|
Post by brt on Nov 19, 2014 14:42:20 GMT
Getting very hungry as we were up there all day and eating the horse feed! Ha ha !! Sugar beet was very sweet in thosedays !! Does anyone remember when Gallop Shampoo smelled like bubble gum ? Or those Hessian sacks of bran that were nigh on impossible to carry? I also remember when 2 way stretch joddies came in, you were very posh if you had a pair of those !
|
|
kirky
Full Member
Posts: 238
|
Post by kirky on Nov 19, 2014 15:08:26 GMT
This thread is brilliant and oh how it has brought back memories for me too. String girths, nylon plaited reins that stretched and hurt yours hands, especially when trying to stop a mad pony, rubber riding boots and I had a pair of those awful itchy jodhpurs that stuck out at the sides thanks to my non-horsey parents!!! Thankfully they got fed up with my whinging and got be a proper up-to-date pair!!! We used to go to Droylsden Trot stadium for competitions and like others we used to hack there, probably took about an hour as a long way away, jump everything we could enter and then hacked back home proudly showing of any rosettes which usually were clear rounds. I remember getting up really early to find my pony which could be anywhere in the acres of farmland, getting him ready with nice blue bandages (to match said nylon reins) with cotton wool behind only to turn up at the show looking like a bag of s*** after cantering alongside Denton reservoir in the mud and hacked for miles. However, really local was Hinklins (think that was the name) stables in Dane Bank, Denton, where they held gymkhanas which were great fun and all we seemed to do was bomb around all the time. And the riding hats with the elastic that had stretched that much is was neither use nor ornament. My, they were the days, my lovely tough hardy pony, what would he think of my big wusssie horse now!!!
|
|
|
Post by brindlerainbow on Nov 19, 2014 15:23:49 GMT
Something else I just remembered was nickle bits and if you had a hard puller which I did then the bit rings would be slightly out of shape from years of trying to stop!!!! They did come up very shiny though with duraglit' Also those leather anti cast rollers with the iron hoop at the top that weighed what felt like a ton. At the very first show I went to I didn't have a jacket so I just wore a navy blue cardigan. We used to sneak onto the golf course of the posh hotel up the road and jump our ponies up and down the bunkers. I remember sneaking onto a building site on a friends 14.2hh, no saddle and just a head collar and 2 lead ropes. My friend made me a jump out of 2 upright oil drums and a drainpipe. Pony jumped it fine but tripped on landing, I fell off and hit my arm on some bags of cement that had gone solid. I ended up with an "S" shaped arm and 2 months in a plaster cast!!!!
|
|
|
Post by maxandpaddy on Nov 19, 2014 15:42:51 GMT
Chuckling away
Sugar beet that needed soaking for at least a month, after a full day out hacking to and back from shows what did we treat our pampered ponies to - a bran mash.
Puffa jackets, Aron knitted jumpers and leg warmers - warn up over the wellies - were the height of fashion.
Rugs came in 3 sizes small/medium or tent shaped.
My Nana knitted me my cross country jumper in the Flint and Denbigh colour's which was the envy of all our pony club
We didnt school over fences - you just kicked and hoped for the best
Dont forget the highlight of any show... the Chase me Charlie !!! When all sizes and ages tried to jump the biggest jump and not end up in A & E
|
|
sarahp
Happy to help
Posts: 9,510
|
Post by sarahp on Nov 19, 2014 15:47:18 GMT
And hot bran was used for poulticing foot abcesses too. Thatching after hunting - no wicking rugs, you turned your jute upside down and put it on over a thick layer of clean straw until the pony was dry.
|
|
|
Post by blackdales on Nov 19, 2014 17:47:00 GMT
Omg I love this jute rugs with a blanket under and the blue New Zealand with red straps I got for Xmas that I was so proud of for my grey pony....that covered her in blue dye when it got wet!! Bareback hacking and jumping hacking to shows an hr away. Working at the riding school nearby for £1 an hr ? including sorting all horses out for lessons in between feeding and hay for 30plus horses...talk about slave labour but I loved it.
|
|
|
Post by fanfarefan on Nov 19, 2014 20:35:53 GMT
Haha Sarahp , that was when Broad Bran , was broad , not the fluffy flakes you get nowadays, and thatching was an art , and you waited at the yard until your pony was dry , no going home before . Cactus cloths were a revalation for getting mud off,,, my best memories were that rare treat of going to the little tack shop , and that wonderful smell of the leather , and seeing the wonderful tack all hung around in an immaculate order , way beyond my wildest dream to own any of it
|
|
|
Post by maxandpaddy on Nov 19, 2014 21:04:24 GMT
My first 'proppa' show with my wonderful childhood mentor and Pele the wonder pony. I'm the classy looking kid on the dark bay wearing my dads funeral tie and shirt hahaaaaaa Classy huh
|
|
|
Post by meerkat1 on Nov 19, 2014 21:15:31 GMT
The coveted horsebox was an Oakley, Smiths or Lambourn, there were no other brands, but mostly a trailer or cattle truck was the only option, and very welcome as an alternative to hacking there. Lavenham rugs were the big step up from jute. THE 'Caldene' arena at HOYS was a sand arna outdoors with confirmation on Tarmac and only the top few went indoors to the main arena. No M&M at HOYS that's a very modern idea! Very few had a trainer, we were happy to have lessons at the PC rally, going round in circles in groups according to which test we were doing. Looking up to the riders doing their B test, they must be really good. Loved every minute, but really struggling now not to grip with my knees?
|
|
|
Post by flee on Nov 19, 2014 21:44:13 GMT
Nickel stirrup irons and no such thing as rubber treads . Nylon head collars available in any colour you could think of as long as it was red or blue . Kaolin poultices made with brown paper . Woollen tail guards Stable Rubber - a glorified tea towel with the words STABLE RUBBER printed on it but no instructions , so never used on your hairy pony Water brush - for laying manes , an effect which lasted for about 2 minutes Extra Tail fly repellent that came in a can, was applied with a cloth and which rotted every other item in your grooming kit bag . Trotting at a hundred miles an hour in a bid to out run Warble flies ( or sidling up to another horse and passing it on !).
|
|
sarahp
Happy to help
Posts: 9,510
|
Post by sarahp on Nov 19, 2014 23:10:15 GMT
No natives at HOYS for my first Olympia D mare nor her daughter, but there was for the two after that. it really is pretty recent
|
|
|
Post by borderreiver on Nov 20, 2014 9:16:30 GMT
GaynorStones you have tempted me to join this board. I saw you mention Whickham summer camps and I was there too. I was a pony deprived youngster in the sixties but still enjoyed my riding school adventures and used to ride at Billy Hood's on Whickham highway every Saturday afternoon. I saved up for those summer pony weeks too which always ended in a gymkhana on the Friday. We had great fun looking after our favourite pony for the week but as Hoods was a dealer the ponies were constantly changing and we would weep buckets when our best ones were sold on. Later I also rode at Murton in North Shields which opened when I was about twelve. No indoor school back then.
Then you mention Lizard and my first horse came from there. She was a golden dun called Sally. She did everything for our family and was a wonderful versatile mare who lived and enjoyed work till she was thirty, just pts a few years ago.
So I hope you can post a bit more about those far off times. Here we are still horse lovers today and I'm enjoying carriage driving with my Highland pony that I bred myself, plus keeping several others at home. Who would have thought it?
|
|
|
Post by brt on Nov 20, 2014 9:27:31 GMT
Does anyone remember the "Win A Pony " competitions? I used to pray i would win it !!
|
|
|
Post by brindlerainbow on Nov 20, 2014 9:46:17 GMT
I always entered the win a pony competitions too and I was always certain I would win but unfortunately never did!!!
|
|
|
Post by gillwales on Nov 20, 2014 10:48:29 GMT
Does anyone remember the "Win A Pony " competitions? I used to pray i would win it !! Oh yes, we all did that, and our parents thanked God that we didn't!!
|
|
|
Post by richvale on Nov 20, 2014 11:25:10 GMT
Well this thread has brought back so many memories from my childhood! My Mum asked us when we were kids what would we like to do as a hobby. I said I wanted a pony but could not afford one, so the next best thing was to start riding lessons at our local riding school. Both my sister and I started with one lesson a week then I wanted another but finances could not stretch that far. My last lesson was the one with the pennies under my knees sadly I lost both. My Mum got us a pony from "Save The Horses"' a small black pony called Quits, one of mixed breed but what a lovely pony. We eventually outgrew him and had numerous others from them until Mum eventually bought a really green Irish Draught x thoroughbred mare who we shared doing riding clubs and local shows. She was then bred from, a foal for each of us! I recall all the above comments on the thread, nickel bits and irons, New Zealand rugs, jute rugs full of dung. Getting up and riding on our bikes, no cars then, to the stables with buckets on handlebars, jars of hot boiled linseed with treacle in kilner jars for a treat. Hacking miles to shows, competing and hacking back, starving hungry but your pony was always seen to first, how happy days!!
|
|
|
Post by maxandpaddy on Nov 20, 2014 11:55:16 GMT
When wound powder was the treatment for anything, I remember being chuffed when they started doing it in black
|
|
|
Post by solitaire on Nov 20, 2014 12:57:07 GMT
Boiling linseed in mums best saucepan lol. Hacking miles to shows and hunting and having my pony little section a belonging to a local farmer no stables so straight from field and at end of day if I was miles from home having pony put in the hunt lorry with the hounds and taking home with the master as he was a friend of my dads and then hacking home the next day those were the days when you could safely hack on main roads progress not always great sadly it's rare people cannot hack to a show or hunt meeting sadly
|
|
|
Post by GaynorStones on Nov 20, 2014 18:11:58 GMT
GaynorStones you have tempted me to join this board. I saw you mention Whickham summer camps and I was there too. I was a pony deprived youngster in the sixties but still enjoyed my riding school adventures and used to ride at Billy Hood's on Whickham highway every Saturday afternoon. I saved up for those summer pony weeks too which always ended in a gymkhana on the Friday. We had great fun looking after our favourite pony for the week but as Hoods was a dealer the ponies were constantly changing and we would weep buckets when our best ones were sold on. Later I also rode at Murton in North Shields which opened when I was about twelve. No indoor school back then. Then you mention Lizard and my first horse came from there. She was a golden dun called Sally. She did everything for our family and was a wonderful versatile mare who lived and enjoyed work till she was thirty, just pts a few years ago. So I hope you can post a bit more about those far off times. Here we are still horse lovers today and I'm enjoying carriage driving with my Highland pony that I bred myself, plus keeping several others at home. Who would have thought it? Haha someone from my era!! Loved the camps with the gymkhana on the friday. I ended up staying most of the summer holidays and if my parents wanted to see me they had to come up to Whickham!! I remember Mrs Hood making us jam and crusty bread before we went down the fields to catch the ponies then going back for a cooked breakfast when we had setlled the ponies. Loved every minute of those summer holidays. I used to work at Lizard Lane Stables all day on a saturday (slave labour) mucking out, grooming, leading in lessons and for that (if we were lucky) we got a free lesson or got to ride the ponies back to the field bareback. HAPPY DAYS!
|
|
kayjayem
Happy to help....a lot
Posts: 10,046
|
Post by kayjayem on Nov 20, 2014 19:11:08 GMT
Does anyone remember the bright blue wormer called Frisk that was made by BP or Esso or some other petrol co I think. It absolutely stank and nothing would eat it but it made you feel very good that you were caring enough to worm your pony lol!!
|
|
|
Post by gillwales on Nov 20, 2014 19:47:34 GMT
Does anyone remember the bright blue wormer called Frisk that was made by BP or Esso or some other petrol co I think. It absolutely stank and nothing would eat it but it made you feel very good that you were caring enough to worm your pony lol!! Yes, you had to with-hold water prior to administering it and could not use it if you kept geese or ducks
|
|
|
Post by brindlerainbow on Nov 20, 2014 19:49:36 GMT
I remember that wormer in a silver tin with a screw lid
|
|
|
Post by blagdon01 on Nov 20, 2014 20:23:28 GMT
Lizard Lane still exists although changed somewhat fro what I remember when Norman Hannah owned the place
|
|
|
Post by GaynorStones on Nov 20, 2014 21:21:35 GMT
Lizard Lane still exists although changed somewhat fro what I remember when Norman Hannah owned the place Thank you! Was trying to remember the owners name. Is the jumping field still right down on the edge of the cliff?
|
|
|
Post by dawnie on Nov 20, 2014 21:33:52 GMT
Being the school "odd ball" (well there was a handful of us) All the girls crowded round the latest copy of Smash Hits and we huddled over "Pony" magazine. The trendy girls jotters were covered in "I Love whoever" and mine was "I love Tiggy" and my jotter was also full of horsey doddles.
I remember the WH Smiths win a pony competition ... never ever heard of anyone who won one I don't think ... were we scammed???
|
|
|
Post by GaynorStones on Nov 20, 2014 21:40:07 GMT
I remember I won a competition in the Pony or Riding magazine once. My 6 riding resolution for 19?? were. Cant remember what they were or what I won but it wasnt a pony!!
|
|
|
Post by robrocks on Nov 20, 2014 21:50:39 GMT
My family weren't horsey so at 16 I bought a ok y and tack delivered for £70 and taught myself to ride. He had a canvas rug like a tent which was my pride and joy. The farrier would come every 12 weeks and inbetween j would hammer the nails/shoes back on if I heard them clinking whilst on a 4 hour hack lol!! I think a wormer was once a year and thought leapfrogging on his hind quarters was normal. The pony went on into his 30s and taught another young girl to ride after I had him(he left me at 25)....oh and I too hired a cattle float to go to a show once a year.
|
|
kayjayem
Happy to help....a lot
Posts: 10,046
|
Post by kayjayem on Nov 20, 2014 21:56:33 GMT
I remember one of the win a pony competitions was actually won by someone. It was a lovely 15hh(Ithink) pba called something beginning with M and it did really well. I wish I wasn't so old that I could remember it but someone else might. I'm on a mission with google now to try and track it down
|
|
|
Post by clifton on Nov 20, 2014 22:08:36 GMT
I think I entered once and I actually won a book about an indian. I came about 50th apparently, I could never could understand how I came 50th when we didn't get any questions wrong. My much older university friend answered most of the questions. I was so disappointed I didn't get the pony, not that I could have kept it if I had won it, unless it was in the garage, in the middle of a housing estate. I don't think my non horsey parents would have been very impressed and would have made me sell it which would have been heart breaking for me.
|
|
kayjayem
Happy to help....a lot
Posts: 10,046
|
Post by kayjayem on Nov 20, 2014 22:10:35 GMT
was it H&H Clifton? It's really bugging me now
|
|