Oh, I definitely agree the format change played a big role. But there was still a distinct difference in opinion and practice.
I’m far from an expert; I don’t feel like I can speak accurately to the lower levels except that people’s training practices often reflect the practices of those they train with.
And does it pass into the nullified-ethics realm of “ya gotta do what ya gotta do”? I mean, those inspections were intense. Especially when done by 15-16 yo girls, who were the leaders in my program.
Source was magic for overall condition & appearance, back when I used it decades ago. Why had I forgotten about it? Should I drop my elaborate joint-gut-vitamins-feet-coat-morestuff supplement and go back to Source?
Our club members (all adults) are very active as well. We do an unmounted meeting and a mounted meeting once s month and a social activity (horse show happy hour, barn white elephant etc) once a quarter. Well at least in “normal” times.
Our club’s numbers are actually increasing and we just got a fresh batch of little kids this fall. But, overall, numbers in the region and nationally have declined over the past several years.
When I had my horse in training I sent ten +/- light weight quilted schooling saddle pads to be used one time only then washed. Trainer always a clean pad on his back. We used clean pads for all rides.
There were anti-sweat sheets that really worked. You could put up a hairy wet horse ( even on a cold night) with the anti-sweat sheet under a duck sheet. The horse would completley dry and warm though the outer blanket may be damp. The best - only truly effective anti sweat was heavier cord and fairly large open squares ( waffle ).
The training method mentioned was ‘interval training’ . Tom Ivers, race horse trainer developed a program for conditioning and keeping race horses fit. It translated to all horses.
Oh god, this. I remember looking for a leather halter and was recommended a Quillin. When I got it I thought there’d been a mistake! Yes, this extra greasy leather stands up to a lot of abuse, and the nameplate is well engraved, but the workmanship and the high level of attention to detail everyone raved about? No. It’s just heavy, greasy leather (left grease marks on my horse’s blaze for ages), machine stitched, the edges are barely finished and the creasing is weak. If you had ever seen a British or European quality bridle leather hide hand cut and finished into a halter you would feel the same way.
If your water bucket score was 9…contemplation of self-immolation was not an unreasonable response.
Show up to your lesson with dirt on your horse? Tantamount to animal abuse. You don’t deserve to have a horse, be around a horse…in fact you are a shameful human being all around.
Not that I didn’t already know this, but I’m apparently a big time old sole who refuses to give up on my old school things.
I still have a beautiful pair of pull on boots…I recently purchased a pair of zip ups as well, but no thanks. I’ll keep them as a backup pair, but I choose the pull ons over the zip. I do remember when I bought the zip ups, a friend said 'welcome to the 21st century …but I bought the pull ons in the 2000s…soooo really, I just have a really nice pair of boots that I’ve taken care of for a long time.
I just recently won a full cooler, so, yes, that’s still a thing in some places. It’s not wool, like the one I had gotten previously, but it’s big…and square…
We still hand wrap shipping wraps. Always have. I’ve never owned shipping boots.
I learned to clean sheaths as a kid. My mom would always do it, but showed us how. Our geldings still made the strange sound…and some of them still do.
I remember my mom having a work friend come over to our barn one day and she couldn’t understand HOW our stalls were so clean and was totally confused when my mom explained that we cleaned them daily(and sometimes twice/three times a day). Then, I remember going to said coworkers boarding facility so my mom could show her how to clean her horse’s stall and replace bedding. The image of stalls with single ‘tracks’ around the stall and 3 foot high manure is still burned in my head. I couldn’t believe it. The idea of not cleaning a stall was totally foreign…
Cleaning stalls at a show was also not as typical back in the day - shoot, even nowadays, walking through some of the barns and looking at stalls makes me cringe. (obviously not a pony club rally here…haha)
I remember my brother riding his horse out and about from sun up to sun down, but never had water with him. He also refused to wear a helmet, or ride with a saddle. lol … I also rode all the way across the city on multiple occasions not really thinking about how long I had been out without offering water. (I’m talking HOURS)
We stomach tube wormed all horses growing up. I don’t really remember when we made the switch to oral dewormer, but it might have been around the same time we switched from a mixed practice vet to a strictly equine vet.
Learned how to hold double reins at 3 years old…not saying I knew how to USE them, but I could hold them correctly. Taught all my riding students how to hold double reins as well (if it was necessary) and had to teach a friend in high school who started showing one of our horses how to hold them because she had never been taught.
The bridle changes are crazy. I, admittedly, still use my bridle from the early 2000s and I still love it and while not conforming to today’s trends, it’s in great shape so here we are.
My trainer’s wife is very sad the Tuttles (an old school liniment) just sold to another company and changed the formula of their original liniment. She bought every bottle from a vendor who still had the old bottles back in October. We joked that she needed to high a chemist to do an analysis of the formula so she can get it remade.
We still use our 30+ year old Baker blankets - I hardly ever see people using Baker blankets anymore. I also have a Radon sheet that is over 30 years old (but that company still remains trendy in the morgans/saddlebreds/TWHs) - We have never been big turnout blanket people. If the weather is nasty enough to need a waterproof blanket, the horses were in the barn. It wasn’t until we started riding CTRs that we invested in water proof blankets (and did originally have those old school heavy canvas blankets, and in some cases had to put a shower curtain over the blanket to increase it’s water proofness). Now, the horses stay out more and I have invested in a nice turnout.
I’m always a little shocked as to how many people don’t know how to wrap polo wraps. The availability of boots have taken that skill and thrown it out the door. I get that the protection offered by the 2 are different, but I do still think you should know how to wrap a leg.
Having been competitively dormant for the better part of the last decade plus some, I can see a lot of the changes, but haven’t really figured out what is truly a necessary change, and what is just trendy. I get that saddles have come a long way, but I’m not one for changing something just because someone says it looks old…ie: my boots. I’m not willing to fork out a ton of money because someone says I look old. Don’t care.
The sound is not from a dirty sheath. It is from air caught in the sheath. Clean or dirty.
It was in response to a couple of posts towards the top that were saying they don’t recall hearing the noise as often anymore and were attributing it to possibly being clean vs not clean. I was saying that in our experience, the ‘gelding noise’ and their cleanliness did not seem to be linked.
But, I appreciate the knowledge.
I did not respond to their posts as I would be ostracised. I have had geldings for all my life. I have never cleaned a sheath. I asked my instructor who has school horses and mostly geldings and no he has never cleaned a sheath either.
I and he have never had a problem. (Touchwood) I also do not hear that noise , but my horses are not stabled so maybe that has something to do with it.
I only know of one horse that had a problem at a riding school. He was swollen and I was told it happened all the time and to call the owner and she would fix him.
Fix him alright. The instructions were to use sunlight soap, because of it being so mild. I walked in to see her preparing Sunlight dish washing detergent. I informed her of this and was told I was wrong and she went out and used it. No wonder he was having recurring problems.
I have worked with horses in my life time. A herd of over 70 trail riding. A proper Dressage School with school and agisted horses. I grew up in Pony Club and studied for over a year to become an instructor. I own 3 geldings now.
I have never cleaned a sheath or other than that horse seen a horse with a problem with a sheath. I do not hear that noise very often and can’t remember the last time.
Pepper’s was swollen once but the vet said it was from a tick bite.
In my experience, it’s very horse particular. My gelding growing up never made the sound. Our other one did. The mini doesn’t…The two we have now, one does, consistently, and the other doesn’t…or if he does, it’s not very often. I also never deemed it a ‘problem’ and I’m unsure as to why/where the swollen aspect comes into play.
But, whatever. It was only an observation. The end.
I actually use this - my horses hooves are awesome now. My farrier told me about it a year ago.
The use of ribbons in horses tails as signals.
Red = kicker
Green = green
Yellow = caution and/or stalion
White = for sale
I see red and green ribbons in the hunt field today. I have never seen either the yellow or the white ribbons, but I do love the idea of advertising a horse for sale this way.
At horse shows, we used to use yellow numbers to indicate a horse was for sale. Either you would get a yellow number from the secretary, or if it was a single use paper number, you’d just color it with a highlighter.
Do people still do that?
Still done in distance riding(CTR for sure) with red and yellow. And it’s not a ‘please do this because it courteous,’ You’re required to label both stallions and kickers for safety purposes or you’ll get points deducted… and then be told to put the ribbons in. We were actually required to label the front and back of the horse, and most would label the side too. So, Bridle/halter marked, typically one in the mane and also the tail, that way you could see it from any direction approached.
I haven’t seen the other two colors used.
Side note: Yellow is also used in Dogs as a caution/reactive warning. Known as ‘yellow bandana dogs’ - they should be given space, even if your dog is ‘super friendly’
How about painting the soles of horses’ feet with iodine to toughen them up. Did anyone do that, or does anyone do that anymore?
That’s basically how Durasole and similar products work.
People definitely still use iodine to toughen hooves. I think the drug problem has done more to change that than the practice falling out of fashion: iodine is harder to purchase in bulk thanks to meth cookers.
I was in a farm store and actually found iodine on the shelves! I love that stuff for all number of horse-y issues and will be buying once my expensive baiodine (no the scrub, just fancy iodine) runs out.
Speaking of iodine, who here still treats an abscess with a diaper boot, epson salts, iodine, and a little bit of water that has been duct taped within an inch of its life to stay on overnight?
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