Funny, I just saw Bag Balm for sale at the checkout of our local hardware store. Hadn’t seen it for years!
Re: mounting blocks, it’s one one of the few things we do better these days, I think. I cringe when I think of what all our poor school horses had to tolerate as beginners clambered up from the ground
Saddle fitting too. We would literally order a saddle we liked the look of from a catalogue (no tack stores anywhere near us at the time) back then and would just add foam pads here or there to make it fit better - or so we thought.
And helmets! Riding in a baseball cap or kerchief instead of a helmet is now a mark of stupidity, not coolness. And that’s a good thing.
But I do miss the days of riding lessons including what we called “stable management.” I have adult ammy friends who don’t have a clue what a horse’s normal temperature is, how to take a bridle apart and put it together, how to muck, or clip, or how to bandage a leg. When I was a teen, all boarders and lesson students at our barn - regardless of age - were expected to take part in stable management classes at least once a month.