My great grandfather’s spurs from the Civil War. They are wicked looking buggers and live in my curio cabinet. I also have my first dressage stirrup irons from 1976. Still use them everyday.
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I have the saddle I learned to ride in, a Smith Worthington forward seat that my mother got when she was nineteen -
in 1937. It’s still useable, but puts you in a real chair seat, so it lives in the house as decoration.
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I still have the grooming tote and several of the brushes that were given to me the Christmas of 1985 when I got my first horse. I also have a couple of the Millers brushes I bought the next spring. I remember pouring over the catalog, picking out the supplies.
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I still have my first saddle. Bought new when I was in 3rd grade. It’s more than a half a century old.
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I have (and still use) a hunting whip given to a great, great uncle by an earl for whose hunting pack he was the huntsman. It’s dated 1876. It has a new thong, but the rest is original.
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I still have the western saddle blanket I was given when I bought my first horse at the age of 15, it covers my current saddle in the tack room. I am now 70+
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I have the first bridle I ever bought. Still use it occasionally too. Got it sometime late '80’s, at a store long gone now.
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Triple Crown custom wool cooler circa 1988. My first grown up self indulgent purchase with my 15yo stall cleaning money. Still in great shape. If only it fit any of my current beasts.
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My full chaps are from 1996! I can still wear them (and do), but I can’t say they’re too large… 
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My velvet hunt cap from 1974 when I was eight. My Barnaby dressage saddle I’m still using from 1990 and plaid Wilkers saddle pads from then too. And my Bevals bridle, which is a bit too large for my pony but I’m hoping to shorten at least the throatlatch.
My cousin asked me to find a home for her sidesaddle made during the Civil War years ago. Current owner had it restored and put on display.
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I guess my oldest horsey item is an M.J. Knoud sidesaddle. Built in the 1930’s & reinforced for jumping. I love, love, love it, but it no longer fits the horse I had in mind when I bought it. He was a fattie back then, but lost weight due to metabolic issues. I sooo wanted to ride aside!
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A pair of spurs, made in England before 1860. My late husband bought them for me and insisted I use them when I show. The establishment still makes custom boots and shoes but no longer makes spurs.
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I have a perfectly serviceable eggbutt snaffle bit that’s from at least the 60s. My mother inherited it from a riding instructor in the early 70s. True age unknown. Wondering if my 2yo will grow into it but it seems unlikely, but it’s something I’ll hang onto forever due to the sentimentality of it.
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I have a leather show halter from when I showed my gelding in 4-H shows. It might have been used when I bought it back in 1981.
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You guys are wonderful! So interesting. I have Dehner’s (with no zippers) dating back to late 60’s - still usable but have been through a few too many blackberries on the hunt to be show-worthy, but they remain my only pair of boots and still take a shine. I, too have one of those lealther backed soft brushes - loved that brush. Also the remains of a double bridle an old Army major gave me in Pony Club - never used it, but it was his in the cavalry (WWII I guess). My Pony Club manual is dated 1956 and I still have that dogeared old thing.
Now I have retired my horse I actually had a huge sale/donations, sadly…but do have seventy years of wonderful memories with horses on three continents.
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I still use my 16" Stubben Rex I bought new around 1971.
It is in excellent shape and it still fits.
Started hundred’s of TBs and quarter horses in it.
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I have a handmade woven & braided horsehair bridle & reins, that I was told came from the Montana State Penitentiary in the 1920s. It has 2 pairs of conchos: one pair of horses & another pair of dogs. The one time I used it the pony did not appreciate all the tassels flapping around her face. It’s a work of art & I love it.
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I have a cutback saddle from the 80’s and a set of driving lines from well before my time. They are both in excellent shape.
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Oh damn. You’re making my eyes puddle up. Hanging in the back of my bedroom door is a bridle bag with my previous horse’s show bridle, which was a gift to me from friends on my 50th birthday. I’m now 75. I owned him for over 20 years, had to have him PTS in 2010, he’d been retired a couple of years earlier. 😢
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Have a velvet hard hat from the 1970’s. Going to make a decorator item out of it.
Have my super-flat, zero knee roll, jumping saddle that is also from the 1970’s. I’d give anything if it fit my current horse, it is still what I really need in a saddle.
I’d also give anything if I had inherited my grandfather’s A-fork western saddle, probably purchased in the 1920’s. Might have been used even then, the family wasn’t much for buying new. My mother sold it a few years after he died. I don’t think she had a place or a use for it. I remember it vividly.
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