going out and held onto whoever was riding on the saddles belly. We used to throw people in the muckheap or in the water baths on their birthday but now its all about health and safety. My shetland pony used to have a tiny wee new zealand rug and when he'd been wet we put straw under the rug to dry off.


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## muffinmunsh (2 October 2011)

Hehehe
I didn't grow up in the UK but yes, string girth on a very flat saddle but only for "good" days like shows ... On ordinary days it was bareback  
Loved to ride out with my uncle, sitting in front of the saddle on his reeeeaaaaallly big horse going reeeeaaaaallly fast .
Until very recently I would have said to everybody we always wore hats as children. When going through my mums stuff and old photo albums of us as children I realised we never wore hats! Shocking!


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## PitPony (2 October 2011)

ebonyallen said:



			Was it the Chaskit which had the spider thingy that went from the front clips under the belly then around the back legs and did up ? With my first job saved up and got one but I know it cost alot of money back then !!
		
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I remember a Chaskit my friend had for her horse...we thought it was very flash and clever...but I couldnt get to grips with all the different places to do it up with when I had to do her horse!!!


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## ladyearl (2 October 2011)

Most of the above but I'd have to add I think things are better in some ways now.

I remember sewing bits of sheepskin onto the shoulder of my pony's green NZ rug as he would have been rubbed raw otherwise. 

It was quite normal to see horses thin after winter, it was expected in fact and assumed they would get fat quickly over summer.

No one had a trailer or horse box if you couldn't hack to a show you usually couldn't go. 

Vet work was carried out at the yard by a vet that would be fitting you in between cows or other farm animals. 

There was "a" farrier who did the yard/region and you accepted his word as gospel and he came when he came not at a pre arranged time.

horses did not eat garlic!


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## mulledwhine (2 October 2011)

Oh David broome, I wrote to jimmy Seville to fix it for me to ride with him!!!! Did not get a reply.

I was 5 though and he was my first love ( after my granda ) xxxx


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## OldNag (2 October 2011)

MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:



			Oooohhhh, this is a trip down memory lane, luvvin it!! 

Yes remember Jacatex and their "lovat" checked hacking jackets; they also did a range in "riding trousers". I had a pair of these trousers, and they lasted me incredibly well - I literally wore them out and they were the only pair of riding breeches I had (couldn't afford more than one pair in those days!!). Its no wonder Jacatex ceased trading  - they were a nice little company and their stuff was good, albeit basic. But you didn't get the choice then that you do now!

Also remember plastic dragon-teeth browbands - looked awful, thinking about it in retrospect, but we didn't think so then. The aim was to get thoroughly colour-coordinated and match up with nylon girths AND reins. Hideous!!! I've still got a pair of royal blue nylon reins somewhere, and a brown pair. There was nothing like them; you could ride in the wet and they'd still stay grippy in your hand. Wish someone would start doing them again.

Also remember hacking 8 miles to a show (or hunting, or pony club); doing a couple of competitions plus the clear-round jumping and then hack back again. We thought nothing of it then; unlike today's cossetted generation!

If you had a horse that reared; we were taught religiously in pony club to "get off, stay off, and ring kennels"; nowadays you'd call in an equine behaviourist and spend god-knows-what on every sort of dental and veterinary notion. 

Also can remember getting sent out of class at school for reading one of the Pullein Thompson books in class! (think this happened more than once!!!). Our idols then were Pat Smythe, Marion Mould, David Broome, Harvey Smith, Princess Anne, Lucinda Prior-Palmer, Mark Phillips. In those days you could go to Badminton and literally brush shoulders with the Queen without hindrance. Where the hell did it all go wrong????

They were such happy, carefree days; Elf & Safety would have had a seizure at what we used to do.
		
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Ah Marion Mould.  I remember writing in to Jim'll Fix It - asking for a riding lesson with Marion Mould.  Not sure if I asked if I could ride Stroller too  Never did get a reply...

Pullein-Thompson, Ruby Ferguson et al were fab.  I've just dug out a box full of them for my daughters to get stuck in to.  Not sure they'll understand all the references as things have changed so much! I even found myself re-reading "Black Hunting Whip" last week.  I remember yearning to live somewhere like Punchbowl Farm.  

Happy days ...


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## Double_choc_lab (2 October 2011)

MiJodsR - I too remember going to Badminton and watching the vets parade in the yard when the Queen would just walk in through the crowd.

I also remember chaff in hessian sacks.
Orange and white checked browband - yeukk
Shoes at 10/6 per set (1968) thats 52.5p for the young'uns.
Were the beige rubbery riding macs Jacatex?

Mentioned before but can anyone else remember when Anne Moore and David Broome got engaged - did not last!


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## Doris68 (2 October 2011)

I haven't lived in Lancashire for many, many years....but I do remember the farrier, Jimmy Vickers, who used to visit (wearing his orange shirt) on his bike and cold shoe!  You could have hot shoe if you hacked over to his forge in Bispham Green!

Anyone remember him............???

PS  I believe Jimmy had that same shirt for more years than anyone cares to recall!


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## Goldenstar (2 October 2011)

I am loving this post,I will add thatching my Shetland after hunting with straw a old bran sack held on by a piece of string then my parents bought me a jute rug for Christmas I was in heaven. He was unclipped I would hack him home lead him last 2miles then thatch him give him a bran mash with treacle in ( he loved that it was the only hard food he got ) in an hour or so he would be dry we took of his thatch and out he went very happy.
the smell of cod liver oil and malt that the hunters got
My little whip which was black and White plaited stuff.
Sore calfs from hunting for hours in jodphur boots the sweat soaked though the fabric and irritated your skin. No half chaps back then.
My amazement the first time I saw a horse lorry rather than a cattle lorry with horses in it.
Standing martingales on young horses ( still do that)
The smell of the oat bin just after freshly crushed ones where put in. could go on and on but won't bore you all to death.


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## 9tails (2 October 2011)

In 20 years time we'll be looking back and saying "God, do you remember leather or synthetic saddles that weighed a ton, my new carbon fibre/kevlar/moondust saddle is a fraction of the weight" "different weight rugs with cross under buckles and leg straps, rather than today's one-size-fits-all vacuum fit with sun/wind/temp sensors" etc etc.


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## marmalade76 (2 October 2011)

MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:



			I've still got a pair of royal blue nylon reins somewhere, and a brown pair. There was nothing like them; you could ride in the wet and they'd still stay grippy in your hand. Wish someone would start doing them again.
		
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So do I!!!   They lasted forever, unlike rubber ones which are worn out within twelve months!


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## Baggybreeches (2 October 2011)

mystiandsunny said:



			- only horses got 'feed'.  Ponies had grass and the odd carrot.
		
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 can you imagine telling that to the 'feeders'!


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## scotlass (3 October 2011)

The national outcry when Harvey Smith stuck his two fingers up

Commentary by Dorian Williams / Raymond Brookes-Ward

National Velvet

Green quilted riding jackets.   (Only the "posh" people had a Puffa)

Children's jumping ponies who didn't need half a ton of ironwork in their mouths

Show hunter ponies that had actually been hunting


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## Tnavas (3 October 2011)

The White Horses - just watched the you tube clip and so nostalgic - goose bumbs on my arms - loved the music.

Anyone remember the wormer that came in tiny blue bead like tubes made of plastic. I think they dealt with bots. Trying to get my mare to eat them was a nightmare, I swear if there were 100 grains in the feed I'd find them all carefully sorted.


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## OldNag (3 October 2011)

scotlass said:



			The national outcry when Harvey Smith stuck his two fingers up

Commentary by Dorian Williams / Raymond Brookes-Ward

National Velvet

Green quilted riding jackets.   (Only the "posh" people had a Puffa)

Children's jumping ponies who didn't need half a ton of ironwork in their mouths

Show hunter ponies that had actually been hunting
		
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You're right about the ironwork.  I've just bought my kids a copy of "Pony" Magazine.  You should just see the lorinery on display!   

I swear that if you got hold of a 1970's copy (I think I have one in the loft, will have to have a look!) you'd only ever see a snaffle, perhaps a pelham at the most.   

Mind you at least they all wear riding hats in the pictures these days!!


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## AndreaB71 (3 October 2011)

I remember my first riding hat of my own in the early 80s was a Jofa, does anyone else remember them? Flipping ugly!


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## OldNag (3 October 2011)

AndreaB71 said:



			I remember my first riding hat of my own in the early 80s was a Jofa, does anyone else remember them? Flipping ugly!
		
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I remember them, weren't they Swedish and looked a bit like a moped helmet?  

My best hat - about the same time - was a Lionel Dunning, it had a really comfy harness.  However it had a double shell so looked huge compared to most hats at the time.  I got laughed at for wearing it.


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## janebadger (3 October 2011)

OldNag said:



			You're right about the ironwork.  I've just bought my kids a copy of "Pony" Magazine.  You should just see the lorinery on display!   

I swear that if you got hold of a 1970's copy (I think I have one in the loft, will have to have a look!) you'd only ever see a snaffle, perhaps a pelham at the most.   

Mind you at least they all wear riding hats in the pictures these days!!
		
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I've just bought a set of 1950s Pony Magazines, and the editor sounds off about .... the junior jumping ponies and the bits and the martingales and the total lack of style exhibited by the riders!  Am going to do a post on it soon. I am the author of the Jacatex etc blog mentioned earlier. I am going to do another post on horsy wallpaper (it's amazing what I find to write about) as I've just found an advert for it. If anyone actually has any real, life examples of horsy wallpaper they could photograph and send me you would be contributing to the sum of equine knowledge. Really. 

I have more posts on the way things were:

jodphurs http://booksandmud.blogspot.com/2010/02/it-seemed-like-good-idea-at-time.html

toys (for rider, not horse. No such thing way back when) http://booksandmud.blogspot.com/2009/06/another-trot-down-memory-lane.html

and a politically incorrect gymkhana game http://booksandmud.blogspot.com/2011/04/politically-incorrect-gymkhana-games.html


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## xTrooperx (3 October 2011)

why did things have to change , i had such fun on my pony, parents wouldn't think of nothing as you start to plod down the road on your pony in early teens, and not worry if your not seen for hours on end.

shows were for fun and nothing more, winning wasn't the must, it was the poor child that managed to stay on board while pony had bucking fit that got the most attention and 'wowed'.


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## OldNag (3 October 2011)

xTrooperx said:



			why did things have to change , i had such fun on my pony, parents wouldn't think of nothing as you start to plod down the road on your pony in early teens, and not worry if your not seen for hours on end.
		
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Just can't imagine that now can you.  

I never had my own, but can remember a  place we rode where we often stayed on hols, it was a small hacking stable. The owners were lovely and used to let me and my friend take ponies out on our own - we were only about 12 - - and we could ride them bareback to their fields too.  Just wouldnt' happen these days.


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## marmalade76 (3 October 2011)

Glad to see that you've joined us, JB! (Ooh, have just noticed that you've been reg since 2006!  )



janebadger said:



			I am going to do another post on horsy wallpaper (it's amazing what I find to write about) as I've just found an advert for it. If anyone actually has any real, life examples of horsy wallpaper they could photograph and send me you would be contributing to the sum of equine knowledge. Really.
		
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I have a photo with some early eighties pony wallpaper in the back ground, will have to get my sister to scan it. Before that (70s) I had Thelwell wallpaper along with a Thelwell duvet set and curtains, sadly I have no pics of these


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## velvet2011 (3 October 2011)

Shantih the chestnut arab and Jinny catering along the scottish moors.  Ah, must've read them all about 5 times each...


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## Johnny999 (3 October 2011)

Brown bread poultice to fix nearly any lameness.
Wearing my posh barbour jacket and new hunters all year round - still got the hunters 25 years on.
Jumping the ponies bareback out of the field - saved doing the difficult gate.
Feeling like a prince getting a lift to a show in a brand new Fourtrak.


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## stacey_lou (3 October 2011)

Waterborn said:



			Bran with every feed
Galloping bareback on ponies without a hat or a care 

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lol ! yep always added bran to every feed


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## PaddyMonty (3 October 2011)

Being a 60's (early) child I remember all the above but the thing that really sticks in my mind is
Being more afraid of the riding instructor than any pony they could force you to ride.


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## Capriole (3 October 2011)

I remember so much of this 

I still have a canvas NZ and a jute rug, and string vests somewhere. I still thatch now and again.
I didnt like those nylon plaited reins though, theyd take your skin off your hands like nothing else if you happened to forget gloves!
I disagree about the bits though! I dont agree that it was always a simple snaffle or pelham, sure they were very common but there were other options even in the good old days  There have always been vast amounts of different bits around, looking at old tack books and pictures, and I have a few weird and wonderful antique bits still (not in use).


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## jinglejoys (3 October 2011)

"Being a 60's (early) child I remember all the above but the thing that really sticks in my mind is
Being more afraid of the riding instructor than any pony they could force you to ride."  

         Ditto,which is why I lost all confidence,so glad I learnt  that not all people are like that


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## Spotsrock (3 October 2011)

EAST KENT said:



			Going down a jumping lane bareback,arms folded and eyes shut....

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Maybe this is why I still want to close my eyes during combinations!!


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## Spotsrock (3 October 2011)

lastchancer said:



			I remember when horses and yards were treated with respect and good standards were expected to be adhered to by everyone, rather than stables been used as a playground for kids and a doss house for muppets.
		
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AMEN!


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## FanyDuChamp (3 October 2011)

OldNag said:



			I remember them, weren't they Swedish and looked a bit like a moped helmet?  

My best hat - about the same time - was a Lionel Dunning, it had a really comfy harness.  However it had a double shell so looked huge compared to most hats at the time.  I got laughed at for wearing it.
		
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I had one of them! I hadn't thought about it in years.
FDC


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## OldNag (3 October 2011)

Jiggle said:



			I remember so much of this 

I still have a canvas NZ and a jute rug, and string vests somewhere. I still thatch now and again.
I didnt like those nylon plaited reins though, theyd take your skin off your hands like nothing else if you happened to forget gloves!
I disagree about the bits though! I dont agree that it was always a simple snaffle or pelham, sure they were very common but there were other options even in the good old days  There have always been vast amounts of different bits around, looking at old tack books and pictures, and I have a few weird and wonderful antique bits still (not in use).
		
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I know what you mean - those bits were certainly around - but I don't think you saw them so often on ponies?


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## Capriole (3 October 2011)

Talking about the old days here, not exclusively ponies, but I remember lots of bits on lots of ponies tbh.
 I can remember as a child (and im not that young)  , cherry rollers, bauchers, full cheeks of various types, Dr bristols, waterfords, kimblewicks, magenis, cheltenham gags, twisted snaffles etc. 

Just making the point its not just the current market that has loads of bits, and really it wasnt exclusively a simple snaffle or a pelham 'back in the day' 

OOh, I found my old flapper boots in a drawer recently, remember the westrop petal boots when they came in in the 80's  Loved making a racket with those on the XC, thought I was the bees knees haha


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## leflynn (3 October 2011)

This is making me giggle 

Hacking to the fish & chip shop for lunch or anywhere that you could get away with
Riding school ponies that ate pound notes if you weren't careful
Taking ponies to the top fields 5 miles away on mass (3 each) and going bareback as we all used to cram into one car on the way back (normally 6 of us plus driver), gotta love travel via footwell 
Those damn NZ rugs!!!!
County shows that seemed to be huge
Tripping over Harvey Smith at HOYS when I was little and being mortally embarassed 
Managing to bag a pair of Navy (yes Navy) harry hall jods and wearing them to death
Being stripped at the back door after a day at the yard by my mother as I 'smelt like a horse'
Eating lunch on the muck heap as it was the best way to keep your feet warm 
Pony games 
No martingales or anything like it, plain snaffle or pelham bridle and a saddle, it was all you needed (unlike the plethora of stuff we have now)
Having 10p stuck down my boot incase something happened while out hacking (shame there was never a phone box nearby )
Jumping with no saddle no bridle no eyes 
Hacking to the farrier 2 villages away and boiling by the forge in summer
Grass reins made out of baler twine 
Barrowing straw and hay from the farm up the road as deliveries didn't exist


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## ringtor (3 October 2011)

I am 77.  I have hunted since the end of the war (hacking 9am - 5pm), had hunter liveries, riding school and still have 3.  I went to a horse open day on Saturday and was aghast at the complicated feeds available.  I have only ever fed hay/haylage in the winter with 1 pint of oats or barley, am & pm, with chaff until the cutter broke.  My soil was analysed so minerals were only provided if there was something lacking.  My horses did long days and looked better at the end of the season than when they came in.
   Some were cobs, some hunters and a few were pointers.  There is an army of rip-odd merchants eyeing young horse owners.


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## D66 (3 October 2011)

Haven't had time to read them all but ...........who remembers posh, female pony club instructors who swore like troopers at everyone including little children and chain smoked.


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## marmalade76 (3 October 2011)

Digger66 said:



			Haven't had time to read them all but ...........who remembers posh, female pony club instructors who swore like troopers at everyone including little children and chain smoked.

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Nearly all the instructors at the equine college I went to chain smoked. I remember spectating at a Lucinda Green xc clinic years ago and she had a fag on the go almost constantly!


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## superted1989 (3 October 2011)

I love these nostalgia threads!
Hacking miles to shows (and gymkhanas), PC rallies and hunting, then having to hack miles back again!  Every now and again, being allowed to go further afield and use the 'transport man'.  Usually, the whole yard would go, about 8 ponies and 3 times the amount of people crammed into his cattle truck.  It cost a fiver each pony, he'd pick us up early, dump us at the show, then come back whenever he thought we'd be finished!  Ponies all travelled tacked up, bandaged not booted, and they always loaded fine.  Our 'transport man's' son has now taken over, maximum of 4 equines, nobody travels in the container and it's £30 return per equine for local shows.  Although the 'lorry' part is only about 5 years old, I swear the container is the same one from the 70s/80s!
Only rich/posh people had there own transport, usually a trailer pulled by the family car, that was only rear load/unload!
DIY yards would also take unaccompanied children/teenagers (thank God or I would never have been able to keep mine).  First yard I was at was £7 per week, stable and grazing with storage for tack, feed etc.  No menage, but we had a roped off area, on a slope, called 'the ring' where we had barrels and poles to jump.  Grazing was very, very rich but nothing ever got laminitis and strip grazing didn't exist.  That yard is still going, no kids there now, but, adults with small in hand show ponies, all having restricted grazing and looking very overweight!


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## paddi22 (3 October 2011)

One of the other main things i remember from shows - was that almost every type and make of small car seems to be able to pull a horsebox! There was very few range rovers around then - our family car pulled our box, as did all the other liveries little cars!


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## Allover (3 October 2011)

"Fistulous withers" and "Poll evil"!!! I have not heard either of these used in about 18 years!! They have some posh name now i suppose


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## MizzPurpleKitten (3 October 2011)

Countrychic said:



			You must have ridden at murton? Unless all riding school ponies had the same names lol
		
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Yes I did! I take it you did too?


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## Hells Bells (3 October 2011)

Im sure these will have been mentioned a thousand times, but this is what i remember too...

Chin straps on hats that had like a plastic 'chin cup' on. and the strap fastened with a little metal circle lying over a hook.

When hat silks came out in a multitude of colours with POM POMS! Amazing.

Riding bareback down the road to the field after lesson/hack and once in the field, having a good gallop- how i miss my balance from back then!

New Zealands. String girths. velvet browbands- i know we still have them now, but only really see them at shows.

Riding with a whip between my shoulders to keep my back straight.

Ridiculously fast gymkhana games that definitely wouldnt pass health and safety nowadays.

Hacking to shows.

Laughing when riding the 'cheeky' pony (which nowadays wouldnt be ridden)

Jumping the hedge because you could and it was fun. 

Instructors in shorts and bikini tops....owww my eyes!

Riding under the sprinklers. 

Non safety concious stirrup irons. 

If you fell off, the instructor laughed, and then helped you up once they had composed themselves. And you fell off a lot more often, but that was part and parcel of it all.

'own a pony day' you paid the YO to clean out THEIR stables, sweep yard, clear paddocks, cleaned tack and maybe got a ride out of it if you were lucky- i loved them!

tack cleaning parties- bar of saddle soap, bucket of warm water and a good old gossip.

Camps. I.e, ride your ponies to a field, set up camp, fence them a paddock and have a ball.

I have memories of horses being fed all manner of things at shows.... there was one pony partial to a chip or too!

Building your own jump out of whatever you could find in the barn.

if you won a rosette in a two player game, both riders would get on the pony and do the lap of honour together.

hacking with your mates regardless of how old you were or whether any adults were present.

I know nowadays its all health and safety (and for good reason too) but writing this down, I realise what a good time i had back then!!


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## Orchardbeck (3 October 2011)

Chin straps on hats that had like a plastic 'chin cup' on. and the strap fastened with a little metal circle lying over a hook.
		
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Those flippin' chin cups always gave me spots on my chin!  I was so pleased when they disappeared. And the strap always came undone from the metal hook, mostly when you were airborne, heading for the ground...


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## Dab (3 October 2011)

Sorry if these have already been mentioned;

Watching International Velvet over and over again...

H&H was about the only horsey mag.

Velvet hat with no chin strap was a hand me down.

Riding in green rubber wellies.

Two black plastic water buckets in the stable every night.

Hacking never involved walking...ever...


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## Mike007 (3 October 2011)

Orchardbeck said:



			Those flippin' chin cups always gave me spots on my chin!  I was so pleased when they disappeared. And the strap always came undone from the metal hook, mostly when you were airborne, heading for the ground...
		
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AAAaH but did you never work out that you were supposed to undo the popper on the other side first before putting the ring over. No wonder the strap was loose!!!


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## janebadger (4 October 2011)

marmalade76 said:



			Glad to see that you've joined us, JB! (Ooh, have just noticed that you've been reg since 2006!  )



I have a photo with some early eighties pony wallpaper in the back ground, will have to get my sister to scan it. Before that (70s) I had Thelwell wallpaper along with a Thelwell duvet set and curtains, sadly I have no pics of these 

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That would be great marmalade, thanks.

Yes, I've been registered for a while, but don't contribute very much, as you've probably spotted! Lurker in lurkerville, that's me.

I'm sure someone must have mentioned these already, but I remember those metal feeding and water bowls that used to be very common.  I was a bit of a wimpy, wispy child, and the only way I could move these was when they were empty, at which point I had to roll them. Can still remember that metal-on-concrete racket.  My neighbour now uses her old metal bowls as planters in her garden.


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