Back in the 70’s when I was growing up, we had about 20 + - schoolies, lease horses and sale prospects at any one time. In addition to a core 12 acres where the riding academy was situated, we had the use of a number of good-sized pastures (2-120 acres) at anywhere from a mile to 25 miles’ remove.
Most of the horses lived on pasture during all seasons but “hard” winter, whether or not they were working. The ones in active use stayed “home” or in the immediate neighborhood whereas the ones we’d laid up, or who needed to gain condition prior to being put in the program (usually just inbound from a sale) were put at the big farm up-country. We made our own hay, both locally and on the big farm, and fed NO GRAIN but all the good hay they could eat. Supplements and other nostrums were unheard of.
Vanishingly few horses were shod, and those by the owner (my granddad) himself. Vaccinations were rare until 1980, and then only the most urgently necessary, and floating nonexistent. Most of our horses were grade, not “blood,” and most were tough buggers who’d already won the Darwin Olympics before we ever made their acquaintence. Some had oddball handling issues, but ALL were serviceably sound barefoot with rotating rest days, and kid-safe to a fault up to an uncomplicated 3-foot outside course they’d happily pack you around with your eyes shut. Even the beautifully marked but cheap appies who were about 80% blind! Virtually all were acquired for under $500.00.
Our tack was auction-acquired, safe but old, and most trees fit almost anyone. We cleaned it about twice a year because I enjoyed doing it.
Our saddle pads were natural sheepskin shaped to the flaps, were allowed to crust into permanent solidity, and never gave anyone a sore back ever. Formal “saddle fitters” were not a “thing” until you approached the USET level. Our first-aid cabinet included Absorbine, some wicked-hot White Liniment, Furacin, Hydrogen Peroxide, Vaseline and bleach. Eventually a few exotica like Kopertox, Ivermectin, and Bute crept in, used sparingly since expensive. Bot knives, bot blocks, and lots of dull clipper blades were employed frequently. Grooming was knocking the dirt off the saddle and girth areas, anywhere else you saw it, and the hocks by Gawd or your job was in jeopardy.
The weapon was a shared dandy brush and rubber curry. I used to “groom” and tack up 8-10 horses in roughly 45 minutes or less prior to each class. I was paid in lessons to age 15, thereafter $2.25 per hour!
Our ring was natural dirt, enhanced once every spring by a big tanker truck full of old crankcase oil from gas stations which was sprayed on it to hold down the dust, which it did admirably well. We didn’t need hoof dressing when it was fresh, either, as it coated the horses’ feet and it made a wonderful moisture barrier. I was taught to trim by age 14 and did most of it for the whole barn as needed thereafter. Vets and farriers were seen very seldom.
Our horses worked hour lessons, W/T/C and, in the upper classes, anything from a handful of crossrails to about 4 trips around our 3’ outside course. They did this 5-6 days per week, up to 3x per day, and they did it barefoot on perfect turf and the aforesaid soft, oiled dirt. One of my jobs was constantly picking up stones to make sure no one would pick up a bruise in our arena. I do it in my pastures reflexively to this very day. An important detail is they were turned out at the big farm every winter, with hay, on full rest from November to mid-April every year as we had no indoor.
Fly spray was that horrid-smelling, probably-lethal stuff the auctions sold for cows. We cut it about 30/70 with kerosene, put it in one of those metal sprayer things you pumped, and damn near fumigated them and yourself while they ran around the stall wild-eyed. Not a single fly caused an incident with a young student up in the ring–we made darn sure those problems wouldn’t arise!
At the end of the lesson, we’d strip the tack, sponge off the saddle marks, and the horses would be turned loose to graze and I’d eventually haze them up into the field where they’d spend the night after a good drink out of the bathtub by the barn. A night of wet, long, juicy green grass and they’d be ready to do it all over again the next day. Their condition score averaged a 6.5 in today’s terms.
Those who thrived on this lifestyle, stayed–many in daily use to the age of 30+! Those who were “fancier” were sold to students. Those who couldn’t stay sound left on a Friday night, bound for the sale to take their chances once more on the Wheel of Karma. Those deemed dangerous got quietly dispatched at a little place up-country who had a revolving door for the good, the bad, the ugly and the appies with moon blindness. And so it went . . .
This riding school made a family a very lucrative income for over 60 years, and the horses lived the life of Riley. Take such lessons here as you will. . .
