"old fashioned practices"

Yep, I’ve tried several times to make one based off of those instructions, and it never worked :frowning: I ended up getting a leather backed brush which works pretty well.

quote=“ClassyJumper, post:73, topic:753458, full:true”]
I use a mounting block at home where my mare stands perfectly but still have DH give me a leg up at shows where she is less inclined to stand patiently. She is off the track though.
[/quote]

When you mount from the mounting block at home you keep the horse standing still before you move off a lot longer than needed. This is because at the show the horse will stand but not for as long but gives you enough time to get on.

1 Like

Oh the multiple feed bins, with the huge bran one in the corner, dipping into each one, making feeds up for each horse.

I’d forgotten the art of folding human blankets and quilts, and the anti cast roller…not sure I could do that without a refresher, or twist up a Whisp.

LMK if you want instructions _ I can tell you :slight_smile:

We used to do that blindfolded at rallies as a competition. Ooof!

3 Likes

Schooling Sweats

Their introduction was a watershed moment.
There were wool jods as part of saddle suits, but that was the best you could do, at least during my time. Deliver me from polyester.

At some point there were denim jods - they came in acid wash, too!

I had a lot of the Rip Van Winkle moments & this was one of them for me, too. Even at state parks they have mounting blocks for use - amazing.

For sure, needing a block, at any age, was considered an embarrassment. Leg ups, though, were not.

After my return to horsey world, I was at our student show and there was a line for the block. Not only did no one know how to give a leg up, I learned that someone also has to know how to take one, or it doesn’t work.

Luckily, I was able to at least get myself on w/ time honored technique of lowering the stirrup by (many) holes for the trip up. I do this now while out and away on a trail or whatever, but I will confess, , that even with the lowered stirrup I can still just make it. Don’t tell anyone.

I am certainly glad that mounting blocks are standard these days, and not just b/c I am pushing 50…

My friends two daughters attended a week long horse camp & we came to the fun show the last day. They were in western saddles & one of her kids climbed up the fender clinging to the side of the horse like someone rock-climbing. That poor lesson horse stood there patiently the entire time. The kid was little and it was a long way up.

Remember that all of us remain among the living b/c of the patience of kindhearted schoolies.

8 Likes

So this isn’t a thing anymore? I have a trophy cooler from the 90s that I still use. Is that gauche?

Also one that I still have in my house as a blanket. It was a one of my prized possessions as a kid, I guess still is.

1 Like

Somewhere, in the depths of an ancient storage bin, I have not only a Triple Crown turnout (which I had to drive to Dominion Saddlery to get), but 2 New Zealand rugs from Millers (in blue, because I could).

And yes, I still have a pair of Schooling Sweats somewhere in my dresser. Outgrew my ChapJeans (or whatever it was they called them), though.

It seems like dress sheets or fitted coolers are used today as prizes. Granted, I haven’t won any lately!

OMG the chap jeans! Totally forgot about those!

1 Like

I have one of those big, square wool coolers draped over my geraniums right now to protect them from frost. Very functional. :laughing:

2 Likes

Yeah, many in my barn do that halter on the ground bit, leaving it attached to a cross tie, but not me. Folded correctly and back on the stall door it goes!

2 Likes

When I had my Clydesdale he had the “scratches” under his feathers. I tried more than 20 different veterinary topicals, creams, salves, etc, as well as some human ones. Vet recommended, peer recommended, internet recommended. Nothing helped. Nothing! Then my old Cowboy-esqe farrier told me his grandfather used to mix bacon grease with turpentine and paint it on his work horses’ harness sores and cuts and scrapes. Figuring I had nothing to lose by trying it since nothing known to veterinary science had helped I sourced some grease from my bacon-loving brother, some turpentine from my dad’s shed, and damned if it didn’t work! The scratches cleared up, and whenever they started to flare up again I’d paint the old-school mixture on and nip it in the bud. I’m not saying I would recommend it as my first choice wound care, but sometimes those old remedies do work better than modern ones…

9 Likes

How about farriers making shoes from bar stock - for all the horses?

Or tube worming - for all the horses?

Or no one ever discussing ulcers?

Or no gooseneck horse trailers?

2 Likes

Really? Prelim was the lowest? Makes sense now why they call it that then. I always wondered about the naming of the levels. When I started eventing in the mid 80s novice had come along.

I kept my horse at a small backyard barn that was next to the SUNY Westbury campus which encompassed a large amount of property. There were trails all through there that had xc jumps everywhere. That’s where I would school xc, cantered along the trails, jumping whatever came our way. They used to have hunter paces out there as well and it was where the Wilson Tech barn was where they were more into racing than the one I went to at Thomas’s where it was hunter/jumper. I think there was another school or something that shared the property, it was a long time ago and I can’t remember. Those were fun days.

2 Likes

I still have a set of Triple Crown pillow wraps. I really need to throw them away but I keep them for nostalgic reasons. I’ve had them since the 80s.

Can someone tell me how to quote so the quote appears in my post?

1 Like

Yes! That’s what I meant by trails. People would put out log fences, coops, gates, etc. along the trails. People would jump them for fun, jump them in hunter paces or paper chases, jump them when hunting, etc. Not to mention jump other ditches, logs, streams, or whatever you came across.

Nothing like today where you haul out to a manicured track of competition fences.

Don’t get me wrong, eventing today still requires some serious ability to ride over terrain at all levels… but nothing like what you needed when all your practice fences were au naturel on the trail.

2 Likes

I have about 5 of these! They make amazing barn dog blankets/beds lol

One of them is sooooo freaking heavy!