Let’s Discuss: Retro Eventing Stuff We Miss

I mean, there’s no telling how much this puppy would go for on eBay.

This one goes out to the crotchety old people of eventing — you know who you are. You think back fondly on the good old days, when your dressage test could be complete garbage but if you got over most of the jumps on first attempt you could still win an event. You like the way a hard-copy Omnibus feels in your hand, and given a couple glasses of wine you won’t shut up about how the short format ruined our sport. You despise newfangled anything and are given to waxing nostalgic about extinct events and long-gone horses (all Thoroughbreds, obviously). You can still close your eyes and hear the sound of petal bell boots: clackety-clackety-clackety-clackety-clack … it’s music to your ears. Kids these days, they couldn’t tell a petal bell boot from a Porter protector. They just don’t understand.

Or some variation on that theme. Listen, I get it. I am literally sitting here writing this in a USCTA sweatshirt. I’m not as early vintage as some of you reading this, but after almost 25 years of eventing I can at least play ball in the nostalgia department. Old and crotchety isn’t an age — it’s a state of mind.

Deep down I think we all know that change is healthy and dwelling on the past isn’t the most constructive use of our mental energy, but reminiscing can be a fun exercise in remembering why we fell in love with this sport in the first place. And that’s why we’re opening this week’s “Let’s Discuss” column up to the topic of …

What retro eventing stuff do you miss? Dive deep into those memory banks and let it rip, EN!