Socks
Good socks are the backbone of comfort when riding and working in a yard. There are few things as tragic as when one of your favourite pairs lose their elasticity and instead of standing up tall and proud, lie slumped against your ankle like a drunk against a bar. Socks are also often lost to the black hole of odd sock leaving a mysterious bag of single odd socks so a replenishment of new pairs is regularly needed.
Leadropes
Go to any yard and you can guarantee there will be a ratio of head collars to leadropes of at least 3:2 if not 3:1. Some ropes get broken, some left in horseboxes and the rest just vanish. If a headcollar and leadrope are bought as a pair it is a general rule that the leadrope will inexplicably disappear first.
Hoof picks
Everyone knows that when you buy a new hoofpick an old one goes off on adventure somewhere. No matter how many you buy you will never have more than you had before. True story.
Mane combs
Normal handle-less mane combs have some chance of survival. The bad boys with the wooden handle on the other hand will always go walking. I swear in my life time I must have bought a hundred of these and yet if I can put my hands on two without searching I am doing well. On the plus side they do turn up in the oddest of places.
Plaiting bands
Next time you are in a yard or with a horse, search your jacket pockets. If you don’t find a hair tie or at least one plaiting band I’ll be shocked. Aside from stray pocket plaiting bands, bags of bands are always in demand. Every yard has one person who makes an effort to reuse bands. Me, I just pull them out of the mane in a rush and bin them as the horse is doing her ‘f**k you we are home from a show get out of my stable ive had enough human interaction for one day’ dance.
Jackets
Horsey people need a lot of jackets. There is the summer jacket that will protect from light showers and the breeze. Then theres the spring / Autumn jacket which is medium weight and warm. Likewise the spring / autumn waterproof jacket with enough padding to keep you warm without sweating. Then theres the heavy duty winter jacket filled with some sort of feathers that makes you look like a marshmallow but is seriously warm. Don’t forget the ski jacket aka ultimate winter waterproof jacket that protects against icy sleet, gale force wind and lashing rain. Competition jackets in each discipline are a must. Finally don’t forget the ‘good smart looking’ jacket that spends the first three months of its life kept in the jeep free from mud and hair and is worn outside the yard at shows / clinics / lessons and anywhere that you need to look remotely clean and professional. Naturally after a few months this ‘good jacket’ will get plastered in mud and be relegated to a yard jacket.
Safety stirrup bands
Anyone who has worked in a riding school can tell you the value of having a spare stash of these. If you don’t have a spare they will pop loose and disappear at the worst times leaving you to traipse around looking for it in sane or using an elasticated hair tie as a replacement
Hair ties
Speaking of these, if you don’t need one you will find them everywhere – in your pockets, in your handbag, in the glove box of the jeep, the grooming kit etc. if you need one these little buggers will be nowhere to be found. Much as it is tempting don’t resort to using plaiting bands if you have very long fine hair. The feeling of removing them afterwards will scar you emotionally for life.
Chocolate
Nothing makes everything better like emergency chocolate.
Pens
If we need a pen, we can never find a pen. if we do find a pen, it probably won’t write anyway!
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