I haven’t read all the replies but has no one mentioned New Zealand Rugs?
…the “helpful” younger brother who over-oiled your saddle the night before the big show.
These days, they just use ArmorAll…
Someone mentioned tack sold in the Sears catalog. I remember when you could order a shetland pony through their catalog! Imagine! I could never talk my parents into it.
[QUOTE=goneriding24;5717586]
I’m western but I did have a Borelli.
Back in the day, I actually rode my horses for training and to send them to a “trainer” was almost unheard of.
There were ring snaffles, curbs and spades. That’s it. Oh, and jaquimas. Later was the mechanical hack.
Only dressed western.
Almost all horses were shod, hardly any barefoot.
Almost all saddles had a round skirt and bullhide covered trees. Usually a basket pattern. Oak was for sissies.
Spurs were made to order.
Worming consisted of either chewing tobacky or powdered, in apple flavor later on.
I don’t remember how much a shoe set cost, I’m thinking $20…?
NOTHING stopped us from riding, nothing.[/QUOTE]
Yep, those were good…
My daddy wormed with tobacco for years. We had a mule that would lip at Daddy’s pocket every day for a bite. She loved it. He shared. That was the only non normal feed he would give horses as a treat (this man believed more than 1/2 an apple a day was spoiling them)
A horse was expected to do what you needed it to, none of this specialized stuff. His show horses pulled a plow. I worked cows on my dad’s nice flat shod horse…
Halters were brown or black. When we got blue green or red we were up town. I had a fit when I got my first purple halter… thought I had died and gone to heaven.
Tack was leather. No nylon except for halters.
When you showed a horse or were on show grounds, you remembered that you were representing your farm and family and you dressed appropriately.
[QUOTE=Ponytoes;5717982]
Purple Medicine!!! Used for every cut and took forever to get off your hands. I rode saddleseat in the 60’s and had a custom saddlesuit from Miller’s that was always too tight in the legs. Then switched to huntseat in the early 70’s and remember when the saddles with the kneerolls went out of style and everyone had to have a flat pancake saddle (PDN). I can remember in the 60’s our barn had a trailride in the late afternoon every Thurs in the summer to a park several miles away. You had to ride through neighborhoods to get there. We would eat dinner and then ride home in the dark. Helmetless :eek:[/QUOTE]
I still use the purple medicine…on my kids too. Blue lotion is wonderful for kids, horses, dogs, cows…stings less than mercurachrome.
I remember many of the things listed here. I don’t think I’ve seen:
a magazine called A Horse of Course
and using bacon greese on hooves
2 Likes
[QUOTE=FRM;5718449]
- One saddle
- one girth
- cotton flannel bandages (made at home), cotton wraps and
yes, lots of pins! - rope halter, rope shank
- Absorbine
- one cotton sheet for horse (trace clipped and living out)
- sewing in braids, needle and thread
- hours on the twitch helping vet worm the barn (2x year)
- one bridle with eggbutt snaffle (if you couldn’t get it done then
borrow a pelham and if that didn’t work, then a double bridle)
-rubber boots
-my first pair of paddock boots from Beval - loved them
-bathing grey horses with Tide and Clorox (red GA clay!)
-yearning for everything in the Miller catalog
-riding bareback playing cowboys and Indians in the woods,
larking over hunt coops.[/QUOTE]
Ours were washed with blue Cheer detergent. Daddy liked chrome on his horses (but HATED a spotted horse other than an App) and Mama hated dirt, so blue Cheer detergent was what we used.
The thing that I miss most most likely is that people understood that sometimes, accidents just happen, no matter what precautions are taken. No one was blamed or sued unless it was so blatantly obvious or intentional. Stuff happens. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement. These are not just cliches but truths that seem to been forgotten. I would get dumped and my dad would laugh at me and my mother would say " did you learn anything?"…
[QUOTE=carolprudm;5725378]
I haven’t read all the replies but has no one mentioned New Zealand Rugs?[/QUOTE]
Yep, they were mentioned.
We rode on a muck track, yup, used bedding. You really did not want to fall off:eek:
I rode at Mar Bel Stables Washington Township NJ. It closed in 1967 after a fire. The owner was Mel Pinera. I remember one time he got a new mare, put me on her and sent us at a 5 foot jump. I lived to tell the tale, but not to my mom
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I got a pelham bridle, headstall and bit, with green stamps.
Love all the old memories. Dang I’m getting old.
chai, loved the pic and I miss that style of riding. It looked so much more elegant than the style of today…which to me looks forced and artificial.
I rode my horse to school a few times a year. Amazingly she stood tied from 8 to 3 with no problems. Oh and I rode her down two pretty busy roads to get there - with no saddle or helmet. Those were the days! Everybody had a horse, we all went to shows nearly every weekend at $2 a class, boarding cost was not prohibitive like it is today and nobody sued because you fell off or got hurt. Horse ownership is certainly not something the average family can afford now, and that’s sad. Todays riders won’t get to experience the freedom we had back then.
[QUOTE=Maria;5725941]
I remember many of the things listed here. I don’t think I’ve seen:
a magazine called A Horse of Course
and using bacon greese on hooves[/QUOTE]
I remember “Horse of Course” — they had an equine centerfold every month, sooooo crucial to a pre-teen girl’s wall decor. 
I also remember my 4-H advisor dropping my new braided reins into a bucket of Neetsfoot oil, rendering it forever slightly greasy…
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[QUOTE=carolprudm;5725378]
I haven’t read all the replies but has no one mentioned New Zealand Rugs?[/QUOTE]
I did! Bright green, with light grey leather ‘fittings’, stiff as cardboard, used to spook the pony when I was trying to heft it on to her. Several times I launched it, and she leapt to the side and the rug flumphed to the floor…
…and it was referred to as “horsey porn”.
Paulosey - I too had a Cortina! I remember crying when they weren’t made anymore, “What will I ride in when I grow up?!” Too many memories in the Cortina to want any other kind. I do remember the teenage girls ooooing over the Steuben in the tack room. I was assured by some kind teen that my Cortina was just as nice.
Alagirl - there is still venetian blue available. Its called BluKote - I have some, and just the other day got my hands the wonderful color.
I still have my Breyer collection. Just can’t part with it. Even the ones with the glued on broken legs…
I thought my hunt cap was supposed to be rust! After all, I bought it that way…
OUCH if you wore the elastic band, that was asking for a snapping. I remember when the plastic chin cup harness came out that attached to the caps. YUCK! sweat cup for your chin. I only wore it for stadium jumping because my mom could see.
Goneriding24 - my best friend and I would lay in the grass while our ponies grazed, we watched the clouds and tried to figure out what they looked like. This was after a ride where we jumped over jumps we made ourselves, laying underneath them to see what it looked like from underneath when horses jumped.
My caliante cover that was navy and white, with a HUGE red pom pom on the top! My shirt was navy and white striped to match. It was so cool! lol
HA HA! thought I was the only one who was concerned with that huge pin with the open clasp on my choker. I remember getting stuck in the neck with it once when someone was pinning it on.
My horses hideous green blanket, it was like a burlap bag material on the outside, and compressed wool on the inside.
“Footing” was not spoken of, I would have wondered what the fuss was. After all, my horse ran and jumped over any terrain without difficulty for a couple hours every day.
I remember when Eventing was won on the cross country course, dressage was boringly doable, and the hardest thing about stadium was remembering your course.
I had such a good, sound, game horse. I think back and he was quite an easy keeper too. I cared for him myself, spending hours getting every tiny piece of manure from his stall and turnout, and raking everything. I think of all the time I spent with him, and wonder if I ever was given homework. I think I did it right before bed, and not until after dark lol.
I don’t see this level of dedication and obsession for horses these days. Before I got my horse, I would be willing to do ANYTHING at my lesson barn, just to be able to be there and see the horses, and I loved every minute of it.
[QUOTE=Maria;5725941]
I remember many of the things listed here. I don’t think I’ve seen:
a magazine called A Horse of Course
and using bacon greese on hooves[/QUOTE]
Horse of Course!!! The best magazine EVER! Until the office burnt to the ground and they lost everything, including all of our mailing addresses. I was devastated.
Did no one use peanut oil and pine tar mixed for hooves?
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[QUOTE=InWhyCee Redux;5726594]
I remember “Horse of Course” — they had an equine centerfold every month, sooooo crucial to a pre-teen girl’s wall decor. [/QUOTE]
The magazine available now called (I think) “Young Rider” has the centerfolds. I admit to buying a couple to put the centerfolds up in my lounge as decor and I have a couple saved to frame for my son’s room, eventually, when I get around to it…
As for show clothes beginning in the 1950’s and forward, I posted this thread back in 2004. It (and a ton of other really useful threads) are saved in the Reference Forum.
[QUOTE=Maria;5725941]
I remember many of the things listed here. I don’t think I’ve seen:
a magazine called A Horse of Course
and using bacon greese on hooves[/QUOTE]
I have some old mags from the 60’s and 70’s. Mostly “Horse Play” but I think there’s a “Horse of Course”. I have to drag them out. I remember German horses were just starting to be mentioned at stud in some of them. Mostly TB’s for sports horse stallions.
I had a DMSO flashback at one place where I worked and they use DMSO. They were horrified to learn that we never used gloves to put it on. UGH the taste in your mouth!
I started in the late 70’s and I think the best part of riding back then was just being able to get on your horse and HAVE FUN! We were very competitive at the shows, and yes, we had our lessons, but there were times where we just had fun with our ponies. We took them swimming, trail riding( sometimes double) and BAREBACK along busy roads.
Hacking to a show in the very early morning was one of my favorite things. That and hanging, letting my horse graze while she dried after a bath.
