|
Post by maxandpaddy on Nov 18, 2014 21:33:46 GMT
Massively under-rated us oldies, so its about time we put our pictures and experiences to post We were brought up with the Clear Round Rosette taking pride of place in the kitchen for years simply because it took us 24 goes per show to get one We fell off daily and climbed back on - if it didnt need stitching dont moan being the motto We did pony club camp with none of this health and safety malarky - they made us spin in the saddle while taking our jackets off on any pony never mind bomb proof ! Cavaletti's were an ambition - not taken for granted We had many hidden talents back then, as illustrated by my own demonstration of the rarely seen 'Studden Stop Straddle' So come on oldies, share the stories and pictures !!!!!
|
|
|
Post by brt on Nov 18, 2014 21:50:59 GMT
Sadly don't have any old pics but i am from the age of grip with your knees, if you came off and kept hold of your reins you were allowed to continue and jumping with no stirrups or reins was just another way of getting a good seat !
Have to say that even at nearly 50 it takes a hell of a lot to get me off so must have worked !
|
|
|
Post by Toaster on Nov 18, 2014 22:19:57 GMT
We jumped anything we could lay our hands on, anything was fair game when it came to jumping We would leave at 8am on a Saturday with sandwiches, a folding hoofpick and 20p for the phonebox and not return home till 8pm. You were really something if you had a trailer, the rest of us hacked five miles plus to shows, ponies did a full day of classes and hacked home Ponies only really stayed in the night before a show We scrubbed at white string girths but they never got any whiter We made numnahs out of bathmats (only me? are you sure?) Junior jumping was rarely under 3ft Boots and jods were for posh days out only
|
|
kayjayem
Happy to help....a lot
Posts: 10,046
|
Post by kayjayem on Nov 18, 2014 22:28:05 GMT
Love this thread. I remember doing the jumping lane at PC camp with no stirrups and hands on heads over solid concrete drain pipes. My pony jibbed a bit and the reins flicked over her head and hung on one ear as we flew down the park with no control whatsoever but I stayed on!! I also only had one girth so if we were going to a show I took my tack home to clean and rode back to the yard with the saddle with no girth as it was drying at home. It made you sit very well balanced lol!
I also showjumped in a half panel straight cut show saddle as it was the only thing that fit my pony. I jumped 5ft 2" in that saddle on a 13hand pony and still have the saddle now, it's like an instrument of torture lol
|
|
|
Post by dawnie on Nov 18, 2014 22:32:22 GMT
Queuing for ages to do the clear round! You entered everything, and nobody thought it was wrong ... if you did well in everything you were good with a good pony .. nothing else .. and people aspired to those people who did well not criticised them. I did showing ...my mare has a horrendous scar but sometimes we did ok. We did jumping .. but she wasn't always in the mood for that but we provided good entertainment, she either slammed on or if the mood took her she jumped every thing but we had no brakes so we would do the workers ..if I could hang on and get a clear we might get a rosette. Handy pony was mandatory my only home equipment was a plastic sheet and one of those coloured fly things so we practiced that loads... along with umbrellas and anything scary! Equitation .. I would be in for a shout if we had to swap horses, my girl was a tad quirky ... can you imagine if they did that now .. and a go round together without your stirrups. Hacking to shows, entry money in your hat lining and your life in a back pack. Feeling famous hacking home if you were lucky enough to win a rosette .. who cared what colour it was it was a rosette and you wore it on you bridle all the way home. Learning how to keep your leg on as you only had the bottom corner of the farmers field to school, and if you didn't keep you leg on your pony took the direct route home straight over the field... busted by the farmer and balled at by your mother lol...you kept your leg on!!! Layering blankets (scrounged from family or bought from charity shops) folding the neck to a point and folding back over your one and only jute rug held in place with a surcingle. You got a new show jacket because you had grown out of it. Show jackets that went in washing machine. Oh heck .. no photos but so many memories could go on for ever .. looking forward to reading everyones posts. oh ... if you got bit or kicked by somebodys pony .. You did shout scream or look for a claim ... you kept quiet rubbed your wounds and felt stupid for letting it happen.
|
|
kayjayem
Happy to help....a lot
Posts: 10,046
|
Post by kayjayem on Nov 18, 2014 22:36:23 GMT
Lol Dawnie that is so familiar. Did you have a Jakatex jacket? They were the big thing in my day if you had Jackeatex you had arrived! And did you have/lust after those really thick kniktted yellow gloves that made your fingers like sausages that didn't bend
|
|
|
Post by Toaster on Nov 18, 2014 22:45:21 GMT
I also showjumped in a half panel straight cut show saddle as it was the only thing that fit my pony. I jumped 5ft 2" in that saddle on a 13hand pony and still have the saddle now, it's like an instrument of torture lol My saddle in the pic I posted was a half panel one, I didn't even get a sniff of a knee roll till I was well out of my teens!
|
|
|
Post by dawnie on Nov 18, 2014 22:50:26 GMT
I cant remember the make of my jacket, I know mum made me one at one point ... but I remember getting a Navy Blue Caldene jacket for my 16th birthday and thinking I was the bee's knees..and that went in the wash ... and still will I still have it ..it will be 32 soon!!! (doubt it will still fit but am a little sentimental)
Oh heres another one from when I was little (I was a proper fat kid so these were extra special to me) stretch jodhpurs ... then two way stretch came out .. WOW they were just science!!!
|
|
|
Post by brindlerainbow on Nov 18, 2014 22:51:58 GMT
I can see im going to love this thread!!! I only had 1 white string girth which got scrubbed in washing up liquid but was never completely white. My pony had a sheepskin noseband simply because Redrum had one but I then progressed to a rope noseband because Nick Skelton had one.... I hacked for miles to PC rallies, shows, hunter trials and hunt meets. I regularly won walk,trot and canter in the gymkhana games as my pony could trot flat out!!! My pony wore a jute rug with a surcingle in the stable and a canvas New Zealand rug in the field, she ate pony nuts and bran as mixes hadn't been invented. I didn't wear the elastic from my riding hat under my chin and body protectors were another thing that hadn't been invented!! My friends and I would ride after school in the summer and not return home until dark, often telling ghost stories as the light was fading, scaring ourselves silly. We dreamed of riding at Wembley and Hickstead. I could go on and on
|
|
kayjayem
Happy to help....a lot
Posts: 10,046
|
Post by kayjayem on Nov 18, 2014 22:56:47 GMT
Lol Brindle our specialty was potato race. My pony was so fast that on one occasion we turned so sharp she fell over but we jumped up and still managed to win, this was probably due to Tilly being so sharp and me having good glue and being a bit thick lol!
|
|
kayjayem
Happy to help....a lot
Posts: 10,046
|
Post by kayjayem on Nov 18, 2014 23:00:09 GMT
Me and my mates used to have show jumping competitions riding backwards as well! I think maybe my flat half pannel saddle was an asset in those comps lol
|
|
|
Post by GaynorStones on Nov 18, 2014 23:01:29 GMT
Best thread Ive ever read on here!! I remember those days (I go back to the 1960s!!!) I remember when a few friends got together and hired a CATTLE WAGON to get to the bigger shows. We all went up on the luton and then the ponies were put in (probably about 10 or so) with just a metal pole between them. We would do showing class, clear round (numerous times) show jumping and then all the games, eat our picnic lunch when all climb back into the cattle wagon with our rosettes and go home. Those were the days when ladies wore hand scarves to show inhand!! I remember being on the Prince Philip games team and practising leapfrogging over my ponies hindquarters to get on because I couldnt run fast enough to vault on! We would practise our jumping over anything we could find (think the health and safety would have a fit if they could see would we used) Very happy times and memories! I still have a few rather funny pictures but dont know how to get them on here. Sorry
|
|
|
Post by brindlerainbow on Nov 18, 2014 23:02:46 GMT
I had those yellow string gloves so my hands look liked a bunch of banana's and I had those long rubber riding boots with a spur rest on the back even though I thought spurs were only for people that rode at HOYS!!!! and I had those plaited reins that came in different colours. When I was 14 I rode at Greater London Horse show in a PC musical ride, I wore a purple and yellow tunic and looked like a total moron!!! at the end of our display the hunt joined us in the ring to parade the hounds, the excitement tipped my pony over the edge and she bolted flat out from the ring and then ran backwards into 2 drunk blokes fighting in the collecting ring ( it was London!!!! )
|
|
|
Post by Toaster on Nov 18, 2014 23:08:33 GMT
I was pleasantly surprised to find out that you can still get the plaited coloured reins!
remember the non stretch jods that left deep grooves around your knees and down your lower legs when you took them off?
|
|
|
Post by GaynorStones on Nov 18, 2014 23:11:50 GMT
When I got really "professional" I wore the long black boots with the brown tops! Brindlerainbow I had the coloured plaited reins (always used white ones in the ring) I had forgotten about those!
|
|
|
Post by clifton on Nov 18, 2014 23:17:58 GMT
I remember going to pony club camp and everybody was riding side saddle on a normal saddle, really dangerous as I remember tipping off backwards. Shows were practically non existant and were mainly the agricultural shows. The classes generally only consisted of tack and turnout, working hunter and show jumping and gymkhana, no showing classes or in hand classes. We hacked most of the time but when we got a trailer it had a canvas roof and I remember once going in a horsebox that was a coal lorry during the week and the horse box was bolted on for a show. horse food consisted of straight grains and chopped up hay and bran and I don't think I ever heard of a pony with lami. I rode for a long time without a saddle and yes I gripped with my knees as we put pennies under them. I remember my bridle had string plaited reins and when I eventually got a saddle it also had a string girth and funnily enough I still use a string girth for one of my horses lol. rugs were unheard of for the majority of us but if you had one it was jute or a heavy canvas with a roller, some people even had a string sweat sheet, but I wasn't that fortunate. Rosettes were only one tier and a sash was something you put on a bridesmaid dress, nor round a horses neck. Brow bands if not plain leather were coloured plastic, you had a body brush, a dandy brush and a metal scraper, a folding hoof pick, a tin of hoof oil and a block of glycerine to clean your tack. life was much simpler then but not better, much prefer things today.
|
|
|
Post by dawnie on Nov 18, 2014 23:20:31 GMT
I had green reins, to match the green numnah, green string girth and a green and white browband .. remember the plastic ones you could wipe clean?
|
|
|
Post by GaynorStones on Nov 18, 2014 23:29:07 GMT
I had green reins, to match the green numnah, green string girth and a green and white browband .. remember the plastic ones you could wipe clean? YES!! I was a member of Spartan Riding Club which was based at Lizard Lane Riding School South Shields and went to Whickham Riding School Summer Camp near Newcastle. Anyone know if either of those riding schools still there?
|
|
|
Post by judyh on Nov 19, 2014 6:43:38 GMT
I used to hack miles to a meet. Hunt all day and hack home. Roads were quieter and cars slower with considerate drivers. Soak my white string girth in biotex to get it clean, was so proud to turn my horse out with plaited mane and pulled tail. Cycle to and from the farm where I kept her. Getting a Honda 50 was luxury - my saddle anchored to the back seat came off more than once. I used to babysit to make ends meet , my Father said " You want a horse , then buy it and keep it yourself". She cost £100 which was a fortune to me in those days when I earned 7 and 6 for one night's work. That's under 40p for you youngsters!! At 16 I got a holiday job in racing which I loved for £3 a week. How easy my life is now!!!!
|
|
sarahp
Happy to help
Posts: 9,510
|
Post by sarahp on Nov 19, 2014 7:11:56 GMT
No shows for us, just hacking and PC, with occasional hunting and I do remember doing mounted messengering for the local ODE, no radios used then. My idol Richard Meade was riding, on if I remember correctly a roan horse called Barbery. Yes to yellow string gloves, jute and canvas rugs with blankets folded back in the V, jodhpurs with baggy thighs and joddy boots, no long ones, string girths and plastic browbands. Hats with elastic, no body protectors and learning to jump with no reins or stirrups over lines of caveletti. Transport was first a hired lorry, also used by the knackers and on at least one occasion with dead horses' legs hanging up in the corner - yes really. Later we had a heavy, home built trailer pulled by the LR from my father's business, usually used for towing for broken down lorries. I learned to drive in this round the fields aged about 15. Ponies were kept out, no stables at all, in fields owned by a very old retired head groom from a very posh family who could remember when he broke the horses side saddle for the ladies to ride and the whole lot, horses, grooms and all went down to London for the Season and rode in Rotten Row. Carriages then too, his memories must have gone back to the late 19th/early 20th C. The mothers of the ponies' owners used to keep an eye on him, and his cottage always smelt of the pot of boiling barley and linseed on the stove, don't ever remember feeding it to anything though!
The riding school we went to before we had ponies - that of the jumping lessons - was run by an ex-cavalry colonel, very fierce and I've done the pennies under the knees bit. All horses and ponies were fed varying quantities of the same mix - oats, bran and chaff, as in chopped up hay, mixed in a huge pile on the floor by the colonel himself with a shovel. They had one mare there with a docked tail too. When we had our first pony, a green Welsh 4yo shared between me and my sister, he ate pony nuts supplemented by all our suitable veggie peelings, mine still get the latter today.
|
|
|
Post by brt on Nov 19, 2014 8:39:08 GMT
Best thread Ive ever read on here!! I remember those days (I go back to the 1960s!!!) I remember when a few friends got together and hired a CATTLE WAGON to get to the bigger shows. We all went up on the luton and then the ponies were put in (probably about 10 or so) with just a metal pole between them. We would do showing class, clear round (numerous times) show jumping and then all the games, eat our picnic lunch when all climb back into the cattle wagon with our rosettes and go home. Those were the days when ladies wore hand scarves to show inhand!! I remember being on the Prince Philip games team and practising leapfrogging over my ponies hindquarters to get on because I couldnt run fast enough to vault on! We would practise our jumping over anything we could find (think the health and safety would have a fit if they could see would we used) Very happy times and memories! I still have a few rather funny pictures but dont know how to get them on here. Sorry OMG! we did the same thing regarding a cattle wagon ! It makes me wonder if maybe i know you from those years ??
|
|
|
Post by chloesmum on Nov 19, 2014 8:44:24 GMT
Oh boy what memories - really cheered me up this morning! Yup to the white string girths; Jute rugs; plaited reins and having a sheepskin noseband! Felt very posh when I graduated to long rubber boots! Brindlerainbow I remember competing at Greater London Horse Show - it was a real highlight for us! My pony actually came from a rag and bone yard at Clapham Common. I lived in South London so used to cycle to the livery stables he was kept at with all his tack balanced on the bike through Bromley High St, usually being heckled by teenage boys! Hacking to Rallies and shows - what memories and because Amber was a great Games pony usually coming home with rossettes tied all over him feeling very proud and occassionly also clutching a trophy! Also loved the Best Rider classes where you always had to swop ponies as mine was a live wire! I also remember being in total awe of any PC instructor and terrified of our DC who would be obeyed! I also remember riding bareback everywhere. I fell off once and dislocated my shoulder but as max and paddy said my Mum told me to get on with it, it was only the next day we realised it was dislocated! 'Elf and Safety has a lot to answer for now!
|
|
sarahp
Happy to help
Posts: 9,510
|
Post by sarahp on Nov 19, 2014 8:52:42 GMT
brt- I was brought up in the West Midlands, south Staffs PC.
|
|
|
Post by mcnaughty on Nov 19, 2014 9:24:28 GMT
OMG - so many memories flooding back! Jumping anything and everything - the 'full barrels' being the ultimate! Riding hats with elastic throats but tieing a knot in the elastic to it fits but then just putting the elastic above the peak anyway! Jute rugs, green new zealand rugs with leather leg straps that you covered with fake sheepskin sewn into tubes by yourself! Never knew what a saddle fitting, back doctor or dentist was (oh dear). As someone said above - folding under blankets into a V up the neck and then folding back and securing with a roller but coming up in the morning to find your pony with a long 'tail' of pooey blanket hanging down behind! Being the unusual one for keeping my pony in in the winter! Hacking miles to shows by yourself at a very young age and staying there all day by yourself and then hacking home miles erm yes by yourself! Getting very hungry as we were up there all day and eating the horse feed!
|
|
|
Post by ilovenatives on Nov 19, 2014 9:32:19 GMT
I had one of those straight cut half panel show saddles , I remember grip with your knees being the most used phrase at the time lol . We recently got a Dartmoor on loan for my daughter and the pony came with a show saddle . Not the really old Slippy type but a slightly more modern one , my daughter found that she couldn't sit canter very well in it and would get of the pony with aching legs from gripping on . I told her when I was her age Slippery half panel rock hard show saddles were all we had . I had a chestnut Shetland who my grandad bought of a traveller in Maidstone market . He was stood in the market in his cart for sale but we only really needed the cart and harness but the old boy selling him said he would take him to the knackers if he didn't sell him as well . I cried all the way home but in the afternoon a cattle lorry turned up and out popped this scruffy ginger Shetland . He was only broken to harness not to be ridden but was no trouble at all . I was soon hacking him out and having loads of fun with him ( bareback as we couldn't find a saddle that fitted no Shetland saddle pads then ) I had my first canter on him when my sister decided to wack him on the bum with a crop and he set off down the road at full pelt . My sister used to try and ride him but he always used to drop his shoulder and get her off as she was a bit big . We used to have a big iron chaff cutter to make our own chaff and linseed was normally boiling on the rayburn . Wish we had that chaff cutter now so I could make my own chaff and know what was in it so I could make chaff for my daughters ponies . Don't have any pictures of my Shetland as I didn't really show him but here is a picture of me on my section b Goldie at Maidstone and district show . I still have the bridle she has on .
|
|
|
Post by ilovenatives on Nov 19, 2014 9:34:49 GMT
Lol mcnaughty I can remember having a nibble on the flaked maize sometimes when hungry haha . We used to hack out for miles from a young age as well me , my sister and the two girls next door . Hacking round the lanes we would meet hardly any traffic and any we did meet would be a lot slower than the traffic today . We used to use anything we could get our hands on to make jumps , for Christmas this year my daughter is getting a set of workers jumps ! She really enjoys jumping on her ginger Shetland but we didn't buy her Shetland for a few pounds at Maidstone market
|
|
|
Post by rocknroll on Nov 19, 2014 12:43:58 GMT
God so many happy memories on here, just love it! I’ve done most of the things mentioned , jute rugs which you almost had to break up because they were so stiff with dung after a long winter, green canvas new zealand’s with leather straps and a paltry thin wool lining, that could only be classed as heavyweight because when they were wet you could hardly throw them over your pony. Scrounging blankets and cotton sheets from relatives and neighbours to go under the jute rugs. You had to have a sheet underneath the blanket to get that shine and how long did it take for that white sheet to become dung encrusted after slipping during the night! Never knew what a saddle fitting was, as long as you could see daylight when looking under the pommel and it was not pressing down on the withers it would do! Riding hat, rarely used one and then it was with the elastic chin strap pushed over the peak. If it was mandatory to wear a hat during the jumping at a local show the trick was to flick your head sharply sideways after the first jump to make it seem like your hat had accidently come off so you could finish the round hatless without being penalised. I used to help sometimes at a local dealers yard and when her water was cut off (guess the bill wasn’t paid) we used to take the ponies down a gravel track to the river for a long drink, riding bareback and with only a headcollar, cantering all the way and into the river (it was shallow). My two greatest memories was racing the 346 bus on the grass verge down the A405 and seeing if I could recognise anyone on the top deck, oh and no hat! My friend picking me up from school on his pony and jumping up behind him in my school uniform and riding double up the road through the estate and the other kids going home not blinking an eyelid as we cantered up the grass verges.
Oh, happy days when everything was so simple and not ruddy pink !!!!
|
|
|
Post by fanfarefan on Nov 19, 2014 13:30:44 GMT
I remember years ago ,my sister and i hacked about 8 miles to a show , thought we were the bees knees as we had managed to find 2 blue jackets that were almost like show jackets , in the charity shop , in fact they were nothing like proper show jackets , but they were blue and that was good enough , we had the obligatory non stretch jods , sister had joddy boots , but i had to make do with wellies , and long black socks turned over at the top , to look professional, hard hats , just ,but no strap, and this was all to do showing classess !!!!!! ,so in i go to the Best Ridden Type , well he was 13.2hh , skewbald , fat , and plaits like golf balls , but hey i thought he was the best , that was until this dream of a horse came in, 16hh TB, shone like a new pin , and the most elegant rider ,well my heart sank into the bottem of my wellies ,but with only 6 in the class i was at least assured of a rossette , and i was happy with that ,,,,what i was even happier with was that the TB ( who won ) with the elegant rider was none other than Angela Rippon , who at the time lived locally at Tavistock , so it was a local show for her aswell,,,,, i hope that i have progressed a little since those days
|
|
|
Post by tountmarastud on Nov 19, 2014 14:02:30 GMT
I remember those blissful carefree days too! I had the string gloves, think I still have them somewhere - and those brightly coloured Jacatex leaflets that came free with Riding magazine - in those days I couldn't afford Horse and Hound and had to (can you believe this)wait until a month after HOYS or RI to find out who had won Pony of the Year or champion!!! I hacked to shows but cos I was too fat to ride the Welsh Sec A I walked the ponies cos I did inhand, I kid you not about 5 miles each way, I remember coming home one night in the dark with 2 miles to go and thinking I really cant walk anymore! But I did and our ponies were unshod and survived without going lame! And the nylon girths you scrubbed so hard. I had a jute rug with my first show pony, I used it for a cover for my rabbit hutch eventually.....And I was so ignorant I wore a navy Jacatex jacket with a blue turtle neck sweater for riding lessons - that's until the instructress's mum snootily told me it wasn't correct for just ordinary riding! I had thought I was the bees knees walking through our town to catch the bus to my lesson (and yes all the lads I went to school with jeered and laughed at me but I swung my crop and strode on!) I used to teach the local kids to ride and sneak into the farmer's field to teach them to canter on his track. And those needlecord beige jods we thought we were so cool. And we were, we did it all ourselves and every single tier rosette with white ties was hard won and well deserved.
|
|
|
Post by Philippa on Nov 19, 2014 14:41:05 GMT
I remember when they introduced blue New Zealand rugs. I got one and thought I was rock. Then when we changed from jute rugs (which we used to pack straw under to dry ponies off!!!!) to poly warmers!!!! Loving the thread. Many many memories.
And I always wanted a pair of flappy overreach boots but never got them!!!!
Did anyone have a joffa hat??? They were the in thing at one time when we were jumping ponies. They were like goldfish bowls on your head lol.
|
|