Tips from the Great Horse Men & Women

[halfpass]

putting straw under rugs was called thatching and was a nightmare all the bits stuck to the inside of the rug and was a bu**er to brush out, thank god for coolers so not everything the old way was good

[stinkpig]

But they did look cosy when they were thatched although have to agree that coolers make life so much easier !

[stephjw1]

I still use two sponges well actually three one for the eyes one for the nose and one for the bum.
I use vasaline in their heels to protect from mud and water.
I always thatch up when necessary. (use coolers at shows)
I remember jute rugs and green new zealands that weighed a ton
Oh and I remember buying hay by the ton !!!!!!!!!!!!
I used to put an apple in the water buckets to stop them freezing, however had to stop this when my shettie started upending the bucket to get the apple and ended up playing bambi for the rest of the day when the water froze.
I feed a small amout of sunflower oil in my feeds rather than olive oil (much cheaper)
I only use shines etc on the day of a show I prefer a good quality body brush and grooming
I use baby milton to clean out thrushy feet and to keep scoops and buckets etc clean.

[sparkle]

Keep them coming guys I love this thread

Reminds me of when I was a kid and my nan used all the 'old ways'

Oily rag to keep flies off them in the summer...

[halfpass]

the first one to call me grandad will get so slapped

[stephjw1]

How about pops then is that ok hee hee

I can remember feeding oats nuts and bran before cool mix etc. Does anyone still feed this ?
I still use bran and make poultices out of bran and epsom salts. Bread soaked in milk is a good poultice but tricky to apply. I bathe runny eyes in cold tea.
Used Tea bags also work on hangover or tired eyes People that is)

[ladymuckpicker]

I rememeber many many years ago a dear old man I used to ride for standing in the stable taking a pee up against the pony....I screamed at him and asked him what the hell he was up to. He said it was an old remedy for girth galls and much to my surprise it worked a treat. I suggested it would be more appropiate to pee in a bowl and apply with cotton wool. I know these days girth galls are a thing of the past with all the cushioned and padded leather girths but they were the days when they were stranded string girths and they used to pinch .
I always fed bran, flaked pea ( which I ate by the handful!) and barley. Always fed sugar beet in the winter and a good old hot bran mash at least once a week.
A set of shoes was £9.00 and when I had my first pony I told my mum (who had no experience of horses) that he needed a new set she asked what did he do with the ones he came in!! Bless her, she was shocked that not only did the ponys' shoes cost more than mine...he needed a new pair every 8 weeks!!
Stable and grazing cost £3 per week, hay was between 75p and a pound and straw about 50p, nobody I knew in those days used shavings. And petrol was a lot bl**dy cheaper!!

[try]

OOhhh, this takes me back to when i first started working with hunters when i left school (more years ago than i care to remember!!) we always fed "straights" with sunflower oil in their feeds, feeds were based on bran not chaff, thatched the horses on return from hunting,the hunters were strapped every day and i really loved the hard work that went into it all! Shoeing was below a tenner then too! And petrol, dont get me started on that one....!!!!

[stephjw1]

I can remember my dad saying petrol will never get to over £2 per gallon !!!!! now look its over a fiver.
I have remembered another one.
My riding school used to use bailing twine as grass check reins on some of the school ponies
At my first job we used to take hot water to point to points to wash down with after in milk churns.

[halfpass]

but have you noticed that a lot of the old ways are becoming trendy and more and more people are asking questions and I think it's up to us old farts to pass the knowledge of yesteryear on to the youngsters before it is lost forever.

[stephjw1]

Aww your not an old fart, I agree though at the yard I used to be on some of the kids used to think I was mad for my old fashioned ways, but you could guarantee who did they come to with a problem, yep me the old fashioned one

[greynag]

I havent tried this but did read somewhere that egg whites on manes helped you plait up as the hair didnt get all soft and whispy..

What puts me off though is if its a hot day and you end up with scrambled egg plaits...yuk lol...

An old YO that I used to work for swore by peroxide for EVERYTHING and also udder cream.

Might try the Mr Sheen trick Agree this is a fab thread!

[halfpass]

we had a pony that was overloaded on the shoulder and we were told to put cabbage leaves on the shoulders cover with plastic and a rug on top and that would take the fat clean away, did it hell we ended up with a pony that stunk of rotten cabbage for months and nothing we did could get rid of the stench even the other ponies would not go near her and the shoulders were just the same size

[horseblackjack]

do any of you members have a good tip for cleaning the sheath? I think the products are too expensive.

[sparkle]

Horseblackjack - baby oil mixed with water - works a treat!

If he doesnt let you touch it then put it in the bottle like the baby oil one and squirt it out so the dirt slids off and cleans it

[horseblackjack]

thanks for that will try it tonite . I have no problem touching it in fact he cocks his leg up and ask me to clean it for him. horseblackjack.

[mayday]

Please keep these tips coming it is fascinating!
It would be helpful if you could explain a bit more what your remedies were used for. Excellent reading thank you to all who have contributed, off to pick the brains of my more elderly but certainly more knowledgeable horsey friends. Watch this space.......

[armada]

We still thatch the ponies if they've got really wet or cold, but you were supposed to turn the rug inside out as I recall, and my mum can still plait the straw at the front of the box - she uses a pitch fork - who has one of those these days? I still have good old kaolin, and mustard for coughs and colds, I now put powder in their feeds, but when I was a kid, the snivelly calves used to get a mustard jacket on, the inside of a feed bag, smeared in colmans best and tied on with baler band. Any body remember electury, you put that on the horses tongue with a flat stick when they had a cough as well. Try getting hold of that now!!
Eggs and guinness are supposed to put a shine on the coat and in the eye, we still feed both of them!
Boiled nettles? Excellent for taking swelling and heat out of tendons, but beware if you horse has white legs.
I have a lovely old medical book called Browns Farriery, I call it my eye of newt leg of toad book, but if I'm puzzled by something always refer to it, a lot of the stuff needs modern language translation - they are very keen on aloes Barbendis, which is aloe vera, and signing the poisons book in the local chemist is the only way to get some of the remedies ingredients, but with a bit of thought you can find something similar thats legal. Its an incredible piece of equine medical history but some cures - and some complaints take your breath away!!
Can anybody remember what used to go into a colic drench? We were talking about the days when a home made drench was the norm usually administered on a freezing cold night about midnight, and after castor oil we dried up, but laughed about it running down your arm and having to hang onto a rope slung over one of the roof joists and someone cursing and swearing up a ladder trying to get it down the horses neck.

[halfpass]

Good lord armada that takes me back, I remember electury very well didn't it smell lovely just like liquorice it was great if I had a cough a dollop of that soon cleared it up, we still use Kaolin and I still have the pitch fork that was my grandfathers its had a few new handles over the years but it must be getting on for a hundred years old know, If I have enough time and we have visitors coming I will roll the tops of the banks in just to make them look nice.
Can you remember when the straw was longer criss crossing the beds?
And I can remember blood letting for laminitis that was not a sight for the squeamish, and if you had a horse with thrush you would put these purple crystals on and it would send out a cloud of purple smoke very impressive, we still use sugar and iodine for thrush clears it up in know time.

[armada]

Halfpass I can remember when straw was banded with thin metal bands!!
Those purple crystals were Iodine and you mixed them with white spirit I think, we used to use them for disinfecting a puncture in the foot before poulticing, and as you say for thrush. We use hydrogen peroxide these days!!

[spot]

I still have my mothers pitch fork!It was part of my inheritance! ;)god rest her soul!I have given liquid paraffin as a colic drench.

[armada]

Maybe it was liquid parrafin, mixed with some whitish stuff as well, a bit like milk of magnesia, its all so long ago!!!!!!

[halfpass]

the younger generation will think we have gone mad talking about straw being metal banded armada we sound like a couple of old codgers just changing the subject hows the colt you had gelded hope every thing is OK

[armada]

He's just great thanks HP, a sweeter more eager to please little chap I have yet to see. However, it may all change when he goes to his first party in a month or so!! His party piece as a foal was to throw himself to the ground taking me with him, as many times as possible during a class. As he is now a lot bigger, I just hope he's grown out of it!!

[halfpass]

Thats geat to hear god luck at the party

[winston]

I always used to have problems sleeping before a show, I would lie awake going over everything. But now I keep a notepad and pencil on my bedside table for any last minute reminders.

[canna]

The cabbage leaf tip also helps with mastitis. A savoy cabbage, it has to be, cool it in fridge and apply. It's also good at taking down swellings on legs.

[stephjw1]

I used to use a pair of tights cut in half and fastened over plaits with elastic bands to keep them neat.
I remember once pinching a pair of my mums off the radiator and getting into trouble as they cost over a quid. Showing my age now

[nat3265]

We still use tights/stockings!! :-)

[pigsear]

I'm hoping you mean on the horse?? ;D