I’ll take the Spanish tops any day over those horrible straps. To each his own! 
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Boots with garter straps are still “correct” in show hunter classes in the UK. Just don’t see them so often as so many people prefer zips for other disciplines. Boot zips have a disconcerting habit of breaking and actual hunting can be very tough on boots. Zips let in more water, too. Old fashioned baggy breeches, with knee buttons even, are still to be found on the hunting field, may be because people often inherit their breeches and coats, passed down the generations, but they seem to be featuring in catalogues a bit more often. In my experience, men are really not fans of stretchy breeches.
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We use shipping helmets on our horses every trip. Have always done that for safety. “Back in the day” horses were not always trained well for trailer travel. Rearing inside was common on new horses purchased, especially the auction horses we got for resale. Saw a number of injuries. So when I came across some head bumpers for sale I bought them.
They are the felt and leather models. One has enlarged ear holes because that mare was lop-eared, needed more room on the lower edge. I have had the halter loops repaired and replaced as they tore or wore out. We always use a neck rope too, when hauling. Some horses rub the head bumpers out of place in travel, but they are still tied in place when we arrive. You can tighten halters but horse still can rub the bumper out of places.
I know using head bumpers has saved us from injuries, will continue using them. Benefits of horse being accepting of odd stuff spill into other things that happen to them.
Interesting to hear about adult Pony Club. My son was in it during the 1990’s and it WAS a different world! He liked the jumping, so we were in about 6 years. I “got educated” in doing things “the Pony Club Way.” Got accredited to be the horsemanship Coach, gave educational sessions at our barn so kids could move up the rating scale. I did not agree with many of their “decrees” but we did teach things their way. Older, higher rated kids put on demos to show loading, leg wrapping, bandaging and other stuff. However those kids SAID they did not use those techniques at home, only learned them to pass their ratings!
What pushed our leaving PC was the constant push on kids to improve by drilling them them to death at the expense of the horses. These were at regional gatherings, where we Coaches were told “the kid’s can NOT FAIL” at ratings, no matter how bad they were. More drilling will fix the problem!! To my eyes, horses reached the exhaustion point, kids were discouraged with drilling, so not a helpful method. My thinking is that EVERYONE fails at some point, so go home and practice some more. This is a life lesson kids have to learn . Some of those horses just did not recover from the drilling sessions. Doing 6-8-10 rounds a day, adds up to a LOT of jumps with 10 or more fences in the ring. I was taught that every jump is a learning experience, good or bad for the pesson and horse. We did not NEED to go over hundreds of jumps to get better.
The other point in the rating (drilling) training before kids got scored, was that they had to stay in the arena area while everyone rode. This could be HOURS sitting on horses, doing practice jumps before their round, on hot days. No one seemed to care if the horses got a drink during that time. My son’s horse was the only one watered because I hauled a bucket to him. This was under a Nationally Rated Examiner, who was the one telling us “kids can’t fail a rating,” per the Pony Club Office in KY. Have to say our horse came home and got several days off to recover from the rating. Sore backed from all the time being sat on, sore from the hard ground and endless rounds of jumps. Son said he did not want to participate further if his horse had to go thru that again.
I did learn things while in Pony Club, use some still today. But the endless Rules, only THEIR way being correct, got tiresome! Most other club’s kids had expensive tack, ponies, clothes, but that they could not safely tie a horse, clean their stalls well, or care for their animals well at Rallies, was eye opening. We were a lower-end Club. Everyone budgeted for tack, lessons, no pricy equines. Kids worked together to earn Club money to pay for Rally expenses which was kind of fun! Then pizza party after!! We gladly accepted other clubs kids on our teams for Rally when we had openings. All the kids benefitted working as a Team, no adults, during Rally to present themselves well.
I quit following Pony Club when I heard they were going to open up to Western Riding. Sorry, not a Performance type riding, able to be evaluated without prejudice like gymkahna timing, jumping rounds, etc. And I love Western riding!! Just not what it has turned into now with crippled horses in Pleasure!
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It’s disappointing that Quillin’s quality has gone downhill. I think the famous breeding farms in Lexington used to use their halters. Wonder if they still do.
I remember the times before there were so many lawsuits. My friend and I were barn rats and we would hang out at the barn all day on Saturdays and other times we didn’t have school. Our trainer would let us ride off the property…usually bareback and with no helmets. The barn was in a subdivision but it wasn’t very developed yet so there were lots of woods and trails and dirt roads to explore. Sometimes one of us would fall off (because we were doing something we shouldn’t have been doing) and the pony would take off, galloping miles back to the barn. Looking back on it now, it’s pretty amazing that the ponies and us never got hurt or killed. 
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Hands down one of my pet peeves. Or leaving halters attached to the crossties…with no horse.
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Do you have a link? Now I’m curious if I could pass
I’ve heard of barns now that do not allow minors without the parents present. I have similar fond memories as you.
I had geldings all during childhood and NEVER knew to clean their sheaths! I started when one of my geldings was 15 - after I’d had him for 10 years. I didn’t really notice much difference. Since then I’ve had mares, and only in the last 5 years did it dawn on me to clean the gunk in their udders. I think a lot of tail scratching comes from itchy udders.
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I wonder if the shipping helmets were necessary because the trailers were shorter? I remember stuffing my 16.1 hand OTTB into a 6’6" tall western trailer with the hay manger underneath. no wonder she was hard to load! Now I have warmblood sized trailer with so much more headroom.
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I have two freedman halters and a quillins turnout for my pony. He wears his quillins single ply turnout halter daily. It’s a nice halter for turnout. Granted it’s at least 5 years old and is still in great shape.
He wears his freedman halter when we have company or travel anywhere. It’s amazing, but I know if he wears as his daily, he would destroy it. Definitely higher quality and amazing craftsmanship, but I paid way more for it than the cheaper turnout halter. Freedmans made me a gorgeous hunt bridle with my pony and several custom harness pieces for me over the years, you couldn’t ask for a nicer family.
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I feel the same way about Gary Mundy leathers. After hearing everyone on here raving about them, I ordered a pair and while they looked nice, they stretched almost immediately and I had to punch a lot of extra holes in them. They stretched to the point they were useless to me and I ended up buying a new set from the tack shop. Still don’t understand why people thought they were the last word on stirrup leathers…
Sorry, had a look for the online test but can’t find it.
Found it!
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I passed! Amazing how different “British” is from “American” though. I struggled to parse the travelling question.
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That was fun, I got 11/11. I think that was easier than my C though LOL
Things I recall and miss:
Actual children/ young riders who were runners at events and picked up score sheets (dressage, ST and XC) and brought them to the scoring booth. (My first volunteer job)
(As wrong as this sounds) Buying saddles from a trusted saddlery and taking them home and assuming they would fit your horse just fine, and off you went.
The first Eskadron product sold in the USA… The Orange rubber pad that went underneath your ill fitting saddle to help your horse’s back
In Eventing:
Ledyard
Greenspring Horse Trials
Radnor actual Three Day
Hamilton Farm
Newmarket Boots
The fun style phase of interchangeable helmet harnesses… and the advent of clear harnesses before the Mushroom Helmets arrived.
Actual English imported shaped Numnah pads. Usually felt.
All buckets being rubber. Didn’t miss the feeling when the metal handle won the battle of longevity and the metal slapped you as the bucket broke. (bonus for slopping yourself with cold water at the time)
Fences I miss:
Helsinki’s
Irish Banks
Tidworths
Tiger Traps
Basically the '78 Lexington Course
REAL walls.
People I miss:
Neil Ayer
Karen Stives
Horses I miss
Big Ben
Eagle Lion
Finvarra
A time in eventing when we all got along decently and no one had (yet) called the basis of the pyramid “SMURFS”
Em
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omg can’t believe I forgot about SMURFS! lol
I got 10 out of 11. I had never heard of a drawing knife but I guessed correctly.
I hated those black Fortiflex buckets. If they were stacked, you were screwed because they were next to impossible to separate.
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I just figured this out myself. To quote someone, you click on the little speech balloon at the top left of your response text box.
Was the Smurfs thing started by Capt. Mark Phillips?
