For Fun-Your oldest piece of horse equipment

It probably does not count but I have my first hunt coat. A houndstooth bought in 1968 for 4 dollars,used.

beautiful wool, probably from the late 50s Brittany of New York, which I guess MIllers carried. My mom commented when doing some repair and alterations how well made it was

no it no longer fits but I cannot let go of it

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I had a pair of western chaps made when I was a teenager, around 1991, and I added a silver bar to the back to make them stand out a bit from the standard concho. Well, when I finished college, I gave away all my horse stuff, including the chaps. Last fall, I reconnected with my old roommate who I’d given the chaps to in 2000 or so. The chaps were dead and gone, but she saved the silver bar and gave it back to me. She said she’d been teaching horsemanship, and many students had shown in those chaps. Plenty of them complained about how HOT they were compared to ultrasuede everyone else had, but I’m glad to know they were well-used. I have the silver piece in a display box with my ribbons and race bibs now.

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I had a pair of field boots from 1971, but unfortunately I had to get rid of them due to a massive carpet beetle infestation.

Now I think my oldest piece of tack is my Hans Biglajzer saddle, though I don’t have an exact date on when it was made. All I know is that I’m the third owner, and the woman I bought it from owned it for years before selling. If I had to guess, I’d put it around 1985.

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Not in use other than as an ornament, but I have my great uncle’s 1904 Miles City Saddlery roping saddle. He bought it new for $52.50 and someday it will go Miles City’s museum collection. Nothing wrong with it; it could use new sheepskin but that’s it. Won’t fit any of my horses so it rides a saddle stand in the living room.

I have and can still wear chaps from the 80s …

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The oldest that we still use are Baker Blankets from the 1950s. Back in the 70s we bought them from a farm that was closing that they had bought in the early 1950s.

We also still have the show bridle we used on Foxie… it is a very fine not too showy rolled leather with real silver rolled silver , it was said to have been made in the late 1940s. This is just cleaned every now an then but not used (we had a reproduction made which we still use).

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I have a 45 y/o Stubben Siegfried. Love that saddle, and hope it fits the new mare. Other than that, except for a lovely bridle I bought back in the 1980s, I don’t have much in the way of really old things. Most of the stuff I use now I bought in the 1990s, although I do have some newer things.

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I don’t use it but I still have it - a nylon longe line that came with a horse I leased 35 years ago. I get so sentimental about things. I currently use a face brush that’s super-cheap and plastic - probably cost $5. It came with a horse I rode and showed 20 years ago. THe owners gave me his brushes when they sold him because I get sentimental. I’ve used it regularly ever since…you can imagine how soft the bristles are now!

It’s comforting to read that people are as sentimental as I am!

I’m working on purging.

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I’m currently doing a big clean up and sell off for my old gear - I’m selling my farm and giving up riding. I sold one of my riding coats to a new rider. Wool tweed that I have worn and worn. I got it when I was nearly 15. I’m 55 now and it still fits.

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I’m only in my 30’s, but I’m not really the throwing away type (realized the shirt I was wearing a few days ago was from grade 9, so…). Neither are my parents, so I’m pretty sure we still have all my tack from when I was a kid in the 90s, and very little of it was new then.

The one Western saddle is kind of fun. It was made sometime in the 50s and belonged to my Dad’s brother new (Sears catalogue or general store…I can’t remember). When we needed a second saddle, my Dad mentioned he’d seen that one in a neighbour/friends shed, so he made an offer. Of course the friend took it – his kids were long gone and their horse even longer so – he certainly wasn’t using it. It’s actually in great shape and fits my palomino amazingly (a thick QH but with a wither)… and sadly I hate it because it stretches me all wrong. But Dad loves it, so it has a home for life (along with the horse of course).

My favorite is a simple loose ring bit. It is plain (aka. well rusted) iron but has brass rings. I used to sand them up to a shine before all our 4-H shows. I have no idea how old it is (old) or who made it (possibly handmade?) but it is surprisingly well balanced. It lives with Dad because it is the horse’s favourite too, but I will make sure it gets added to my collection when the time comes.

I’ve only been riding English 12ish years, but I frequented eBay in the early years, so I think a few things are around my age. Namely a Crump saddle and a classic navy hunt coat ($2.63!). They are both stored in “just in case” land now, but I did use them.

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Chaps made at The Saddler back in ‘81. And no, they dont’ still fit, but I"m an optimist.

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Jodhpurs. The real thing. Vintage 1959 when I learned to ride for my Girl Scout badge. A dark beige twill fabric. Not a molecule of Lycra anywhere. They have that wonderful flare from the waist to the hips so you can sit down. Buttons at the knee which are hidden by tall boots.

I can see my black velveteen hunt cap from where I am sitting. Item of apparel known as a hard hat back then. That was as much protection as you could find. I recall a couple of months ago when an adult rider in the therapeutic program couldn’t get her helmet fastened, and didn’t really want to wear it. “We grew up and learned how ride when there weren’t any helmets, didn’t we?” Yes. We are old.

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My field boots (no zipper) bought in 1989. They’re in excellent shape and still fit. I only wear them for showing.
Also have a pair of chaps from late 80’s. Still fit. I only wear them now when we’re haying…over a pair of shorts and I take them off in between loads to stay cool!

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Hmmmm…the oldest thing in my tack shed?

Me.

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My mother just this year retired her full chaps from the early 70’s. They outlasted the only local cobbler she’d trust to replace the zippers.

She also had, past tense, a natural fiber dandy brush she’d had since her own childhood. It did not have a dignified sendoff; it was eaten by a Golden Retriever.

The oldest piece I personally have in circulation is a 20-something-year-old horsehair finishing brush. I was competing in a fitting and showing class at the State Fair and had saved my allowance to buy my own grooming kit for the occasion. I probably had some $25 on me and I think that’s about how much a good horsehair finishing brush would have cost in 1990something- I remember having sticker shock (not to mention my grandmother, who took me to the tack shop for the occasion. This was probably the origin of Gram’s holiday and birthday refrain, “Wouldn’t you rather have a nice cashmere sweater?”) Anyway, lucky for my ten-year-old self, the shop had a seconds bin. The brush is missing a section of hair on the side and couldn’t be sold for full price. I bought it for $5, and since my hands haven’t gotten any bigger since I was 10, I still use that missing section as an impromptu grip point so I can hold the thing. :slight_smile:

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I still have my Victor equitation saddle. If I recall correctly, my parents bought it around 1965-66 at the instance of my trainer at the time. I also still have my Dad’s old Ryon cutting saddle, probably from around 1960. Both saddles are in great shape and I treasure having them.

I still use the red bucket I won at a schooling show in 1994!

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Footlocker tack trunk circa 1985.
Purchsed at a Home Depot-type store.
It has lived in 5 different barns, now residing in my not climate controlled barn for the last 16yrs.
Aside from rusted hinges, it is still very usable & stores some things that date shortly after purchase & years following:
Venice turpentine
Small plug-in coffeepot to soften above
Cotton batting for shipping wraps
Hoof rasps given to me by shoer
Sundry horse care stuff :smiley:

Next in line is my 1985 Stubben Parzival
Still in good shape, but destined for the next tack sale.

I have a Roma pad that predates either, but now decorates a chair serving as a saddle rack in my LR for DH’s lord-knows-how-old 21st Century Si Jayne model close contact saddle.

According to the plate beneath the flap, purchased from Marshall Field’s.
We bought it from local BNT John DeBier - who rode in the Maclay as a teen.

I have to give two categories… Things I purchased new and still have, and use… lovely bridles from the 70’s, my first tack trunk from that era and a handful of bits.

Things that are the oldest a saddle from the 1880’s that can be used to sit in on the saddle buck in the tackroom, the oldest item that is perfectly safe to use (and is currently for sale) a sidesaddle purchased from the sears catalog in 1902. comfortable saddle, just a bit too narrow for me beast :slight_smile:

A 100-120 years old horse sled with shafts, traditional to my region, which I still use with my big gelding in harness, provided there’s enough snow during winters.

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My sidesaddle! It’s a Mayhew, so pre-WWII. Sadly lost my mare this spring, so it’s sitting in the tack room til the new baby grows up enough to try it. Fingers crossed it even fits, I’m already worried it will be too narrow.