'member the *old* days?

[tobruk]

olden days

Passier was being imported by Paul Lober, Chicago Mercedes dealer, who would fill his vehicles with new and used saddles when they came over. I bought a used one, and still have it. They really hadn’t invented goosenecks until a few years later. Hartman had one and it was ugly. How did we stuff our big horses into all those little Miley trailers? Only farmers had pickup trucks. We used station wagons. Tube worming took a whole day at the barn. Geesch. But boy did we have fun just riding and fox hunting.
Arthur “Pops” Konyot was instrumental in working with the newly imported Lippizans at Temple Smiths. That man could make horses sing and dance and count out your change. Anybody ever see the exhibitions he used to do with the white Arabian stallion, think it was Kamlah? He was totally dressed in white and the spot light would follow him around a darkened arena. WOW. There was a book about his life titled “the White Rider.” He used to do demos with Arthur Godfrey’s palomino horse too.
The good old days before we had to grow up and earn an living.

[Frosty_M]

Right on, Ponytoes. I showed as a junior at the show in Tuscaloosa with its beautiful setting- the hills and all the timber and the fun parties. I can’t remember how we did in the show. Never went to the Montgomery show, but the one at the Fair Grounds in NOLA was the best. I was a professional then. The BO and I brought our little show string down. We had six or eight horses and riders. DH and I drove our station wagon and pulled a trailer. It was the first show under lights for one of my students. Her little black mare was acting up but somehow the judge never saw it and she won first place in the hunter hack. What a surprise! Judges are so weird.

That was a happy time in my life. I had the feeling I was exactly where I was supposed to be, doing what I was born to do, with the love of my life at my side.

[Frosty_M]

There’s a retired vet I take my dog to and he still compounds the orange medicine. It’s great for hot spots on dogs, but we used it for scuffs and cuts on our horses. I get a bottle every time I go. I don’t want to run out. Even in the early sixties, I had a little more variety in bits. My mare was too jiggy for a snaffle but went great in a rubber pelham with a curb chain. My show horse needed more than a snaffle but became over bent instantly in a tom thumb pelham with the little short shank. He did well in a kimberwicke. My #1 hunter was so soft mouthed I rode him in the eggbutt snaffle none of the other horses could use. I had my personal horses one at a time, not in a bunch, and I used the same tack for all of them, except for swapping out the bits.

As I remember horses seldom got sick, except you had to watch out for shipping fever and strangles if you were boarding your horse. Then came Coggins tests and now its Katey Bar the door, there are so many more diseases.

[barnworkbeatshousewo]

[QUOTE=goneriding24;5717683]
flame suit on

Just like a lot of classes today, overbent horses and big bits, things are overdone now. Because of what winning means, there is a money issue and some trainers have 'nthed things to death. We rode because we loved it (still do) but I wonder if overding our horses is about true horse love or just one-upping others. Horses bred out the wazoo that are too touchy. Then you have others that want to follow and do shortcuts in training, buy a kit. No just “being with a horse”. Most people seem to be too busy and perhaps don’t have the true, pure love of horses like we did. Or sending them off to a trainer. Never seeing their horse except wknds or at a show.

That’s where it goes off the rails for me. I rode everything anyone would let me on. Today, do folks do that? If nothing else, owners are afraid of getting sued if something goes wrong.

Everyone I knew had multiple horses and let kids ride them. Anything to get them interested and learn horsemanship.

Let 'er rip…![/QUOTE]

:yes::yes::yes:! You’re absolutely right! I worked my butt off to ride anything, anytime, in any saddle (or without), any where. I rode anything with four legs, a mane and a tail, and I still do. I’m still horseless, still riding, and I think, better off for it!

[Prime_Time_Rider]

A couple of days ago I drove by a barn in the area and saw kids in the pond swimming with their ponies/horses. What great memories it brought back! Riding bareback with just a halter and a lead rope, jumping off your horse into the cool water.

[Still_Workingonit]

Bridle?? Saddle?? Leg wraps??? PARDON?? Isnt it amazing how different the 60s were even between countries in the 60s

I rode bareback with a rope halter - jumping, hacking, to school etc. We might use a sheepskin during the summer when the sweat made their backs slippery. Our horses wore covers only durng the worst month of our winter (July) - including my Anglo-Arab. They were all “unshod” - not barefoot, just didnt wear shoes except for one month of the year when we drove the dairy cows were moved on what we called “gypsy” day - the only time we actually had to ride on the gravel road. We wandered the roads around where we lived in a moving mob of kids and their horses/ponies. Where-ever we stopped for lunch, fed us.

Helmets?? Yeah …no. We didnt even use a velvet hunt cap.

In the 70s?? Well, yes, I used a saddle and bridle and a velvet hunt cap - still no horse boots - when we were out on the hunt field. Getting the hunters fit? Well, we just didnt generally bother with the saddles unless we were in the “trot” type

[laserRob]

60’s…Green Acres:lol: Mr. Ed :lol:

[Galadriel_Fefalas]

Over here, there were 3 types of rugs, a jute stable rug, a green “waterproof” New Zealand rug and an anti-sweat rug. That was it. If your horse wasn’t warm enough you took a blanket off your bed and put that on under the rug!

The jute rugs would get caked in poo and were as stiff as boards. If it rained when your horse was wearing it’s NZ rug out in the field, good luck getting it back off the horse, as they weighed a ton! And gawd knows what the purpose of an anti-sweat rug was, cos they didn’t do much!

All tack was brown, and girths were string.

No one called out a dentist, back person or physio to their horse. If your horse had a cut, you bathed it with warm water and puffed on some luminous green powder.

A grooming kit consisted of a body brush, dandy brush, hoof pick, metal curry comb and a sponge (which was used to wash eyes, nose and dock - in that order)

When you bought a saddle you put it on, then sat on it, as long as it wasn’t touching the horse’s spine, then it was fine.

If a horse napped, reared, bucked or whatever it wasn’t blamed on badly fitting tack…

[Auburn]

Ponytoes,

I started showing my Tennessee Walker in pleasure classes at the Tuscaloosa Jr. League show when I was 11 years old. When I was 14, I was showing my Mo-rab English Pleasure in a full bridle. :eek: Full bridles were the norm for showing Arabians, back then.

My BFF and I met Wendy Morris Ely at that Jr. League show. She gave a dressage demo. We started taking dressage lessons from her, joined Pony Club and never looked back.

If you showed H/J, you could always count on Jack Warner getting the first three places, followed by Peg Whitehurst or Pat Thuss, then if you had a really lucky day, you would get a 6th. Up against their horses, it must have felt like a 1st!

Did you show at the downtown Tuscaloosa venue or when it moved out to Mr. Warner’s place called North River Hunt Club? Dennis Murphy rode jumpers for Mr. Warner. After it moved to North River, Melanie Smith Taylor and Geoff Sutton would come from TN. There were always a bunch of “Farnley’s” in the pony divisions.

I did show at the AHJA final show in Montgomery once on one of Westervelt Farms’ school horses. We had perfect distances, but did not do the “correct” number of strides, so placed 10th.

I am so happy to be back in the eventing world! As long as you make the time and get over the fences, it does not matter how many strides you take to get it done. :yes:

Until someone else mentioned it, I had forgotten about taking a balogna sandwich out to the barn and sitting on the hay to eat it. I could hear the horses munching hay. It was a great way to spend a Saturday. Letting the horses graze in the front yard, while lying under the two large pine trees was a great way to spend an afternoon, too. I love the sound of pine needles shimmering in the wind.

[HappyTalk]

Does anyone remember the Beckwiths of Boston catalogue and Campbell Coach horse trailers?
Until recently, I had some old Horse Play magazines from the 70’s. The horses standing at stud for hunters were all TBs and QHs. Wonderland Farms had the first WB stallion ads.

[Dispatcher]

@HappyTalk;5719040

Does anyone remember the Beckwiths of Boston catalogue and Campbell Coach horse trailers?
Until recently, I had some old Horse Play magazines from the 70’s. The horses standing at stud for hunters were all TBs and QHs. Wonderland Farms had the first WB stallion ads.

Wonderland Farm–Drs Goodman and Champagne?

Back in the early '60’s my parents bought a horse from them. The horse didn’t work out for me and they graciously took him back with no hassles.

[Robin]

A little further back, into the 1950s, Sears actually had
ponies in their catalog, shetland ponies, as well as tack.
I always wondered if one would come to the post office
or if you had to go to the Sears store to pick it up.

And wishing I could be Annette Funicello and go to
England and take a riding program like the story on
the Mickey Mouse afternoon tv.

Riding at Ferguson’s for a $1.10 for a half hour or
(rarely) $2 for an entire hour. Walking to the far end
of the paddock so we could gallop back to the front.
Poor ponies, dumb kids.

[wireweiners]

Sear sold Shetland ponies in their catalogs, complete with western tack. Oh how I lusted for one of those pinto ponies for my very own. The saddles and bridles were black with nickel spots for decoration and the breast collar had a heart shaped dangle in the middle. The height of fanciness! We had a general purpose, brown grade horse named Sam. My dad would ride him to check or pen the cows, the next day he might be harnessed to the plow for the garden, and then we kids would jump on him bare back to ride around the heifer “trap”. Playing “Rawhide” with the replacement heifers and young bulls. Building our own steeplechase course after reading “National Velvet”. Jumping on the 2 year old colt when he got close enough to the fence. Nobody had ever heard of helmets. If you fell off, you were told to stop sniveling and get back on. We all survived with only minor injuries.

[Arizona_DQ]

[QUOTE=Robin@DHH;5719338]
And wishing I could be Annette Funicello and go to
England and take a riding program like the story on
the Mickey Mouse afternoon tv.
ids.[/QUOTE]

“The Horsemasters” ! :winkgrin:

[MizzouMom]

Beat me to it, Arizona, I was shouting out “The Horsemasters” when I read Robin’s post.

“We’re poor little lambs, who have gone astray, baa baa baa…”

[CAH]

Circa late 60’s early 70’s…

Those canary yellow britches with the zipperdown the calf (ouch). No such thing as velcro…

Hard hats thatcame in navy, black, brown, hunter green. No chin cup, just an elastic piece that no one wore anyway.

Thoroughbreds…ah to have a thoroughbred. They won everything.

Jumping into the outside hunter course and actually jumping over real hunt type fences and ditches…

[2DogsFarm]

When did I get this O-L-D?

You guys are making me feel like I must have ridden dinosaurs.

I recall the flared cotton breeches that buttoned on the calf - bought from a smarmy Army Surplus store in downtown Chicago.
We went there in twos - one would guard the dressing room while the other tried on breeches so the DOM who ran it wouldn’t peek at us :mad:

Afterwards we went to Marshall Fields to drool over their tack - a whole department!

Aside:
I actually own A Marshall Fields Si Jayne model saddle.
Now there’s a trip in the Wayback Machine!
Bought it from John DeBeir for DH.

And yes, all the schoolies I rode went in double bridles.
I was surprised as a re-rider in the mid-80s that every horse was in a snaffle.

And do you mean to tell me Hunters don’t do outside courses any more?
I recall some awesome crashes when the grass was wet from dew or rain the night before.

Confession:
I tubed my horses until 1996.
I know, but why didn’t my vet at the time tell me to cut it out
At least he never gave either a nosebleed.

OH!
LaurieB - love that pic, I soooooo wanted to be you!

[Alagirl]

@pj;5718251

He DID!!
First the whip then he tried to tie us to the railroad tracks but then a light bulb went on over his head and he said “AHA!! I know what will break these young ladies. I’ll charge two fifty for a full shoe job!”
The whole time he was twirling his handle bar mustache and laughing like crazy.
He was shouting “I’m going to be RICH!! RICH do you hear me?”
It was awful. I was scared for life.

rofl! :lol::lol::lol:

[HappyTalk]

[QUOTE=Dispatcher;5719068]
Wonderland Farm–Drs Goodman and Champagne?[/QUOTE]

They stood the Trakehner stallions Zauberklang and Preussengeist.

[SmartAlex]

[QUOTE=Ridinwyoming;5717564]
Transported the pony in Mom & Dad’s VW bus. :lol: [/QUOTE]

We had a modified bread van that was so low our horses’ ears folded over. One guy transported a whole barn load in a made over school bus painted blue, and we all looked up to them.

Then we upgraded to a Miley with a single walk through door dead center in the front. All my tack and supplies lived there along with about 20 pounds of hay chaff from the manger.