worst x-mas present ever recieved

[murphyluv]

in light of the Secret santa thread...just wondering what the worst horsey x-mas present ever was.
You know, the kind where your aunt and uncle don't know what else to give you so they give you a horrendous looking silver unicorn statue w/ fake jewels popping out of it??

[zoehesed]

ummm....we just recieved a GIANT like 4ft long TROUT pillow from my hubby's brother.

Is that bad enough??? What do you DO with something like that???

Edited to add something horsey... my Dad's SO...bought me a "helmet"....it was about 2mm thick...fake velvet...and had an elastic band for a chin strap....that wasn't removable....Couldnt sell it, couldnt give it away, couldn't return it!!! I have NO earthly idea where she got IT! (and I don't really like her either anyways so it made it that much worse...)

[nightsong]

I don't remember who posted, but one o f our CoTH'ers got a little stuffed horse. The relative who brought it proudly proclaimed that it was made of real horsehide and hair. The CoTH'er's little girl turned GREEN but had the manners to not say anything. They later gave it a humane burial in the back yard.

[Bugs-n-Frodo]

ummm....we just recieved a GIANT like 4ft long TROUT pillow from my hubby's brother.

Is that bad enough??? What do you DO with something like that???

Sounds like a GREAT dog bed! (With a nice fleece blanket CRAFTILY thrown on top to hide the trout!) :lol:

For, it would have to be the last 5 cross pens my MIL has given me. One is nice, yes, but I get one EVERY year, so does my hubby, his sister and his sister's hubby, she buys them off of QVC. Really, I do not need another one, I swear. The one she gave me a BILLION years ago when I graduated from community college was enough.

[Curb Appeal]

ummm....we just recieved a GIANT like 4ft long TROUT pillow from my hubby's brother.

Is that bad enough??? What do you DO with something like that???


My almost 3 year old son has one of those....a 4' rainbow trout. He sleeps with it, uses it as a pillow, and drags it all over the house.

Worst horsey gift? My cheapo grandmother (who grew up with horses and raised her children with horses) sent me a rubber curry comb for my birthday. Nothing else; just the $.75 curry comb wrapped in a pretty box.

[flogarty]

last year my aunt and uncle gave me Britany Spears perfume and purple beaded curtains. Luckily, I was able to return the curtains, but the perfume is still unopened and sitting somewhere in my closet.

[Lady Counselor]

I don't remember who posted, but one o f our CoTH'ers got a little stuffed horse. The relative who brought it proudly proclaimed that it was made of real horsehide and hair. The CoTH'er's little girl turned GREEN but had the manners to not say anything. They later gave it a humane burial in the back yard.

Oh ick!!!:eek: :cry: :dead:

[vxf111]

Neoprene neck sweat from a non-horsey person who overheard me talking about blinged browbands and thought that's what the purchase was.

[eventer15]

I don't remember who posted, but one o f our CoTH'ers got a little stuffed horse. The relative who brought it proudly proclaimed that it was made of real horsehide and hair. The CoTH'er's little girl turned GREEN but had the manners to not say anything. They later gave it a humane burial in the back yard.

That is so gross! If I got that I think I would cry!!

[cosmos mom]

My sister had gastric bypass surgery and gave me one of her "fat" sweaters to use for horseback riding :rolleyes:

[onwego]

My sister had gastric bypass surgery and gave me one of her "fat" sweaters to use for horseback riding :rolleyes:

hahahaha!!!!:lol:

[furlong47]

My first college roommate bought the most hideous pair of matching ceramic horse heads on eBay and gave them to the girl next door who was on the equestrian team :uhoh: They looked evil, their eyes were red and they had huge nostrils and bared teeth. Additionally since they were used they had chips and scuffs all over. Recipient later told me that her mother had found the perfect spot to display them... in the far back corner of the closet :lol:

Thankfully I managed to avoid those, but for whatever reason I got a used copy of Sunset Boulevard on VHS. I don't think that girl was very good at picking presents.

[tarheelmd07]

My mom, bless her heart, is not horsey at all but tries very hard to find unique horsey presents. Several years ago she bought me this hand-appliqued jacket she found at a craft fair. The base of the project was a man's suit coat in a horrible grey plaid that was probably 4-5 sizes too big for me. To make it worse, it had QHs cut out of some western print fabric appliqued randomly all over it! Of course since it was handmade, it was non-returnable.

Poor mom thought it would be just the thing for me to wear to shows...

I'm an eventer -- and have never owned a QH -- so I'm not sure what sort of shows she thought I'd be wearing it to :D

[Reynard Ridge]

A large white t-shirt (I am not a size large) with a cheezy photo of three horse heads that says: "Let's Be Friends!"

From SIL. Who genuinely and sincerely dislikes me. :cry:

[mcm7780]

These are making me laugh so hard! I can luckily say that I have never gotten anything THAT bad. *keeping fingers crossed that her luck stays that way*

[murphyluv]

oh yes the unavoidable horsie wear.
My dad tries so hard, bless him, but once many years ago gave me a davinci horse (you know the drawing that davinci did) sweatshirt...I think it was an xL so I look like a...well I dont know swallowed up in that thing. and the horses *balls* are clearly in the picture, and being an XL were bigger than life practically. At the time, definitely not something a shy teenager was going to wear.

[Elliot]

A black sweatshirt that said "A horse is a horse, of course, of course, unless it's a Tennessee Walking Horse" from my uncle and his girlfriend.

Fine, but I've never even seen a TW, let alone ridden one. Straight up eventer here with a barn full of Thoroughbreds. And the sweatshirt appeared to have a good dose of cat hair on it to boot!

Also, many random horsey knick knacks from my grandmother-in-law--horsey thermometer, pillow, wall plaque etc. Oh well.

On the bright side, my mother-in-law gave me a gift cert. to Bit of Britain for my birthday one year!:D

[mayhew]

When I was a child my grandparents gave me a model horse which I'm sure was quite expensive, as it was leather and definitely a "decorative" item, not a toy. But this horse had the most horrendous expression on its face--eyes bulging, mouth open and baring down on some imaginary enemy, nostrils flared. It looked like an ancient representation of a war horse. I couldn't keep it in my room at night I was so scared of it.

[carolprudm]

A few years ago SIL gave me some sort of wall candle holder made out of rusty metal that was supposed to look like leather straps.
I donated it to the Friends of the Richmond Mounted Police yard sale at the state fair.

[mcm7780]

A few years ago SIL gave me some sort of wall candle holder made out of rusty metal that was supposed to look like leather straps.
I donated it to the Friends of the Richmond Mounted Police yard sale at the state fair.

Ahhh, but did it sell? :D :winkgrin:

[kellyb]

oh yes the unavoidable horsie wear.
My dad tries so hard, bless him, but once many years ago gave me a davinci horse (you know the drawing that davinci did) sweatshirt...I think it was an xL so I look like a...well I dont know swallowed up in that thing. and the horses *balls* are clearly in the picture, and being an XL were bigger than life practically. At the time, definitely not something a shy teenager was going to wear.


:lol: :lol: :lol:

[Blondie22]

A few years ago, my (now ex) bf's mom made me these "shorts" out of this horrific horsey print. I originally thought, "hideous, but I could definitely wear these to bed". When I put them on and discovered they went past my knees and were reminiscent of shorts that a 15 year old boy would wear, I quickly thanked her and put them aside. I have no idea where they are now, and I don't care to find out!

[amastrike]

This thread is priceless! (Unlike the gifts mentioned, which are worthless, lol.)

[Eleanor]

one x-mas my SO gave me maternity clothes. that was it just the maternity clothes and top it off he had shown them to me the week before.

Ya he was not in my good books for a long time.

[HUS gurl]

it's not a horsey gift but was done in such a rude way that i have to mention it...

my MIL and FIL (of course, who else would do that right LOL), well they bought me a coffee maker. not a bad gift you say but it kinda is to someone who does not drink coffee (and of course they knew that for a long time...) so i said "wow nice coffee maker, too bad I don't like coffee huh !" (yes i was very pissy LOL) and their reply to that was even more rude "well we knew that but it's for us to use when we come visit..." I was flamming !!! Since then it's pretty much a gift for hubby that they wrap and put my name on, they know I won't get any use for it but that he will... Don't you love your in laws ? ;)

[pony4me]

From my dear husband...an intercom system connecting the barn (my safe, quiet, peaceful, inner sanctum) with the house (MOM!!!, when's dinner? I CAN'T do my homework!, have you seen my.....). They "broke" soon.

~ Adult Pony Riders' Clique ~

[murphyluv]

From my dear husband...an intercom system connecting the barn (my safe, quiet, peaceful, inner sanctum) with the house (MOM!!!, when's dinner? I CAN'T do my homework!, have you seen my.....). They "broke" soon.

~ Adult Pony Riders' Clique ~

hahahaha! luv it!

[Jamie2337]

My worst Horsey Christmas present is that I NEVER get anything horsey. Kitchen stuff, ugly clothes, jewelry (and I don't wear jewelry) and stuff I never use.

I wish someone would just get me a Dover or Stae Line Tack gift card or something out of Back In The Saddle. I even leave the magazines in my husband's bathroom...but no...I get socks and PJs for CHristmas. Or flowers. :(

[ReSomething]

My mom tried hard. One year she got me a crop with a decorative end that looked like a horse hoof. Unfortunately my horse was not the type that needed a crop and fool that I was I used it anyway for "discipline". Thank God it broke shortly.

[lesyl]

[quote=Bugs-n-Frodo;2053642]Sounds like a GREAT dog bed! (With a nice fleece blanket CRAFTILY thrown on top to hide the trout!) :lol:[quote]
Um we have had one of those pillows for several years, but we thought it was a toy for the kid.
The worst horsey present for me was not one but two pop-eyed prancing snorting horse picture t-shirts. No quite my style.

[mcm7780]

I really want to be able to add something besides sarcastic comments to this thread but I can't because I've never gotten gifts that were THAT bad!!! :(

I guess the worst would be the paint by number horse set I got last year from my secret Santa at work. I was 25. He also gave me a barrel of monkeys. But it wasn't that bad of a gift...I've actually played with the barrel of monkeys and look forward to painting the horse! :winkgrin:

[King's Ransom]

Well, I have one that is not funny and not horsey. But since Christmas is coming up again, and we're all talking about it, I would be interested in what you guys would do with this.

A few years back, at the end of a very serious relationship that went suddenly and unexpectedly sour, my soon-to-be ex-BF gave me a VERY expensive watch. Here is how he did it. He called me and gave me his cc # and exp. date and told me to go online and buy it. He really wanted me to have it, but was too busy to do it himself. ???? At any rate, the danged watch is a Cartier and it cost a bundle.

Fast forward to today. I love the watch. In theory, at least. It's a wonderful watch. But I hate the whole situation surrounding it. I always think of it as my "booby prize" (no pun intended) or "parting gift." I think the guy felt very guilty for the very slimey thing he was doing, and this expensive watch made him feel better. In many ways, it made me feel worse. Definitely my worst Christmas gift ever.

AND, to keep it horse-related, I have nowhere to wear this watch anymore. King entered my life as the ex- exited. Now I live on a small farm with two horses and absolutely nowhere to wear this expensive watch.

So ... do I keep it and wear it occasionally and forget about the whole awful-ness of the thing ... send it back to the guy with a hateful note ... or sell it on ebay?

Hate the guy. Love the watch. What to do?

[Coup De Des]

give it to me :P

[vxf111]

Sell the watch... take the money, buy ANOTHER glorious item that you will actually use (splurge on a fancy saddle??) and enjoy it knowing that you're better off with your own self-determination and horse than with a sleezebag guy. :)

[FridayzFortune]

well they're not horsey, but.....

last year my aunt bought my brother Yak Trax (ok ok it wasn't MY worst present, but my family still laughs about this present a year later, so I had to metion it). For those of you who are unfortunately not familiar with this wonderful invention, yak traxs are these rubber things with metal (or something) on the bottom that you put on the bottom of your shoes. They are supposed to help you grip the ground when it's icey, but they go up over the sides of your shoes so you can see them.....and the ones my brother got were BRIGHT green. Maybe for someone who is into hiking and outdoors this would be a suitable gift, but for a typical frat guy...not so much.

My worst gift was from my dad. When he gave it to me he said "If you don't like it just let me know and I'll return it" but I couldn't bring myself to tell him the truth, I didn't want to hurt his feelings. But he bought me what can only be described as a zipper vest version of It, or the pink monstrosity. The whole thing is bright pink, the pockets are suede, with lots of pink faux fur all over the whole vest. My description does it no justice, you really have to see it to believe it.

[mcm7780]

King's Ransom -- E-Bay! Put it on E-bay, get a bundle of money and spend it on fun horsey stuff: a saddle, nice bridles, a bunch of shows, or custom boots. That way you get rid of it and have something you want!

[Annetta]

The worst gift ever? Oh my, I can't even tell you about that one. My friends said I was a good sport about it...

[SuperSTB]

The 2 worst gifts I ever received were... a dust buster and a chia pet. Okay the dust buster was a sore point because I was a poor college student at the time and the large family decided to pick name for gifts- spend $40-50. I spent $50 for my aunt and my cousin who picked my name and who wasn't hurting for money spent $20 on me... and a dust buster? Couldn't she have though of anything more interesting???

The Chia pet was another gift exchange where you were *supposed* to spend over $25. Stupid Chia pets- and you know I really tried to make that thing work too. Funny thing is I told the story to my 8yo son not too long ago... "Be careful not to get on Santa's bad list... you might get coal... or a Chia pet" He thinks it's hilarious.

I honestly feel bad for my husband. My grandmother, who to say penny pinches is an understatement. One year she made the announcement that she couldn't spend a lot for christmas (she went on an Alaskan Cruise earlier that year and was saving up for her Ireland trip the next spring) Which that's good she's getting out going places etc etc. So she gets everyone simple but nice gifts- kids got toys, I got some very nice warm barn gloves and hat/scarf etc, sister gets a nice winter vest, hubby gets.... a pair of tube socks. One pair. Do they sell one pair anywhere??? I felt so bad for him :(

[RNB]

The worst gift ever? Oh my, I can't even tell you about that one. My friends said I was a good sport about it...

Do tell!!!!

[AilleXWest]

My aunt gave me a tee shirt that I had to hold up and read and Xmas Eve dinner two years ago. It said

I do not need another horse
I do not need another horse
I do not need another horse
I do not need another horse

That had to be the worst dinner ever. They were all laughing and saying you really do not need another horse. Well I had not gotten a new horse in 6 years and my pony was on her last legs at 39. I am so gald I do not need to go to dinner this year as I just got a new horse 3 weeks ago LOL

[citydog]

Sell the watch (check with jewellers before you eBay, you just might get a better price due to all the fakes on eBay) and buy something useful and horse-related. I once had a sorta pricey gift from an ex that I really couldn't stand to be reminded of, so I sold it, and because I found I still considered the money tainted, and would forever consider anything I bought with the money tainted, donated it to an animal shelter. :)

Yak Trax *rule* and everyone, "hiker type" or not who lives where there are ice storms should have a pair. :)

Worst horsey ("horsey") gift I ever got was one of those cheesey laser-etched glass blocks that sits on a little light stand of some sort. From my BIL.

My FIL always gives me a PetSmart/Stateline or Dover gift card, though. :)

[LostFarmer]

well they're not horsey, but.....

last year my aunt bought my brother Yak Trax (ok ok it wasn't MY worst present, but my family still laughs about this present a year later, so I had to metion it). For those of you who are unfortunately not familiar with this wonderful invention, yak traxs are these rubber things with metal (or something) on the bottom that you put on the bottom of your shoes. They are supposed to help you grip the ground when it's icey, but they go up over the sides of your shoes so you can see them.....and the ones my brother got were BRIGHT green. Maybe for someone who is into hiking and outdoors this would be a suitable gift, but for a typical frat guy...not so much.

Yak Trax are on my bestest gift list. I love those things when it is icey. Granted mine are black but still what is fashion when you are sitting on you backside. :D

[lark_b]

So she gets everyone simple but nice gifts- kids got toys, I got some very nice warm barn gloves and hat/scarf etc, sister gets a nice winter vest, hubby gets.... a pair of tube socks. One pair. Do they sell one pair anywhere??? I felt so bad for him :(

Ok, not horsey at all, but now I HAVE to chime in.

After my parents got a divorce, we spent a Christmas at my mother's parents' house. I was 2, my sister was 6. These are good people, they raised three kids of their own. We had identical stacks of gifts, and as we worked our way down everything was identical--if she got a red sweater, I got a red sweater. If she got a book, I got a book. Well, at the bottom of this pile are two HUGE boxes, one for her, one for me. I opened mine first, and it was a giant, fuzzy, wonderful teddy bear. Apparently I squealed. Well, now my sister was all sorts of excited because she thought she was getting one too. She opened her box and looked in and saw... socks. Dozens and dozens of pairs of socks. She was devastated, and our mother was LIVID. :mad: Apparently she gave our grandmother a piece of her mind.

This story is part of family lore, and rightly so. 23 years later, it comes up every year during the holidays. At least once. And we never, EVER, buy anyone socks. Ever.:no:

[LearnToFly]

for my 17th birthday, my dad gave me a razor (no, not the phone... I guess he thought I needed to shave) That's it. Just a razor :sadsmile:

For christmas one year I got stolen hotel shampoo and conditioner. :confused:

Methinks my family is trying to tell me something about my hygiene??? Maybe its because I spend every day at the barn... I swear I shower every night!

[llsc]

The hotel shampoo made me laugh. Sounds like something my maternal grandmother would give.

She once gave me a man's tie that she bought at a yardsale and a note that said, "all the girls in Florida are wearing them." I guess she didn't know it was part of the uniform for women who work at Bennigans, or perhaps she did.

That same year my mother got a bottle of Summer's Eve Douche and Miss Clairol Haircolor and a note that said "Now I've taken care of both ends, enjoy."

The presents from my grandmother were the most anticipated gifts every Christmas. I miss them terribly. Opening the box was always a shock at first and then utterly hysterical.

[HyperCat]

My Grandmother is the absolute worst present buyer that there ever was! She has the resources to get great gift but I guess she just has no clue. Anyways one of the worst things she ever got me was this giant gold horse medallion on a big elaboratly braided rope. I swear the medallion was like like 7 or 8 inches across. It looked like something a rapper would wear. I have no idea what I was supposed to do with it. Wear it I guess but it must have weighed 10 pounds.

The worst present she ever got was for my mom. It was a coat and I don't even know how to describe it and nothing I can say can do it justice. It was like purpley pink suede and randomly scattered over the jacket was tufts of sheepsking and then there was some random railroad track type stitching. My sister and I joked that it looked like a sheep that had been attacked by a wolf. My dad to this day still tells people about the hideousness of this jacket. The worst part was when she gave it to my mom, my grandma said, "When I saw this It just reminded me of you!" Oh really it reminded you of a half skinned sheep? HAHAHA!

[Ibex]

I've gotten:

1. an ugly brown vest with cow spots painted in puffy paint. Carefully hand crafted by someone my Aunt played bridge with. And apparently this was because I loved horses. :confused:

2. A butt ugly scarf, purportedly from the SRS, but I suspect it was actually from the airport. At least a scarf from the SRS would have accurate pictures of horses on it. I hope.

The best gift (not an Xmas gift, but all the same)... The box of used books my grandmother bought me when I was about 8. It had copies of International Velvet, The Five Circles (about the Canadian eventing team in the 50's), and a stack novels from the UK all with Pony Club and Show Jumping themes. I think I still have the entire contents of that box on my bookshelf :sadsmile:.

[Mirakel]

My grandmother used to give us soap for Christmas....bars of soap, literally. Every year from ages 3-7, soap.

A few years ago, I wanted to surprise my (now ex) boyfriend with a present he had been dying for. I quit my job a few weeks before Christmas and I told him I wouldn't be able to get him anything. Little did he know I was working my butt off at the barn to get him this expensive present....so Christmas day rolled around, and I guess since I had told him I couldn't get him anything, he decided that meant he didn't need to get anything for me either. I was a little disappointed when I gave him this incredible present and got absolutely nothing in return. I guess I brought it on myself?

I've never gotten a bad horse present, though. Not yet anyway.

[Coup De Des]

My grandmother used to give us soap for Christmas....bars of soap, literally. Every year from ages 3-7, soap.

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol: Brilliant!


Sucks about your lame ass boyfriend but :(

[Kestrel]

Rancid Yak cheese had to be the worst. It had insects crawling around in the package. My MIL (bless her heart, she would love to receive yak cheese, rancid or not) had been to Tibet in May and bought the cheese, then kept it in the closet until Christmas. Next time I draw her name for Christmas, I'm giving her a yak through Heifer International www.Heifer.org (http://www.Heifer.org).

Then there was the year I received 2 Circular saws. I had done a project earlier that year that involved sawing a couple 2x4's. Or the storage shed kit, which would be great if wasn't still a kit after 4 years and I'm not allowed to build it myself or have it built because that is part of the present.

Worst horse gifts, I suppose the 3 identical pair of horse earrings from 3 different people, and the obligatory White Stallion in the Moonlight sweatshirt. But at least there was only one of those, and I passed it on to a little girl who thought it was the coolest thing ever!

My worst Christmas was when my husband and I exchanged our gifts before we went out of town. On Christmas a.m. everyone in the extended family opened the stockings I had filled, opened presents from my husband and me and exchanged presents with each other. I didn't even have a candy cane or a new chap stick in my stocking. No gifts under the tree. Guess that told me where I stood.

[Jamie2337]

My worst Christmas present ever...I was in Little Rock Arkansas visiting my Aunt with my Mom and Grandmother. We got up one morning and they wanted to take us (me, my 2 year old and 1 year old) to this "super cool" warehouse store that they just loved. Sure, I'm game.

So..on the way there I ask "What kind of stuff do they sell?" I'm thinking merchindise closeouts, cool stuff...you know. My mom proudly declares "You know those figurines they sell at truck stops? This is the warehouse and you get stuff like that really cheap...like $1 or $2 dollars!"

Oh, crap. I should have known. So we go to the truck stop figurine warehouse which is catogrized in aisles like tigers, unicorns, cowboys, ect. They spend 3 hours there while I am trying to keep my 1 and 2 year old from not breaking every crappy figurine in the store.

So...I finally go out to sit in the car. I had had enough. When my grandma, aunt and mom come out they are beaming....uh oh. In the car they have this 3 foot tall Santa holding a violin. They then proceeded to brag about how it was the last one and they practically wrestled it away from someone who wanted it for their daughter because she plays the violin. The thing was hidious. They paid $50 for it. Good for them I thought...it was ugly and creepy.

Then they proudly declared that it was MY christmas present. WTF?? Please God No! But it was. Never mind that I flew out and had to take that huge Santa back on the plane. And I was stuck with it forever. Once I exchanged a present she bought for my son (a bike for a 8 year old when he was 3) and I have never heard the end of it!

So...I take violin playing santa from the truck stop trinket warehouse home. It is motion activated and every time you walk buy it the violin starts. The kids were terrified of it. They would start wailing whenever it went off.

We had it for 3 years when my German Shepherd from hell decided to eat it! I was so excited to come home and see violin santa's legs chewed off! I was finally able to toss it!

I mean they couldn't have bought me some truck stop figurines with horses?

My family is insane.

[sprucie]

I guess the worst two offenders are my husband and my father.

My father insists on getting me a "grinch" thing for x-mas, one year a stuffed toy, and the next a stocking, etc, and I just absolutely hate the damned thing! It's truely a hideous creature, but to top it off, my dad keeps calling me his grinch! OUCH! I guess that says alot. :rolleyes: :dead:

My husband is just downright clueless about what a good gift is, and for our first x-mas together, he got me a broom. :eek: Most years he just hasn't bothered to get me anything. :rolleyes: :( This year I got smart, got the gift for myself and told him it was his gift to me. :winkgrin:

[Sakura]

Wow, these stories are great.

The only bad gift experience I can really share is when my dad's ex MIL (who constantly bragged about how rich she and her husband were...) gave every one a "Snake Lamp" for Christmas that year. Mine caught on fire the very first time I used it... I think it was an omen as to how my dad's marriage to these people's psycho daughter was going to end up.

[Gruff Pastures]

Advice for those of you who have husbands/boyfriends that buy you completely useless/thoughtless gifts....you will always be a victim of their poorly-thought out giving unless you SPEAK UP AND TELL THEM EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT!!! I used to be polite about it, but the wheelbarrow for Mother's Day was the last straw.

Granted, it is a nice wheelbarrow, but I would rather have gone out for brunch. And I don't like getting plants or flowers either, but they were a popular choice until I said "please don't get me plants or flowers anymore".

Now that I have 5 kids and he "helps" them buy me stuff, I have had to be very specific. This year for Christmas I would like some vintage xmas movies, new slippers, winter riding boots Size 7.5, and a large framed print of any Scrooge looking out the window realizing he hasn't missed Christmas.

[Melelio]

An SO long ago gave me ....ONLY......the book "King Of The Wind"...book is good, but the ONLY gift?????? I wasn't there long after that...

My first XMas with my now DH (we'd known each other a month) he gave me the best presents ever!!!!

[Kestrel]

I make sure to provide Mr. Kestrel with my Wish List, complete with web sites or photos of requested items. He usually gets something that isn't on the list.

[OnThinIce]

Sell the watch... take the money, buy ANOTHER glorious item that you will actually use (splurge on a fancy saddle??) and enjoy it knowing that you're better off with your own self-determination and horse than with a sleezebag guy. :)

Well said! And like someone else mentioned, if the sale money still feels tainted, donate it to something that'll make _you_ feel good. CANTER? TRF? I'm partial to OTTBs, since I own one :cool: but there are numerous others out there, that might be just the ticket to expunge any lingering bad karma from what he did. Makes me mad he made you buy it too. Doesn't have the time to do it himself, but can call you and give you his CC#? Grrr. :mad: :mad: What? Because he was with her, and couldn't let her know what he was doing?? *blowing out cool breath* Let all the negative baggage that guy brought into your life go, and him along with it. Be content to know he'll reap what he sowed, and it'll come back to him tenfold.

Now back onto topic. :D Not horsey, but the worst X-mas gifts ever received has to go to my BIL and DH from my mom. One year she gave my BIL, who has a full beard, aftershave. We're all watching as he opens the box, and can't believe it. She wasn't there, so after the initial awkward silence, we all busted up laughing. DH is up next and gets this big heavy terrycloth spa robe. Hood and everything. Weighed like twenty pounds. Guy _never_ wears a robe. Showers, gets dressed, goes out hunting. Or chops wood. Or crawls under the truck and works on the engine. Yeah, he's the type who'd be lying around getting a facial. :lol: Next year, we're all anticipating a good laugh from Mom's presents. BIL got slippers. They were nice too, deerskin lined with shearling. He puts them on, one fit, and the other looks like a flipper. Everyone's busting up. _How_ could she have possibly thought this is okay?? Then I had an epiphany. Grabbed DH's gift and tossed it to him. Yep. There were the mates. They fit both of them. Of course, neither of them actually _wear_ slippers. DH's got stuffed in the closet...under the robe. :winkgrin:

[GansMyMan]

Every year my Nana gives my brothers gift cards to LL Bean or Cabela's... for $50+. Every year I get a subscription to Guideposts. Which, for all of you unenlightened folks out there, is like Readers Digest for an older, more devoutly Xian gramma. I've moved SEVERAL times and they keep getting my d*mned address! Can Dover find me? No. Stateline? No. But Guideposts? Yes.

Also, this same Nana gave me a powder blue sweatshirt, size XL (I was maybe a med at the time), had powder blue, sateen flower and horses appliqued to the front along with many a decorative seed "pearl", sequin and fake lace. That's right folks. Fake lace, as in rubber.

[LisaB]

While I love my in laws, they think anything horsie(like I'm 12!) is okay to give.
One year, they did the old fart bus tour through KY. They stopped at Churchill Downs. Well, being that I'm into horsies, I must LOVE pics of them!
So, I get for Christmas 5 home made framed pics of Secretariat. Which kinda wouldn't be that bad except they were in crooked cheap homemade oak frames with bright pink crooked matting! They thought that would look good with a red horse.
I broke them out whenever they arrived and promptly put them back in the closet when they left.

[A. P.]

My sister and I have a tacky gift contest.. each trying to 'out-tacky' the other. Just last night when dressing for party I came across the moose-dropping earrings she gave me one year. :eek:

Yup. Moose-dropping earrings. She won that year. No, I haven't worn them.

[mayhew]

My husband is just downright clueless about what a good gift is, and for our first x-mas together, he got me a broom. :eek: Most years he just hasn't bothered to get me anything. :rolleyes: :( This year I got smart, got the gift for myself and told him it was his gift to me. :winkgrin:

Ha! My boss and BO got us a broom for mother's day (we're both evil stepmothers, so don't get a lot of acknowledgement from the kids). Mine didn't do anything for me, which I guess I'm used to. Hers got her something for the first time ever--a pair of work gloves for the barn. Her husband came by and mentioned that they had gotten them for her, and that she was so pleased because it was the first time that they had done anything. My DH popped up with "Oh, I didn't know stepmothers counted." :(

[caffeinated]

My ex got me a paper shredder for christmas once.

:dead:

I think things now are MUCH better... this one is a brilliant gift buyer- last year for christmas he sponsored a pony at DEFHR as a gift to me. Made me feel more than idiotic that the video game I'd gotten him, thinking it was new, had actually been out since september and he already had it.

[Czar]

I make sure to provide Mr. Kestrel with my Wish List, complete with web sites or photos of requested items. He usually gets something that isn't on the list.

I too draw up a very detailed list but inevitably receive random items that were definitely NOT on the list :lol:

Last year it was a horse shaped pen with these little buttons that you push to make the horse "box"...our dog thought it was the coolest gift ever :yes:

To date, the worst present ever received was from my "Oma" (god bless her, she buys for EVERYONE in our very,very large family including SO's)...the gift was a white lunch pail with a standardbred racing on the front :lol: I ride hunters but it was a nice thought!

[archieflies]

My grandmother used to give us soap for Christmas....bars of soap, literally. Every year from ages 3-7, soap.

Aww... I have no clue why, but one of my most precious possessions when I was young was a box of decorative, very smelly, Christmas soaps my grandmother gave me when I was maybe 3 or 4. I was never close to her, but smelling those soaps always made me feel close. After she died when I was 12 I took them out to look and smell all the time. My dad's mom always *tried* to get us good gifts, despite being very old and poor... the best ever being a Trapper Keeper with a purple butterfly on it when I was 8... but my grandfather just gave me a $5 bill every year...

I didn't think I had gotten any terrible gifts, but this thread has sparked some memories...

When I was 10 or 11 an older cousin gave me a bracelet of head-to-tail lined up pewter zebras. Guess she thought they were horses... now her kids are into horses and I think I may have passed it on to them. Not a bad gift, just always struck me as funny.

My other grandmother (mom's mom) used to give great gifts (my very first riding lessons were a Christmas gift from her and my much older brother, and I got a $100 check from each of them every year thereafter to pay for lessons), but she'll be 89 on Christmas Day this year, and her shopping has become questionable. On a trip to New England a few years ago, she brought back underwear from an outlet mall for all the women in the family...

She went to China in January this year (the old lady travels like crazy- its amazing) and brought back a bunch of mini Terra Cotta soldiers and jeweled elaphants for everyone. I missed the "handing out of the gifts" party, but somehow, while the rest of my family got weird gifts, I ended up getting a STUNNING pearl drop necklace (and a $1 streetcorner fake Rolex she bought for fun!)... and despite all the close family that was there when she was handing out gifts, the other pearl drop necklace went to my drug-addict cousin's live-in druggy girlfriend. ????????? There were some hurt feelings for a while, but I don't think she noticed. :)

She just came back from New Mexico (really, she didn't have to bring us anything- we've all been to NM many times...) but everyone ended up with these awful adobe-looking southwest design bells that still have the gas station gift shop tags on them.

And once, when I was little she went to Australia, and brought me a very pretty (for a 6 year old) opal kangaroo necklace, My brother (who was 8) got a sweater that she bought at the airport in Houston because she forgot about him. He was 22 when I broke it to him that the sweater was not from Australia after alll... he was crushed...

Bless her heart, my dear grandmother needs to just stop bringing back gifts from her travels. We love her like crazy, and she's a very generous woman... but her decision making skills have taken a dive lately. :)

[archieflies]

Had to add one more thing, still not horsey at all...

My Dad NEVER buys my mom gifts. She gets him gifts for every ocassion, and I have only once in my life seen him buy her something. After 40 years of marriage and at least 20 of no gifts, he went out and bought her this insanely expensive professional juicer for Christmas a few years ago... so she could make him fresh orange juice every morning. She took it back and didn't talk to him for a while.

Now my husband jokes about getting me a juicer. I just tell him I'm gonna give him cash. :)

[Trixie]

My Dad NEVER buys my mom gifts. She gets him gifts for every ocassion, and I have only once in my life seen him buy her something. After 40 years of marriage and at least 20 of no gifts, he went out and bought her this insanely expensive professional juicer for Christmas a few years ago... so she could make him fresh orange juice every morning. She took it back and didn't talk to him for a while.


My mother and I have the holidays down. She tells me what she wants, my father gives me his credit card. I buy it, whatever it is, in whatever color and size she wants, and have it wrapped, then give it to dad with credit card back. That way, she gets what she wants and he doesn't buy her another stupid perfume gift set. When he was guessing, it was just disasterous for all.

[MeredithTX]

This thread is hysterical!!! :lol:

I can't remember any specific gifts, but I know every year it's a fight for my sister and I to not crack up laughing when we open the gifts from our maternal grandmother. She buys the weirdest stuff! Our other granpartens just give us cash now that we're older. :D

I did get a cherry pitter as a wedding gift recently, and that was the oddest thing I've ever received. I tried to take it back to a million stores, but I can't figure out where it's from! Who seriously needs a cherry pitter?

[mayhew]

You can also pit olives with them, you know.

[classicsporthorses]

Okay first I think llsc's was the funniest post. Reminds me of my husband's aunt and my mom. One year my mom got all of us those different sized stretchy bowl covers-they look like clear shower caps.

My DH is very good about gifts, sometimes going way overboard, but he knows to ASK first, BUY second and always keep the receipt if I need to return it.

Last night he wanted to show me what he wanted to get for me. Basically one of those tanks with bra's in them, you know the exercise kind.

I wear them all the time on the farm as the longer tanks keeps me, and "the girls, much more toasty warm BUT I need at least a built in bra being as well endowed that I am.

His worst fault in all of this is that he can't wait for Chrismas, or any gift giving ocassion for me to actually open a wrapped gift so I always get mine weeks early and/or know every gift I am getting.

[Sabovee]

Okay first I think llsc's was the funniest post. Reminds me of my husband's aunt and my mom. One year my mom got all of us those different sized stretchy bowl covers-they look like clear shower caps.


I call those "Hats for food" :)

[Mtn trails]

"My worst Christmas was when my husband and I exchanged our gifts before we went out of town. On Christmas a.m. everyone in the extended family opened the stockings I had filled, opened presents from my husband and me and exchanged presents with each other. I didn't even have a candy cane or a new chap stick in my stocking. No gifts under the tree. Guess that told me where I stood."

That is so sad. :cry:

My worst was when my ex and I were out Christmas shopping and were looking at watches and I picked out one I really liked and showed it to him. What do I get? A different watch that I hated but he thought it was the one "I should have" because it was more "business-like." The watch I really liked? He bought and gave to his mother. I returned the watch "I should have" and bought my own gift. Loser.

My current DH is gift challenged but he does try - - sometimes. The first year he gave me a hideous pair of horse earrings. They were horse heads with a dropped red stone. Blech! Couldn't lose them fast enough. Then there was the ID bracelet. Didn't those go out about 30 years ago? A couple of years ago he gave me this ultra-feminine watch, the kind that has the miniscule dial and very dainty. I took it back and the store clerk remembered him and said he told her I'd probably return it and get one I liked. The reason he gave that watch to me was so I would return it and know what price range I was looking at.

[mcm7780]

My ex got me a paper shredder for christmas once.

:dead:

I actually asked my boyfriend for a paper shredder this year! :lol: BUT, it's one thing to get one if you ask for it -- it's a pretty bad present to just randomly get!

[caffeinated]

I actually asked my boyfriend for a paper shredder this year! :lol: BUT, it's one thing to get one if you ask for it -- it's a pretty bad present to just randomly get!

The year before he got me a blender.

That blender is now over four years old, and has never been used. heh.

[Teach]

My paternal Nana totally OWNED this thread; despite getting a list from my mom & liberal consultation every year, she never could keep us separated by likes/dislikes & never really hit the nail. Biggest problem was that she would always get us stuff that she thought we SHOULD like ie: pink & frilly girly-girl clothes for Sis (a tomboy who raised & showed cows) or ultra-trendoid Britney Spears-type stuff for me (shy, serious, bookish). As if buying us this unsuitable stuff would change us into the grandchildren she wished she had. Her last Christmas was truly a masterpiece--very large, ornate gold pinkie ring with big (fake) stone for Brother, who is a farrier who won't even wear his wedding ring for fear of catching it on a nail & tearing up his finger (he always got "fancier" stuff than us girls, as he is the only boy & very important, don'tcha know :yes: ); Dolly Parton style shiny nylon western shirt complete with 2 inch fringe for Sis, who is a classical dressage freak who believes that color begins with black & ends with white, because "it's for you to wear at horse shows"; and for me, the actual western rider, a loverly cranberry colored sweatshirt appliqued with kittens (I am well-known far & wide for my general dislike of cats, barn variety excepted--my Sis is the one who actually likes them).

My entire childhood was punctuated by choruses of "Thank your Nana--it was nice of her to think (a very, very little bit) of you!" :lol:

[2DogsFarm]

Oh boy - you guys have got me beat by a mile!

My worst horse-related gifts came from my across-the-road neighbor (horseless herself) who horse-sits for me.
The first 2' tall plastic horse with "real" mane & tail was kinda cute - she even painted him brown to match my bays. He sits on a window ledge in the barn now that the barn cat is not scared by him anymore.
Then he was joined by 3 smaller plastic palominos - they had glitter in their coats and sparkly eyelashes for crissake! They "fell" and had to be disposed of.
When she brought over the near-toddler sized doll dressed in a red hunt coat I had to draw the line - telling her too much clutter was not a good idea in a place so dusty.
Just in time - she had a Western-themed bunkbed (wagon wheel headboards/footboards) she thought I could use in the barn :eek:

She also haunts resale shops for horse-related books and I now have a collection of circa 1950-something books on horsecare and riding.
My, things have - ahem - changed some since then.....

[GrayTbred]

Let me preface this by saying that I adore my (non-horsey) sis and appreciate every moment I spend with her, but ....

She gifted me with a jen-yew-wine Texas cowgirl shirt complete with fringe, buckin' bronc stencils and other frightening accoutrement.

Just the thing for a nice Jewish girl dressage girl from Detroit to wear next time she's honky-tonkin' in Austin. I ooh'ed and aah'ed over the shirt appropriately, then into the closet it went for perpetuity.

[Mozart]

My MIL, bless her heart tries to give me horsey gifts. At least she acknowledges that I have interests that are separate from the rest of her family.

Sometimes they work, sometimes..not so..
The year she happened to go to the Scottdale Arabian show, (why, I have no idea. It was supposed to be in tribute to me..somehow) she bought a very very handy hay bag that I still use in the horse trailer. Totally lucked out.

Another year, after another trip, I got a metal Amish carriage and horse garden ornament. It does look rather fetching among the perennials.

But then came the year of the disfigured leather horse hand made in India. God knows it might have been actual horse hide. YECCHH. If a real horse was that misshapen it would have been humanely detroyed. I gave it to another horsie friend who weirdly collects tacky horse things to display in her barn. To each their own.

Wonder what it will be this year? Good or bad?

[[r.oo and l.ulu]]

I love this thread. :lol:

I've always gotten pretty good gifts, but one year my dad bought me barbie stamps. It's funny now, but at the time I cried for 2 weeks because I was afraid I'd hurt his feelings if I told him I didn't like them and/or I didn't use them.

I'm older, but I still have those guilty tendencies. I'm always afraid I'll hurt the other person's feelings. :confused:

[archieflies]

I actually asked my boyfriend for a paper shredder this year! :lol: BUT, it's one thing to get one if you ask for it -- it's a pretty bad present to just randomly get!

Wierd... my husband just called me and said thats what he wanted, but he felt bad asking me for a paper shredder, so he asked his brother instead. :)

On the downside of being given explicit instructions for gift-buying, my SIL always mandates who buys what for her, my bro, and their children. I got "assigned" a particular Barbie this year for one of the kids... and I waited and waited... I saw it in several stores and ignored it. And now I have looked at Wal-Marts and Targets in three different cities, and sent out other people looking too, and even searched online. It no longer exists. And I need it by Saturday for the gift exchange. Poo. Luckily, the kid probably doesn't even know that she "wanted" it anyways.

[tullio]

My grandmother used to get me long underwear to wear while out riding my pony around Christmas. I don't know why or who told her this was a good idea, but that's what she always got. Long underwear is nice but giving a kid long underwear EVERY year? That's a whole lotta longjohns.

My worst non-horsey gift would be.... a crate of computer paper. My dad thought I "used a lot of paper" so he got me a box. I was around 14 at the time. I did not appreciate the paper. I think the box is still in my old room at my parents' home.... 3/4 full.

I honestly can't complain about my DH (the BEST gift giver, EVER) or my in-laws. We all make a big deal out of choosing great Christmas gifts and most of the family is easy to shop for. It takes forever to shop but there's nothing like seeing someone be truly delighted with their gift!

[Trixie]

Long underwear is nice but giving a kid long underwear EVERY year? That's a whole lotta longjohns.


My mother buys me auto-repair kits every year she can't figure out what to get me. I've got about four of them right now and only ever used the duct tape and wd-40 in them (and not even on my car!)

Either that or she'll buy me some item of clothing that doesn't fit, then make me try it on, insist on exchanging it, and will then just buy me something else in the SAME size. I've got an adorable pink cashmere creation that is two sizes two big because she exchanged a very cute red sweater that was also two sizes too big.

[Sakura]

;2055883']I love this thread. :lol:

I've always gotten pretty good gifts, but one year my dad bought me barbie stamps. It's funny now, but at the time I cried for 2 weeks because I was afraid I'd hurt his feelings if I told him I didn't like them and/or I didn't use them.

I'm older, but I still have those guilty tendencies. I'm always afraid I'll hurt the other person's feelings. :confused:

That reminds me of an Aunt I had who always bought me paper dolls. I was a horse crazy kid from the get-go, and never shy about the fact. My brother liked trucks and he would get Tonka trucks, Hot Wheels, toy tanks and the such... Why on earth she thought that I would want to sit and dress a flat Barbie in a flat wedding dress is still beyond my realm of understanding :confused:

[forestandcody]

Not a horsey gift, but years ago my mother got the bright idea that sizes(underwear, shirts, etc) were the same as ages. I was 16 and she gave me size 16 underpants and a blouse....I wore a size 3/4. I opened the package and held up full size pink underpants in front of company. ICK. The blouse was nice and I exchanged it for the correct size.

I'm happy with winter gloves and hand/foot warmers for the barn.

[Sonesta]

Well, I won't tell you the worst horsey gift I've ever received (cause it came one year from one of my COTH Secret Santas.....

But I'll tell you the most misunderstood gift. One year my wonderful husband bought me the big expensive blue horse vacuum. You guys know the one - it was in all the catalogs. The one with all the attachments for grooming your horse. I LOFFED IT! Best Christmas present EVER!

But my poor husband took a lot of flack when his friends and co-workers asked him what he had gotten me for Christmas and he had to say "A vacuum cleaner. No! Wait, you don't understand......" as they walked away in disgust with him. :D

[TheCoppertop]

Not really horsey gifts but a couple years ago my in-laws (with whom my relationship has been rocky) asked my husband what *we* wanted for Christmas. He said we could use some nice dark green towels for our remodeled bathroom.

We went down to visit shortly after Christmas and they lavished gifts upon our son, clothes.. toys, games, a whole nother christmas for him.

My husband started opening his gifts under their tree.. sweaters in his favorite color orange, a new drill, jeans, a hat.. he must have had 10 thoughtful gifts under their tree.

They handed me a big box full of towels.

With hubby I always buy it myself and tell him thanks. One year diamond earrings, this year a leather draft horse bridle and some chaps.

[Holly'er Than Thou]

OMG! DH's family is....well, let's say "interesting". Since I can't stand them, he goes up there every year to get his "presents" and mingle with the weirdness.

We have such fun when he comes back home with the loot. Last year one of them thought that we couldn't live without this strange, highly lacquered, dark brown, oddly-shaped wooden thing with a large, fierce American eagle decoupaged on top. We howled with laughter.

Another time, MIL bought me an apron, my friends, AN APRON! It was made of a tomatoey red and white ultra-synthetic material and was wrinkled & stained. The same year, she also gave me a huge set of cooking receptacles for microwaving in....I think she thought that DH was starving under my care and that I needed a "hint" about what a wife is supposed to do.

There are so many others, including the used horsey books suitable for a horse-crazy 8 year old, the large candle with the requisite nostrils-flaring, eyes-bugging-out freakish horse stamped onto it complete with some leather thing with feathers wound around it. My, oh, my!

[nightsong]

Another time, MIL bought me an apron, my friends, AN APRON! It was made of a tomatoey red and white ultra-synthetic material and was wrinkled & stained.


Are you sure she BOUGHT it? :uhoh:

[Quin]

My mother and I have the holidays down. She tells me what she wants, my father gives me his credit card. I buy it, whatever it is, in whatever color and size she wants, and have it wrapped, then give it to dad with credit card back. That way, she gets what she wants and he doesn't buy her another stupid perfume gift set. When he was guessing, it was just disasterous for all.


I hear you. My mother says she was eternally grateful once I was old enough to do my father's Christmas shopping for him.

[Fessy's Mom]

Well, I won't tell you the worst horsey gift I've ever received (cause it came one year from one of my COTH Secret Santas.....



Aw come on! You can't tease us like that! :lol:

[equusrocks]

Travel Bingo...I kid you not. From the wealthy old aunt. I don't know *why* an 18 year old needed Travel Bingo, but...????

The worst horsey present was self inflicted. I picked it out. :eek: I won't elaborate, but I'll give you a hint...I gave it to a NH'er. Wasn't truly really bad, just difficult to use, a PITA and didn't work like I thought it did.

[abrant]

I grew up on a small acreage. The barn was a cattle barn that had been converted to large stalls and a livery stable had been run out of it in the 60's. My parents had a couple appaloosas when they moved in but sold them when child #2 was on the way (that would be me).

So I'm a horse crazy 7 year old and we live on a farm with stalls!

Well, one year a couple days before Christmas... my parents start making a big deal about me staying out of the barn and I spend a couple days in near-hysterics because I'm SURE there is a horse in that barn!

Christmas morning... they lead me outside to the front yard.... I am SO ready I even have my reaction worked out and the rest of the day planned for me and the new horse.


A SWINGSET. I got a swingset for Christmas.

Now, I was a normal 7 year old and would have dearly loved a swingset for Christmas.... but it was sooooo not a horse.

~Adrienne

[StephDoesJumpers]

Worst Present?

One year, my parents made me save this big box to open last. I was probably about 15 or so. They made a huge deal over this one present, how I would love it, had to open all the other presents before it, etc.

What was it? a 3' tall paper mache statue of a horse that was painted to look like leather, with a plastic saddle and bridle. What use would a 15 year old have for this????? They had made such a huge deal over it that I felt bad for not liking it. But it didn't end there.

Years later, I found out that they hadn't even BOUGHT the thing. Someone had it as a decoration in an office, didn't want it, so my dad took it and then they re-gifted it to me!!!

[SuperSTB]

I grew up on a small acreage. The barn was a cattle barn that had been converted to large stalls and a livery stable had been run out of it in the 60's. My parents had a couple appaloosas when they moved in but sold them when child #2 was on the way (that would be me).

So I'm a horse crazy 7 year old and we live on a farm with stalls!

Well, one year a couple days before Christmas... my parents start making a big deal about me staying out of the barn and I spend a couple days in near-hysterics because I'm SURE there is a horse in that barn!

Christmas morning... they lead me outside to the front yard.... I am SO ready I even have my reaction worked out and the rest of the day planned for me and the new horse.


A SWINGSET. I got a swingset for Christmas.

Now, I was a normal 7 year old and would have dearly loved a swingset for Christmas.... but it was sooooo not a horse.

~Adrienne

Oh as a 7yo I would have been crushed!

I got my first 'offical' horse at 10 yo. It certainly was far from a healthy horse but I loved him dearly (he didn't make it through the rest of the year :( )

[mairzeadoats]

Horse-giftwise, was when I was in my late 20s. My mother gave me a little girl's ratcatcher shirt. It would have been very cute, and maybe would have fit, back when I was 8 years old, lol.

Worst gift in my life, period, was again my mother when I had just turned 18. My parents had killed my dreamhorse just a couple months earlier. I was in college in Saratoga NY, with winter temps of 20 below (50 below factoring in wind chill) and all I had for a coat was a too-small, thin courderouy jacket I'd had since I was 14. My mother got me a beautiful coat -- the most beautiful coat I'd ever seen before or since. On Christmas morning I tried it on and when I joyfully thanked her, she looked angry and ordered me to take it off and give it back to her. She decided to keep it for herself. She and my father fought nonstop until the middle of the night and then didn't speak for days. She kept my coat and I returned to school in my thin little corderouy jacket.

[Sonesta]

Originally Posted by Sonesta View Post
Well, I won't tell you the worst horsey gift I've ever received (cause it came one year from one of my COTH Secret Santas.....


Aw come on! You can't tease us like that! :lol:

Well, since it was a Secret Santa from COTH, I wouldn't want to hurt his/her feelings by revealing it. But let's just say I was speechless (and for me, that is REALLY saying something).

[LessonLearned]

Last year, my dear aunt ("She of the knick-knacks") broke with her fine tradition of giving me little statues that I have to hide around the house and display when she comes to visit. When I saw the box I thought, hmmmm.. .perhaps she has gotten some sense about this.

But no, she replaced it with another innane gift:

In the box was a bevvy of stuff from the "Chicken Soup for the Cat Lover's Soul." There was even a t-shirt.

The problem?

I have two dogs and a horse. I am violently allergic to cats (although I like them and wish them no ill-will). :D

[Joanne]

I remember a long time ago when my then husband gave me a gorgeous box for Christmas. Opening it I was so excited as it appeared to be a really nice blanket for my horse. Upon taking it out, it was really a long down coat for me. What a bummer!

The worst was no present at all at a family Christmas party when I was 14 years old. My mother had recently married my step-father and they were passing out gifts to everyone (about 25 people) and they started to open them. Then someone saw me in the back with no gift at all and rustled one up for me. I wanted to just crawl away. To this day, I still feel the hurt.

[Not So Practical Horse(WO)man]

last year my aunt and uncle gave me Britany Spears perfume and purple beaded curtains. Luckily, I was able to return the curtains, but the perfume is still unopened and sitting somewhere in my closet.

ahh...i hate to admit it but i love britney spears perfume send it my way if you find it lol :D

[SDgumby]

A friend gave me a white ceramic horse head. You know, the type you paint. First, the horse head was scary looking...stallion with huge, blowing nostrils and crazed, wide eyes! Yuck! Second, The only thing worse would have been if I tried to paint it with my total lack of artistic talent. I finally threw it away, I just couldn't stand to look at it.
Christmas is not always as great as its suppose to be! Hugs to those with bad Christmas memories.

[Aristeia]

One of the previous barns I rode at had a secret santa every year in which we were supposed to spend around $20. Well, I was 13 or so at the time and had taken the time to pick out a gift for the person I had, even spending over the $20 and what did I get? A scrunchie ... with a horse head on it.

I still have the scrunchie, but have never worn it.

[Heinz 57]

Aristeia, we have a little of that going around at our barn christmas party every year... except its not a 'barn' party now, we're all spread around to different farms but the old gang still gets together. We have a gift exchange, sort of white elephant but actual nice gifts, not gags. Everyone takes a number, you go in order and pick a gift, the gifts can be stolen up to three times, etc. Generally there is a $15 limit, and everyone at the party is either horsey, or there WITH someone horsey. Every year I go to the local tack shop to buy my gift, and spend what I think is equal to about $15 (the tack store is a little over priced).

One year the present I brought had this neat gel scrubby bath curry, a bottle of the rosewater Cowboy Magic shampoo, a VERY soft face curry, and a few other things (a little bag of treats, probably). Everyone owning a horse oohed and ahhh'd over how soft the curries were (I bought one for myself, too!). The gift I ended up with was a rubber bouncy ball with a plastic horse inside (and sparkles), a little keychain flashlight, and a deck of cards with horses on them. I was.. disappointed.

I have a couple horsie-print extra large tees, some little horse figures (one is carved out of that tiger's eye rock), and your usual non-horsie people gifts. I don't mind them (the tigers eye carved horse is pretty neat), at least the people are trying. I've gotten more of those makeup kits and perfume samplers than I really want to think about. And then there was the year I got TWO hat/glove/scarf sets from family members on the same side.

One year, I really wanted (sort of needed..) a saddle. My mom and I had even talked about it, I'd showed her a couple used ones that were ok and how much they cost. I was probably around twelve, maybe thirteen. I go to open my presents, and there is this big box, that they say has something they KNOW I will like in it. It is definitely a saddle-sized box. So, I get to the box. What is inside? a TV.

As far as SO's and presents go.. my last SO gave me a ring on our second christmas together, but otherwise - wasn't really good with picking something out for me. For our two year anniversary, he bought me a gold bracelet that, ironically, said I Love You on it. He broke up with me less than a month later. :) And then the bracelet disappeared. The one before him liked to give me clothes, and unfortunately the style of clothes he BOUGHT and the style of clothes I like to WEAR were a little different.

Current sort-of SO? I'm getting him a Thai massage for christmas. We were watching TV last Sunday, saw one of those jewelry store commercials, and he said something about that buying jewelry is always easy/a good idea - which I am super excited about. It might not be the right choice for SOME women, but I personally love and appreciate ANY jewelry. We aren't serious enough to warrant any jewelry this christmas, but I have a birthday in a few months, and there is always next christmas...

[Shahrazade]

My half-sister's mother (so no relation to me) is totally sweet, and she was trying, but... the porcelain horse with wings and totally deformed looking legs with an angel sitting on its back wearing a sunhat was a little odd. Like... it's back legs bent the wrong way. It had knees for hocks. Still have the darn thing in the back of my closet- looking at it disturbs me.

My grandmother finally gave up on giving me pink frilly dresses on special occasions when a friend of her eldest daughter's had a daughter that became a step-grandchild of sorts and took over the princess role she'd been trying to force me into, but those decades where she kept trying were just agonizing... I had to wear all the frillies at least once to stop her from saying, "An old woman takes the time to wrap a gift and send it to her grand daughter, and she doesn't even get a picture of her wearing it? What's the world coming to when a grandmother can't see her granddaughter in her Christmas dress..."

[Slewdledo]

One year my mother gave everyone those $5 battery-powered toothbrushes. She's also GREAT at gifting people with stuff that SHE would like. And she NEVER likes anything anyone gets her. (She's not a good actress, either). Every year, my dad gets her something really nice - jewelry, usually - and EVERY year she coos over it then takes it back to the store and exchanges it the next day.

I remember getting a Breyer horse for Christmas for the name draw in my family. I was incredibly disappointed - I wanted something I could PLAY with.

Then there was the year when everyone in the family was in on a racehorse - my dad, his brothers and sisters, my grandparents. One of my uncles was the managing partner and he made a huge deal of talking about "the horse present" that everyone was getting on Christmas. Everyone was SO excited, especially my grandpa, who did most of the care for the mare (Suzy) we had that lived at that uncle's house.

He came in with a huge box and put it under the tree. My grandpa got the honors of opening it. Inside was a nice pile of horse shit with a note that said, "Love, Suzy."

Everyone's jaw dropped.

Then my uncle went out to his car and brought in stable t-shirts and jackets. Whew.

A few years ago, one of my girl cousins and I teamed up, bought a bunch of $4 Barbies, and gave them to all our teenage guy cousins. THAT was fun. :winkgrin:

[Winglet]

I received a halfway rewound copy of the VHS tape that came with Windows 95. On Christmas eve 1996. Years later, I got a copy of The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course! from the same relatives. It still sits unopened in its cellophane wrapper, though I bet it's easily worth $.25 more now that Steve Irwin has passed on....

[IfWishesWereHorses]

That same year my mother got a bottle of Summer's Eve Douche and Miss Clairol Haircolor and a note that said "Now I've taken care of both ends, enjoy."

The presents from my grandmother were the most anticipated gifts every Christmas. I miss them terribly. Opening the box was always a shock at first and then utterly hysterical.

I love the sound of your grandmother!!!! SOunds just like the kind of thing my own late grandma would have done!!!!

[IfWishesWereHorses]

Worst gift in my life, period, was again my mother when I had just turned 18. My parents had killed my dreamhorse just a couple months earlier. I was in college in Saratoga NY, with winter temps of 20 below (50 below factoring in wind chill) and all I had for a coat was a too-small, thin courderouy jacket I'd had since I was 14. My mother got me a beautiful coat -- the most beautiful coat I'd ever seen before or since. On Christmas morning I tried it on and when I joyfully thanked her, she looked angry and ordered me to take it off and give it back to her. She decided to keep it for herself. She and my father fought nonstop until the middle of the night and then didn't speak for days. She kept my coat and I returned to school in my thin little corderouy jacket.

Oh my gosh..thats a really heartwrenching story....

[mcm7780]

Horse-giftwise, was when I was in my late 20s. My mother gave me a little girl's ratcatcher shirt. It would have been very cute, and maybe would have fit, back when I was 8 years old, lol.

Worst gift in my life, period, was again my mother when I had just turned 18. My parents had killed my dreamhorse just a couple months earlier. I was in college in Saratoga NY, with winter temps of 20 below (50 below factoring in wind chill) and all I had for a coat was a too-small, thin courderouy jacket I'd had since I was 14. My mother got me a beautiful coat -- the most beautiful coat I'd ever seen before or since. On Christmas morning I tried it on and when I joyfully thanked her, she looked angry and ordered me to take it off and give it back to her. She decided to keep it for herself. She and my father fought nonstop until the middle of the night and then didn't speak for days. She kept my coat and I returned to school in my thin little corderouy jacket.

That has got to be one of the saddest things I have ever heard. I hope you have a nice warm jacket now!!

[Karla]

" Every year I get a subscription to Guideposts."

I can't believe anyone else has been subjected to this! I was going to post and say "Nobody as ever gotten a p.o.s. present like this one!"

Someone - must have been an aunt or somebody, since my parents are far from Xian - gave my sister and I a subscription to "Guide posts" EVERY Christmas for our entire childhood. Whenever it came in the mail, I would say to my sister "Your magazine came" and she would say "I don't see it. The only thing here is your Guideposts"

To anyone who hasn't seen one of these things, it is about the quality and content of those Jehovah's Witness booklets that you find in laundromats.

As far as bad horse presents, I'm looking at it now. A friend/coworker and my realter gave me a blue ceramic horsehead with a chipped ear. It's eyes are blue and painted to look like human eyes, complete with eybrows and eyelashes. Its mouth is open, inside it is green, with a black tongue. It has a white mane and is flat on that side so I think it is one side of a book end. On the bottom is written two initials and the date 1960. The ear is chipped off. I am sure that this thing, now almost 50 years old, was made by some juvenile delinquent on "crafts day" down at the foster home. I have no idea what to do with it. It is just SO "Godfather"

Karla

[citydog]

I am sure that this thing, now almost 50 years old, was made by some juvenile delinquent on "crafts day" down at the foster home. I have no idea what to do with it. It is just SO "Godfather"


Maybe it's one of those "Antiques Roadshow" things that you'll find out is worth a pile someday? *she asks hopefully ;) *

[west5]

This is a fabulous thread!

My husband is learning but has given me some really bad gifts along the way:

One time I asked for a specific piece of clothing complete with style number and he gave me something to "spice up" our intimate life ... let's just say it had the opposite effect

much discussion

Another year I received a rice cooker. Now he would still be hearing about it except I really like it. You can put the rice in, leave for the barn, come back hours later and half of dinner is made and ready for whenever you need it.

much discussion

Finally a horse gift. A beautiful and I mean fancy fancy wool blanket for my horse. Unfortunately MY HORSE IS ALLERGIC TO WOOL .... I kid you not ... I give up

[lesyl]

That same year my mother got a bottle of Summer's Eve Douche and Miss Clairol Haircolor and a note that said "Now I've taken care of both ends, enjoy."

The presents from my grandmother were the most anticipated gifts every Christmas. I miss them terribly. Opening the box was always a shock at first and then utterly hysterical.
I don't suppose that asking what product was applied to which end would have been helpful.

[Shahrazade]

Oh, my father is terrible, as long as we're discussing parents' gifts to each other- one year he (a musician who is much better in his mind than on stage) gave my mother an electric violin. Said mother had recently declared that she never wanted to play an instrument again due to there being arguments each time she tried and (despite being far more talented than Dad) wasn't good enough for his 'discriminating tastes.'

The electric violin was well loved and often played... by my father. My mother suffered in silence, as usual.

The last few years have been a bit of a fiasco, too. About three years ago, he got her a book on how to grill vegetarian meals. Only problems? Nobody in our family is a vegetarian, and they didn't have a grill.

Next Christmas, he got her a small grill. But no gas canister to power it.

He finally got her the gas canister, and she enjoys grilling in the summer, but the book on grilling vegetables ended in a fight and tears from Mum.

On Mother's Day last year, he didn't get her a gift and spent the morning shouting at her for not doing what she was told... I ended up making her dinner and taking her bicycling with her dog and out for ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery, and reciting to my father the line that is now often quoted by friends who heard the story- "Mister, you are in such trouble for yelling at my Mom like that on Mother's Day. The Mother's Day Police should arrest you, throw away the key, and stick you in a cell with a big man named Bubba who wants to dance with you."

[WildBlue]

That's hysterical. My grandma used to give me Guideposts, too. Brother and sister got cash and food. I got...Guideposts.

As a teenager, I had a stepmom who was big into making clothes for presents. Everything she made for her kids came out great. Mine were ALL short and fat--so short the shirts didn't reach my waist, and so fat I couldn't have tucked them in even if they'd been long enough.

My real mom was even worse. She'd come up with some fabulous present they were going to get us, just HAVE to let the secret slip and get us all excited, and then it'd never happen. I'm still disappointed that the zip line never got installed. That might have been the year I got a towel for Christmas, instead. A brown towel. That was too 'nice' for everyday use, and got packed away until I left home.

[Dirty Little Secret]

I'm starting a list of bad christmas presents:
- baby blue t-shirt with goofy horse picture reading "shhh... i'm centering myself"
- yellow fanny pack
- baseball cap reading "the trainer has spoken" (i don't wear hats)
- a collection of Painted Ponies (i have a small apartment with very little counter space)

[tullyleague]

I can think of two.

The first was a set of horse underwear. Now, at first blush, that doesn't sound too bad, but it was horse-patterned material rather than plain material with one or two horses on it. So the bloomers had horses galloping out of one's nether regions, into one's behind....they made me feel dirty. :eek:

The second was from a well-meaning auntie who had just returned from a year in Japan. She brought me a photo album that was made of this awful, smelly, cheap plastic material. Now, if you've ever been to www.engrish.com, you'll know that sometimes, things get lost in translation. The cover of the photo album had the phrase I LOVE HORSE! in every type of script imaginable, printed over and over the entire front and back. :confused:

[Gray Horse H/J]

My worst horsey gift was probably the crop I received. It was looooooooong, the kind with a strap for your hand on the handle (that no one ACTUALLY puts their hand through), and was neon orange. It was horrendous. I donated it to the lesson program, and I don't even think they wanted it.

I used to get "I <3 Horses" type shirts alllllll the time. However, as a kid I was also a huge dork and wore them proudly.

But maybe, the worst gift EVER (though not horsey), was when I was about 4 years old. I only have a vague memory of this incident, but I've heard the story about 89645739 times. :rolleyes: My cousin, who is 16 years older than me, gave me a purse that looked like a tennis shoe. I, apparantley, studied the shoe-purse for a minute before deciding I loathed it. I actually chucked the thing across the living room. So my grandma hands it back to me, so I can give it a second look, and I screamed, "NO I HATE IT! IT'S UGLY!" and proceeded to chuck it again. Honestly, my mom or dad should have slapped me silly for that. But I guess they found it funny - except for my cousin, who really thought I would like it.

[Aggie4Bar]

My grandmother could, unfortunately, win a medal for her poor choice in gifts. If the boys got legos (I *loffed* legos!), I got a barbie (:dead:). If they got music gift cards (I'm a total musicaholic!), I got a book about cats (:no:). Apparently, being "the girl" entitled me to the crappy gifts. But the winner.... OMGiH...

One Christmas when I was a teenager, she had a vest made for me. The fabric was a dark green corduroy with little red polkadots all over it. Because she didn't have red thread to match the hideous dots, she used the brightest neon pink I've ever seen. The effect was what appeared to be a pink-polkadotted green vest. You had to look really closely to discern that the dots were red and not pink... not that it made much difference. Words cannot do justice to the horror of this creation. She thought it was something "very traditional" like "those other English riding girls" wore that I could wear when I competed. Needless to say, I thanked her but never wore it.

That was the last Christmas everyone got a gift. My parents had the BRILLIANT (:yes:) idea of suggesting a white elephant exchange for the adults and only buying individual gifts for the great-grandchildren. I am the youngest grandchild, and my Christmas experience was more/less white elephant anyway (thanks, Nana), so I loved the change. :D

[PalominoMorgan]

Worst gift ever for me was from my father... he got me a set of prints that old ladies hang in their bathrooms. You know, with the cheesy gold plated "frame" and the obligatory peach sea shells or something like that. Best part was that he left the price tag from the flea market on it... 25 cents.

My brother got a $300 scope for his rifle that same day.

[vxf111]

I am so glad this thread got bumped again this year!!! :)

[Vivace!]

Now, I love my mom to death... and generally she's GREAT with presents... but the worst Christmas present I've ever gotten came from her.

We lived on an acerage (they still do) with a couple of extremely old barns, one of which is still functional and used daily. The other is falling apart, and was even then (you couldn't, for instance, put anything in it that needed to be kept dry)...

Come Christmas morning, there were gifts laid out for my half-brother and step-siblings... and a note for me from Santa, saying that my gift was in the barn (the leaky one) and a P.S. that said, "And no- it's not a horse!" :lol: I had no clue what it could be. Anyway, my mom wanted to go down with me to "get" it and so I had to wait for her to wake up, make and eat breakfast, ect... suspense and excitement building the whole time.

We finally get down there, and... it's a desk. A HUGE "L" desk that would never have fit in my bedroom, even if I'd chucked the bed. Now... I guess she was thinking that a desk would be good, because I'm a writer (from birth pretty much, heh). But... it was a huge, ugly desk... and not only that, she had covered it with a tarp (half-assembled) a month prior and just left it. It had been a wet month, so the thing was soggy and warped in places and just a complete mess. I like to think I was fairly good about it (I was, what, 12?) and thanked her profusely, but for a child... it was a sad Christmas day... what with the other kids playing with their new video games and toys and me kind of sitting around with nothing to do. :no: Mom ended up keeping it and buying me another desk. Which I still didn't really want. Oh well.

My dad once got me a very nice trenchcoat for riding in during the winter... a month later (think heavy use) he found it in the floorboard of my car, waiting to be hosed off (would YOU want a muddy trenchcoat on your seats!?) and "took it back". I really wanted the darn thing, too.

[Showjumper28]

Let's see... I have gotten so many bad gifts from my Dad's side of the family, I can't choose. Worst all time gift? A set of $3 Walmart hangers, and the free gift you get when you buy a perfume gift set when they are running a special. These same people refuse to buy me anything horse related because my one aunt fell off a horse when she was 10 and broke both her arms. Therefore they are dangerous mean animals, and I should never have been allowed near them. I am lucky I get anything at all from them, most times they forget! The odd part... They buy my mom horsie stuff for xmas, even though she only rides because I do and she wanted us to do something together. I hate going to see them every xmas, I am not good at faking excitement. One year my aunt (same that got me hangers) got me this hideous denim jacket that was 3x too big and very western. I found out it was from Sears and when I returned it they were all laughing and passing it around and I asked what was up. They said the jacket was the joke of the store and that it had been on clearance for $3 for years. It was my only gift. I wish we could just stop exchanging gifts, it would make things so much easier. I would understand the crampy gifts if they didn't spend a $100 each on myother 2 cousins. But whatever, I get great gifts from my parents and my mom's family!

Worst horsey gift... My dad does try, but he got me and my mom (she rides too) a Russell Crowe movie called the Silver Stallion. The horse was a Palomino, really bad acting and they run the horse off a cliff and kill it in the end. Lol Lord that was one of the worst movies ever! We still joke about it to this day... LOL!

[RNB]

Oh goodie...this is a timely thread! My worst horsey present was from last year. Now if you remember I do not ride...my daughter is the equestrian in the family. My mother had passed away and my dad, never know for his taste in gifts to her, was trying to do all the X-mas shopping for the first time on his own.

X-mas morning my dad shows up with an arm-load of presents and a big smile on his face. We start opening. Hubby got a beautiful suede jacket and my son a leather one. Both fit perfectly and they were stylish, etc. Daughter and I ASSUME we would be getting jackets as well. Daughter opens hers first. I can immediately tell by the frozen smile on her face that is wasn't good (mom's can always tell these things). She, being the polite one, oooo's and ahhh's over the item in the box then pulls it out. I too had that frozen smile. It was a denim shirt size XL (she wears an XS or S) covered with appliqués of a western theme...wagon wheels, cowboy hats, hitchin posts, horses riding off into the sunset, sequins....you get the idea. These lovely things were on the collar, front, back cuffs...everywhere. Reminded me of the old Porter Wagoner outfits from the 60s! I felt sooooo bad for my daughter.

My turn. I'm hoping that my dad will at least get me the right size jacket. So I open my present. I must have had the same smile as my daughter. Lucky me!!! I pulled out the same identical shirt as my daughter's!!! :eek: Ummmmm, I don't ride, never have, not looking to! Don't own horsey clothes!!!

God bless my dad....he sat there with the biggest smile on his face and said he thought we could match when we went to the barn together!! :lol:
Daughter and I still giggle over the shirts....no, we have never worn them to the barn together.....we're saving them should we ever decided to start a country/western band.

[quarterhorseprincess]

WOW! I was laughing so hard reading some of these that I started crying! I don't think I have anything quite THAT bad!

My grammas are notorious for buying clothes at Christmas. I HATE getting clothes for Christmas because they are usually not my style or my size, and of course they take it offensively if I wish to return said items.

Worst Horse Gift: Hmmmm. Is there such a thing? LOL...I've gotten some really stupid Tshirts w/ horsey logos or pics on them but I usually find them funny so I don't mind too much.

Guess I haven't ive long enough lol.

[JoeIsMyHorse]

Last Christmas, I unwrapped from my husband two CDs (my sole gifts) on vacationing in Ireland. The conversation went like this:

Him: "We're going to Ireland! Merry Christmas!"

Me: "Wow! Awesome!"

Me, the next day: "Um, dear... not to be a spoiler, but how we are paying for this?" (I was hoping he had been saving.)

Him: "Oh... uh... well... we have some frequent flier miles..."

End result: I ended up with two CDs that basically said, hahahaha -- wouldn't this be great?!? Yeah... if you could afford it! Which you can't! Too bad!!

This year, I'm thinking of wrapping him up a nice toy Ferrari...

[inquisitive]

My great uncle got me a black beauty book and book on tape...

...when I was 21!

[babygreenqueen]

when i was a petite scrawney 12 year old, just started riding lessons, my Dad ( Mr Thrifty ) gave me a new saddle for Christmas. it was an 18" argentine foward seat jumping saddle he hoped i would 'grow into'. they sold for $125 back in the day at Kauffman's in NYC.

[sk_pacer]

My absolute worst was from bro and SIL who, while well educated, have their moments of pure stupidity - they sent me a gift certificate.....not bad, you say? Well the face value was 25.00 when that was a decent amount of dough, BUT the store it was for was over 500 miles away. Said certificate was sent back and nothing came this way in return after, nor ever since.

Never got any horse items, save for a raft of horse ornaments ranging from fancy china ones (Beswick) to Breyers and I still have most of them...some sadly met the end that much glassware suffers.

[camohn]

I had one very eccentric aunt. She did not have a lot of money (which is understandable) but regradless of her finances she was STILL really eccentric. I really don't think she would have shopped any differently if she did have more to spend! So...at any rate she always did her Christmas shopping at flea markets and yard sales. WHAT that meant varied greatly from year to year from the really neat to the wildly insane. My brother and I would always leave her gift to be opened last, look at each other, take a deep breath and wonder WHAT the heck was in there this year. One of the better years I got an antique rocking chair. Of course being about 5 at the time my enthusiasm was a bit less than maybe a toy would have brought....but I still have it and like it now! Other years brought knee high toe socks in enough colored (striped) to make a clown take pause and the year I got the box lid. It looked like it came from a pretty pewter box, I think it had butterflies and or flowers on it....but no box to go with it. JUST as box lid!
I was reading this with my 10 year old daughter this morning and we were laughing....so she asked me what the worst gifts I got were. I told her about the boxless lid and the toe socks. SHe agreed the lid was weird but she laughed about the toe socks. (I was a shy conservative bookworm of a kid. Wild toe socks were so not my thing. Mydaughter OTOH is the artsy sort...her taste in clothes runs to "the more neon colors, tie dye or sparkly stuff on it the better" ) She said she would love to get the toe socks!
I wonder if I can still find them.......

The only mother's day my hubby ever got me anything was the first year my daughter was born. He got me a topaz ring. Topaz is the birthstone for my daughter. I was disappointed the next year when I got nothing, have gotten nothing on Mother's day since. I never did ask him about it. I get really nice gifts on my Bday and Christmas from him....so I just kind of assumed after a while that as I am not HIS mother he is not buying me a mother's day gift.

[camohn]

OMG I FOUND them! They DO still make them!!
http://www.toesocks.co.uk/Knee-high_Stripy_Rainbow-p-241.html?cat_sel=160_67

For something more local I looked on Ebay. Not only do they have those lovelies (I put a bid in on them for the kid! Not anything I would EVER have bought her unless she said this am she would LIKE them gawd help us.....) but I also found an even BETTER pair to bid on. Pink argyle toe socks with pink foofie stuff (think feather boa...) around the top cuff and a pink pig knit onto each big toe!

[LD1129]

I love this thread I read it all over again for fun and out of boredom at work.

I don't have many bad gifts but a year or two ago I got a gift from my aunt (my mom told her it would be a good idea) to get me a flashlight that sits on your head like a miner. :confused:They thought it would be good for when I walk out in the large fields to catch my horse. Well my large boarding farm does have lights and no matter what time of night I can easily find my horse and not to mention he is stalled at night in the winter.

It has stayed in my car trunk for years never used! I guess I am prepared in case I am ever in a cave in.:winkgrin:

[Trakehner]

Ex-Brother-in-Law, who always looked at horses as a "girly" thing, gave me a set of women's britches and sweater for Christmas...problem, I'm a guy, he knew they were for women and was just his little way of making a comment.

Really special guy...don't miss any part of that clan.

[Tory Relic]

Love the watch. What to do?

I'd keep it and wear it when I went out or for special occasions. Heck, it was a guilt present! Wear it with glee.

To the original theme: I've been pretty lucky, I guess. When we were teenagers, my family started doing a drawing of names among the kids (large family), so we did that for years. Then we grew up, kids came along, and the ones with kids thought it would be a great idea for the kids to take up the tradition. With that, the gifts to me and my sibs fell to the wayside, which is okay, we still do B-days. So I haven't gotten a gift for Christmas from my sibs in years (or given one). My mother knows I love Belk's gift cards because they never expire and you can save them until what you want is on sale. My husband family still gives gifts to parents, all sibs, all nieces and nephews, and selected aunts, uncles and cousins that participate in exchanges. They are all out of state from us, and we basically know what they like and send gift cards to restaurants, Starbucks, department stores, etc. We would rather send a Christmas Card with the gift card than to buy something they might not really want, spend $$$ on postage, when we could just put the whole amount on that. They do a mixture of that, sometimes we get gift cards, sometimes bought gifts. His mother ALWAYS buys me clothing, but she has such good taste and knows mine well enough that I generally get things I like and it keeps my wardrobe updated. One of his sisters buys me "girly" things, which I rarely buy for myself, so that's always a nice thing. So, I guess I'm very fortunate. I'm really glad his family doesn't buy "horsey" things for me!

[Dressage Art]

open jar of cream

[LD1129]

Ex-Brother-in-Law, who always looked at horses as a "girly" thing, gave me a set of women's britches and sweater for Christmas...problem, I'm a guy, he knew they were for women and was just his little way of making a comment.

Really special guy...don't miss any part of that clan.

What an a$$!!! Not to change subject but I am a woman rider and I hate when non-horsey (and some horsey) people make off the wall comments about male riders. I wish I could ride like some of the male riders I have seen.

ok sorry rant over......

[PinkPonies]

My grandparents got me a shirt that has a horse on it that changes color when you go in the sunglight - I was 19, and it was about as "uncool" as you can get, but I had to wear it! That year they also got me a big, guady replica of the titanic necklace - so UGLY, especially for someone with somewhat conservative taste!!

But they also bought me my 1st horse which was hands down the BEST GIFT EVER, so I feel guilty complaining about anything they get me!!

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

Well, you all know that I was supposed to get Pancho from my aunt one year for my birthday, and instead (at 8 years of age) received a watch (like, who needs to be on time for things at that age?) with a huge wide patent leather band - white with black polka dots. Never did get Pancho.

To this day I am chronologically challenged, and wear only $5 Walmart cheapo watches (except one year when I found a Felix the Cat watch).

But at the holidays? The knitting machine my parents bought me at age 9. Somehow the single sentence "I WANT A HORSE" must have spelled out "Knitting machine." Considering that I am spatially challenged, showed no interest whatsoever in the domestic arts, and was utterly horse crazy, that was a very easy mistake to make.

Although...there was the year that my evil SIL gave me cat gifts. And I said, "But...you know I had to put Jeep to sleep in September." (And I did not have another cat.) And her reply? "Well, I'd already bought this stuff." Wasn't that sweet and thoughtful? Bless her heart.

[anabug]

I'm 27 years old. Last Christmas, when I was 26, my Crazy Uncle (tm) gave me a plastic toy horse that walks when you push on its tail.

[HorsRdr477]

Last year I received a big huge stuffed horsie.:eek: It was cute, but I was 26 years old! WTF?:confused: What is a 26 year old going to do with a giant stuffed horse? Silly people!

[texang73]

Not a gift for me, but for my now ex-husband... my mom gave him an electric fish filet knife... He's a fly fisherman, who catches and RELEASES... no eating of fish... Pretty clueless that year, mom. :rolleyes:

But for me... the worst thing is that no one give me anything horsey, assuming that I'll buy it for myself anyway... :sigh:

[tabula rashah]

A lamp- not so bad you say? Well picture a lamp that when set on the floor was as tall as my waist (I'm 5'5" FYI ;) ) The base is a horribly gaudy western saddle made out of some kind of cheap ceramic stuff. The shade is decorated with wagon wheels, bucking horses, cowboys, etc. My aunt bought it used from a yard sale and the horn on the saddle was kinda half hanging on. I think this was about 15 years ago or so (I can't remember- I was so traumatized by this hideous thing I think I've repressed the memories:D ) Now, when I went to move out of my parents house, I was going to throw the awful thing away- but my highly unsympathetic mother (who thinks it's hysterical) makes me leave it in her basement because "someday I might want it"- yeah right- maybe to start a bonfire with:winkgrin:

[BlueEyedSorrel]

My mother has a cousin that is, to put it mildly, an interesting sort that always found the most outlandish gifts, always accompanied by a long rambling letter about her garden, her battles with the wildlife to get anything edible out of said garden, and her various imagined illnesses. She includes hand-drawn diagrams ("See Fig 1 for the great battle with the rabbits"). One year she sent my sisters and me oversize pens in the shape of green beans, corn ears or carrots. Another year, during the summer, she grew an eggplant with a plastic mold so it had a face, dressed it up in doll clothes, made it a wig and sent it to us (from TX to OH in August!), along with a long hand written story about Eggzella the Eggs-cellent Eggplant:eek: As kids we thought she was pretty cool--who knew what would be in the package? As we got older, things just got silly.

When I was about 16, this cousin decided to open an in-home busines making jewelry made only of jems mentioned in the Bible, because your jewelry should "make a Christian statement".:rolleyes: She sent me a hideous necklace for Christmas, made of big chunky red and blue beads, with a faux silver bucking bronco horse pendant. I like simple, small jewelry and I never wear anything with a western motif. And even if I had wanted to wear it, the necklace would have been too heavy--it was literally made of rocks.

I think it is sitting at the bottom of my dresser in my room at my parents' place....over 10 years later. I have never worn it. What's scarier is that the jewelry selling business is still viable:eek::eek::eek:. Somebody is buying that stuff!

BlueEyedSorrel

[cllane1]

My grandparents got me a shirt that has a horse on it that changes color when you go in the sunglight - I was 19, and it was about as "uncool" as you can get, but I had to wear it! That year they also got me a big, guady replica of the titanic necklace - so UGLY, especially for someone with somewhat conservative taste!!

But they also bought me my 1st horse which was hands down the BEST GIFT EVER, so I feel guilty complaining about anything they get me!!

OMGiH! I was about to post when I saw this...an ex-BF got me a Heart of the Ocean Titanic necklace one year. I was completely floored and said something about what a funny gag gift it was. His feelings were hurt....turns out he wanted me to wear it out that night to dinner! I burst into tears and refused to leave the house until he said I didn't have to wear it.

Same guy also thought it was fun to buy me formal gowns from yard sales and thrift stores, then ask me to wear them when we went out. No clue....:rolleyes:

[AppendixQHLover]

Originally Posted by mairzeadoats

Worst gift in my life, period, was again my mother when I had just turned 18. My parents had killed my dreamhorse just a couple months earlier. I was in college in Saratoga NY, with winter temps of 20 below (50 below factoring in wind chill) and all I had for a coat was a too-small, thin courderouy jacket I'd had since I was 14. My mother got me a beautiful coat -- the most beautiful coat I'd ever seen before or since. On Christmas morning I tried it on and when I joyfully thanked her, she looked angry and ordered me to take it off and give it back to her. She decided to keep it for herself. She and my father fought nonstop until the middle of the night and then didn't speak for days. She kept my coat and I returned to school in my thin little corderouy jacket.

I would have been SO bent out of shape at my motherfor that.

[UFTemptation]

I love this thread I read it all over again for fun and out of boredom at work.

I don't have many bad gifts but a year or two ago I got a gift from my aunt (my mom told her it would be a good idea) to get me a flashlight that sits on your head like a miner. :confused:They thought it would be good for when I walk out in the large fields to catch my horse. Well my large boarding farm does have lights and no matter what time of night I can easily find my horse and not to mention he is stalled at night in the winter.

It has stayed in my car trunk for years never used! I guess I am prepared in case I am ever in a cave in.:winkgrin:


I would LOVE a headlamp as a gift!!! My current one is who knows where. I lost it after the last show, when I had to go out at 3 am and bring the show horses in from the field and feed the ones that weren't showing. I use mine all the time, there aren't lights everywhere on the farm, so it's something I need! Now that I'm thinking about it again I should really go search for mine... Maybe it's in the trailer...

[AppendixQHLover]

Oh gosh..

Well before my dad got remarried to the witch he would get me really nice things for Christmas. Now, she does the shopping, and she makes sure to get the most hideous things, or cheap. OR she forgets all together.

The first year they were dating we had a big Christmas opening day. Her son got so many gifts it wasn't even funny. We got 3 things. Than the worse part. The whole family was going on a Disney Cruise, except us. We were not invited. I was so peeved, and thought they could have done that when we WERE not sitting there.

[SparklePlenty]

But a good friend of mine received a birthday gift from her SO that made us in the office cringe.

He bought her those fly zappers shaped like tennis rackets.. :yes: :eek: and that's it.. nothing else. She was mortified at first, but now we all laugh about it.

:D

[suz]

horse related?? the year my barn help,,to whom i was VERY generous with pay,time off,gorgeous apartment,etc.,,but he hated me and all women i think--- gave to me a huge carved wooden mule,complete with evil expression and red glowing eyes. i sent it downstream and over the waterfalls that summer. i always wondered if someone found a beat up,less threatening looking carving on the water's edge eventually.
but my dh messed up the worst--the year i gave up sugar and went low carb he gave me a giant basket filled with diet candy and low carb stuff. 250.00 worth of diet food.and then he was stupid enough to brag to his kids about it,who thought it was the funniest thing ever.
think there was a hint in there somewhere?
now he asks me to pick something out and go buy it. sigh,,he's so romantic.

[AppendixQHLover]

but my dh messed up the worst--the year i gave up sugar and went low carb he gave me a giant basket filled with diet candy and low carb stuff. 250.00 worth of diet food.and then he was stupid enough to brag to his kids about it,who thought it was the funniest thing ever.

I would have made him eat it because...

Side effect of the diet candy...

MASSIVE runs. :D

[sunnybuttonsmolly]

An ex bought me a trailer hat rack and wanted to drill it into my brand new horse trailer .....

I don't wear hats. And did I mention the trailer was new?

[MissintheSouth]

This is too bad not to tell...in hs (went to boarding school) one of my closest friends was one of the few with a "real" boyfriend who lived out of state. It was their first year together and we were all ripe with anticipation of his gift to her. Well we walk into the tag room (mail room) and there was a big box with her name on it. We were all guessing what it could be, jewelry, something naughty? Our little teenage minds were a whirl with options.

He got her a fake red rose made out of polyester encased in a fake "Beauty and the Beast" type plexi-imitation glass vase (or whatever that thing was that the rose was in in that story). There were fiberglass filiments shooting out from the base of the vase and when you turned it on it rotated colors and played "Did you ever know that you're my hero."

:eek::no::eek::no:

We are all still really close and this gift has gone into best friend history as "The Hero" and at her bachelorette party (she didn't marry the Hero guy, thankfully, her now hubby has MUCH better taste) we found one at the local truck stop/gas station/Dairy Queen and gave it to her!

[pony89]

I don't have many bad gifts but a year or two ago I got a gift from my aunt (my mom told her it would be a good idea) to get me a flashlight that sits on your head like a miner. :confused:

Keep that handy, those things are awesome! We use them all the time for camping, cross country skiing at night, when the power goes out, or any time that you might need a flashlight and still want both hands free. We don't even use regular flashlights anymore.

[Woodland]

A Parelli book -the one where he is jumping a log bareback with bad form and no helmet. As a saftey concious and certified instructor the cover drove me NUTS! And the content was wortless tripe! I finally gave it to someone I did not like.

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

A Parelli book -the one where he is jumping a log bareback with bad form and no helmet. As a saftey concious and certified instructor the cover drove me NUTS! And the content was wortless tripe! I finally gave it to someone I did not like.

Yes those gifts are precious for that reason.

For my evil SIL, my goal all year was to buy something in her taste, but I could spend no more than 10% the original price. That made it a competitive effort worth winning. One year I got her an earthenware pitcher that she loved, cost me $5, original cost $50. And, you know, they have to match up. So I got a Dover gift certificate worth about that much. See? everyone wins!

[LD1129]

Keep that handy, those things are awesome! We use them all the time for camping, cross country skiing at night, when the power goes out, or any time that you might need a flashlight and still want both hands free. We don't even use regular flashlights anymore.

Now I know what all you Cothers are getting for Christmas next year! :winkgrin: Headlamps!

[horse-loverz]

Well, it wasn't Christmas but this year for my birthday I got a toilet!!! A TOILET!!!! Ours went on the fritz and my DH placed a new one and said Happy Bday... lets just say I hope he learned from that experience and does better at Christmas... but somehow I doubt it... I love him dearly but he is gift buying challenged... seriously no clue... .not even the most obvious hints work... Oh well...:no:

[ybiaw]

Well, it wasn't Christmas but this year for my birthday I got a toilet!!! A TOILET!!!! Ours went on the fritz and my DH placed a new one and said Happy Bday... lets just say I hope he learned from that experience and does better at Christmas... but somehow I doubt it... I love him dearly but he is gift buying challenged... seriously no clue... .not even the most obvious hints work... Oh well...:no:

I remember you talking about that!

Um...not HR, but my grandmother sent me a Tickle-Me Elmo sweatshirt one year.

I was 17.

Horse-related: Um...I got a hoofpick and a jar of horse treats one year from my parents.

[anabug]

I have one more to add... When I was about 13 or 14 (I don't actually even remember this happening - I must have blocked it out, because I have only vague memories of the situation) my paternal grandmother gave me a firetruck for Christmas. It was a lovely metal huge toy firetruck. The problem with this is that I was about 14 years old at the time and I am a GIRL. Apparently this caused a HUGE rift in my family - we didn't celebrate Christmas with that side of the family for a couple of years even - and from then on, it was gift cards or cash only.

Reading the rest of your replies, I must say that I'm really thankful for my awesome family. With the exception of my Crazy Uncle (tm) and the Firetruck Incident, all the rest of my gifts have been exactly appropriate.

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

H-L - you need to make a list. A list in VERY BIG FONT. With links, description, price, and EZ access to but it in smaller font underneath. Tape it to his forehead if needed.

If this does not work, then buy him a lovely A/P size saddle pad, for example. Then look at him blankly when he opens it, and say, "But - I thought you'd love this!" Monogram it so that he can't return it.

Hopefully, this will be one trial learning.

[Sandy M]

Originally Posted by mairzeadoats

Worst gift in my life, period, was again my mother when I had just turned 18. My parents had killed my dreamhorse just a couple months earlier. I was in college in Saratoga NY, with winter temps of 20 below (50 below factoring in wind chill) and all I had for a coat was a too-small, thin courderouy jacket I'd had since I was 14. My mother got me a beautiful coat -- the most beautiful coat I'd ever seen before or since. On Christmas morning I tried it on and when I joyfully thanked her, she looked angry and ordered me to take it off and give it back to her. She decided to keep it for herself. She and my father fought nonstop until the middle of the night and then didn't speak for days. She kept my coat and I returned to school in my thin little corderouy jacket.

I would have been SO bent out of shape at my motherfor that.

Y'know, I would have said nothing, then when she put it in her closet, waited until she wasn't around, taken the coat, packed it in my bags and returned to school. What a "rhymes with rich."

[anabug]

OMG I FOUND them! They DO still make them!!
http://www.toesocks.co.uk/Knee-high_Stripy_Rainbow-p-241.html?cat_sel=160_67

For something more local I looked on Ebay. Not only do they have those lovelies (I put a bid in on them for the kid! Not anything I would EVER have bought her unless she said this am she would LIKE them gawd help us.....) but I also found an even BETTER pair to bid on. Pink argyle toe socks with pink foofie stuff (think feather boa...) around the top cuff and a pink pig knit onto each big toe!
I think they sell toe socks at stores like Penneys and Kohls.

[AppendixQHLover]

If this does not work, then buy him a lovely A/P size saddle pad, for example. Then look at him blankly when he opens it, and say, "But - I thought you'd love this!" Monogram it so that he can't return it.

Hopefully, this will be one trial learning.

Since my father is horrible at buying me gifts because of step-witch. I am ordering a new fleece cooler for Stinky that has his name on it. I will pretend it is from my dad. :D

[BlueEyedSorrel]

Well, it wasn't Christmas but this year for my birthday I got a toilet!!! A TOILET!!!! Ours went on the fritz and my DH placed a new one and said Happy Bday... lets just say I hope he learned from that experience and does better at Christmas... but somehow I doubt it... I love him dearly but he is gift buying challenged... seriously no clue... .not even the most obvious hints work... Oh well...:no:

OMG that tops the year my father decided to get Mom a new dishwasher for Christmas...installed Dec 22. My family opens gifts on Dec 24, not Dec 25. This resulted in lots of dust from the old one being removed, all over the kitchen floor:eek::eek: mixed in with mud from the service man's boots, AND it took longer than expected to install:rolleyes:, maybe because we still had the original goldenrod yellow dishwasher from when the house was built circa 1985. Can we say right idea, wrong time????? :forehead slapping icon: Dad kept repeating "But I thought you'd want a new one in time for Christmas dinner"....nevermind that Mom handwashes all the good china, wineglasses and silver!

I was a bit appalled, but not surprised. After all, my father started looking to my sisters and me for gift suggestions for Mom when we were 8, 6 and 3. That was the year he took us to Vicky's Secret and bought Mom something my sibs and I refered to as "the blue thing.":eek::eek::eek:

BlueEyedSorrel

[xQHDQ]

Everyone thinks they need to get me a horse calendar. Everyone. I get at least 3 a year. I don't even need 1 calendar!

[Aggie4Bar]

Well, it wasn't Christmas but this year for my birthday I got a toilet!!! A TOILET!!!! Ours went on the fritz and my DH placed a new one and said Happy Bday... lets just say I hope he learned from that experience and does better at Christmas... but somehow I doubt it... I love him dearly but he is gift buying challenged... seriously no clue... .not even the most obvious hints work... Oh well...:no:I remember that. I think that's what prompted my Confucius-inspired, stick-art tribute. :D :cool:

This year, as I was standing in the plumbing aisle in Walmart, I was very tempted to buy a padded toilet-seat and scrub brush for our (extended) family Christmas white elephant exchange. Payback, if you will, for the abundance of $hit my cousins have heaped in there over the years. I thought it would be fitting. My more diplomatic side prevailed, however, so my contribution will instead be a bottle of cabernet and some dark chocolate. :sigh:

[horse-loverz]

H-L - you need to make a list. A list in VERY BIG FONT. With links, description, price, and EZ access to but it in smaller font underneath. Tape it to his forehead if needed.

If this does not work, then buy him a lovely A/P size saddle pad, for example. Then look at him blankly when he opens it, and say, "But - I thought you'd love this!" Monogram it so that he can't return it.

Hopefully, this will be one trial learning.\


Well I DID use his credit card and ordered myself some fleece lined jeans from LL bean.. and wrapped them as well... so I'll have to practice my best:eek: face when I open it..:lol: I seriously hope that isn't all I'm getting despite the Dover/Smart Pac/ Stateline catalogs that are open with items circled all over the house.. I mean seriously you can't swing one of my cat's without hitting one..:sigh: He is a better gift buyer for his mother.. SHE's getting a new LCD HDTV... :confused: can anyone say M A M A ' S B O Y!!!!! I knew this when I married him but lately it's been grating a bit... but I'm not bitter.... really I'm not...:rolleyes:

[Showjumper28]

Everyone thinks they need to get me a horse calendar. Everyone. I get at least 3 a year. I don't even need 1 calendar!

Same here.... Sigh

[Finale]

Everyone thinks they need to get me a horse calendar. Everyone. I get at least 3 a year. I don't even need 1 calendar!

Ditto...

[Sleepy]

:no: This goes back nearly 40 years. I had had horsey for 3 years while I was in college and he was pasture boarded. I had just gotten my first job and moved to a boarding barn. Horsey was living indoors for the first time. All I wanted for Christmas was a Baker blanket. This blanket shaped thing appeared under my parents tree about 3 weeks before Christmas. It looked and felt like a horse blanket. I was excited. Oops! It turned out to be a verrry nice comforter. It's still kicking around my house somewhere. I suppose I could have taken it back. In fact, my mother told me to. It came from the leading department store in the city and cost $75. (Remember, this was 40 years ago. :lol:) Bakers cost $50. But I kept it and used my Christmas money plus some of my own to buy the blanket. I am ashamed/embarassed to say that I kicked up a big enough stink that my parents NEVER made that kind of mistake again. And yes, the subject came up off and on for years. Many years later we laughed about it, but it was a sore topic for quite a while.

[xeroxchick]

Combine the fox hunting gifts with the horsie gifts and we have a real bowl full of ugly at times.
So hiddeous that I cannot recall many without feeling nauseated.

However...The very best of the ugly gifts was a pair of huge, **fox head** clip-on earrings. Fake gold with red, gleaming eyes - but I love them!!!! They are so gaudy and retro. Have worn them to cocktail-y things and have had quite a reaction. Of course, the person who gave them to me knows my sense of humor, or, um, style...

One Christmas three years ago my husband proudly brought home a fox-themed Christmas tree. He saw it in a christmas shop someone took him to (because we like to fox hunt, remember?) and bought the whole, I mean *whole* thing. Every fugly plastic ornament, the plaid tree skirt, plaid cones to hold whatever, every piece of ribbon and glittered pine cone on it a stuffed snooty fox for the top and the artificial tree. He was so proud of himself and knew I would adore it. Yikes! Guess what? I have put it all out every year except for this. I tell him how lovely he is to do that for me and pretend I like it!

[BlueEyedSorrel]

However...The very best of the ugly gifts was a pair of huge, **fox head** clip-on earrings. Fake gold with red, gleaming eyes - but I love them!!!! They are so gaudy and retro. Have worn them to cocktail-y things and have had quite a reaction. Of course, the person who gave them to me knows my sense of humor, or, um, style...



If you like big gaudy retro stuff, xeroxchick, I might have some earrings for you....if I can remember where they are!

This reminds me of a gift my best friend in high school got me for graduation. I had got her a gift, I think a set of cookie cutters in different shapes (she did a lot of baking and other home ec-ey type stuff). At any rate, I put some thought into it and got something she would like and use. She told me she was going to get me something when her family went to New Orleans later that month. This was pre-Katrina by about 6 years.

She came back with this huge pair of navy button earrings with a fake gold deformed looking horsehead in the middle:eek::eek::eek: I could not imagine even my grandmother wearing them. I like small, simple jewelry and this girl had known me since 1rst grade! The handwritten price was still visible on the cardboard backing thingy--a whopping $10. I don't remember what I said after opening the gift. I tried my best to be gracious, but I've never been a good actress.

Looking back, maybe this was a sign of how much she valued our friendship. Things were rocky during senior year since we were both competing to be valedictorian--I got it, she didn't. After we went away to college, we got together maybe 3 times the first year and none after that. Oddly, her parents are my parents' main hay supplier and they are still friends:confused:

BlueEyedSorrel

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

The first year they were married, my brother's new wife got everyone ...pajamas. Seems what her mother would do is declare, "This year, everyone gets sweaters!" And so she decided the same, but ...pajamas.

First, my dad does not wear them. And she knew this, because he had been in the hospital, and had to drive my mother, who has vision issues and cannot drive, so that she could get him a pair for the stay.

Second, the pair she got for my mom was a very - I mean very - low cut housecoat type thing. Like so low her boobs would be hanging out. And she's 82, so not pretty.

For me? Something she got in the young jrs section. I didn't know whether to be complimented that she thought I wore a small size, or whether I should be insulted that she thought I was about 17. And they were ...frilly. And frou frou. Now, if they had been cutely designed pajamas with horsies on them...that's one thing.But at my age, and in my position, I can buy pajamas for myself. Especially from TJMaxx.

Needless to say, my parents and I mad ea special trip to TJMaxx for the return the next day. I was tempted the next year to get them a rectangular tablecloth, since their dining room table is oval, but I resisted.

[MissintheSouth]

The first year they were married, my brother's new wife got everyone ...pajamas. Seems what her mother would do is declare, "This year, everyone gets sweaters!" And so she decided the same, but ...pajamas.

First, my dad does not wear them. And she knew this, because he had been in the hospital, and had to drive my mother, who has vision issues and cannot drive, so that she could get him a pair for the stay.

Second, the pair she got for my mom was a very - I mean very - low cut housecoat type thing. Like so low her boobs would be hanging out. And she's 82, so not pretty.

For me? Something she got in the young jrs section. I didn't know whether to be complimented that she thought I wore a small size, or whether I should be insulted that she thought I was about 17. And they were ...frilly. And frou frou. Now, if they had been cutely designed pajamas with horsies on them...that's one thing.But at my age, and in my position, I can buy pajamas for myself. Especially from TJMaxx.

Needless to say, my parents and I mad ea special trip to TJMaxx for the return the next day. I was tempted the next year to get them a rectangular tablecloth, since their dining room table is oval, but I resisted.

Been there done that! My in-laws got me and hubby matching flannel pjs last year. Mine was the one-piece nightgown with HIGH collar with lace trim that went from my chin to my toes. Hubby got matching flannel pants and long sleeve button down. This wouldn't be so bad except we live in FL where there are a whopping 2 cold days (and even that, "cold" is 50 degrees)!

Of course my step-mom got my hubby boxers the same year, along with a set of shot glasses. I still can't figure out what that message was? :confused:

[cardicorgi]

I was scared to open this thread for fear of confirming that *I* am the world's worst gift-giver, particularly for my young nieces and nephews. Instead, ROFL. (whoever had the aunt that grew the zucchini-with-face on it - HILARIOUS!! I wish to trade aunts, please)

I'm a practical sort - so to me, socks, a new dishwasher, and headlamps are AWESOME gifts. Lucky for me AND for Mr. CC, we think alike on that.

He once announced to his family that he would consider himself to be a rich man if he had a new pair of socks for every day (he burns through them fast) so to this day he receives a multitude of socks for Xmas and B-day. Which is great for me, too! I don't have to spend time matching the old ones, and I have that many more socks to tie on to horse blanket buckles so I can launder them without clanging or tears!

I collect evil kitschy chickens, the more demented-looking, the better - there is nary a cute chicken or rooster in my house. My MIL has not noticed the distinction, and every year I receive more cutesie-country-chicken kitchen stuff than I have room for, or want. I appreciate the try, though! If anyone needs some cutesie-country-chicken kitchen cookie jars/cream pitchers/egg cups(?!), let me know, these suckers need to go to a home that appreciates them!! : )

[xeroxchick]

Alright. I was just given a T-shirt that says "15 hands between your legs is better than one."

[anabug]

Alright. I was just given a T-shirt that says "15 hands between your legs is better than one."


OMG, you totally win.

[Aggie4Bar]

Alright. I was just given a T-shirt that says "15 hands between your legs is better than one."
:lol:

I have a book titled, Sixteen Hands Between Your Legs. It's actually a funny read... light-hearted description of eventing.

But no... I would not wear a tee-shirt with that phrase. That ranks up there with the free tee eCampus sent me when I ordered some books in college. In HUGE letters: "Easy! Fast! Cheap!" I gave it to a male friend who thought it was funny, and - sad to say - he wore it often. Oddly though, it seemed to suit him. :lol:

[LDeMaria]

I am sure that if I were to delve in to the depths of my repressed memories, I could come up with more than my fair share of evil, bug-eyed plaster horse head gifts, but I still don't think I can touch most of you.

However, if some of you are looking for a good cause to donate said terrible gifts to, two of my uncles try to see who can give the other the most terrible gift. We're talking porcelain pigs in overalls, three foot tall cowboy boot statues, etc. (Here is where I should mention that one of the rules of this exchange is that the "gift" must be prominently displayed in the receiver's home). For a period of time their wives banned porcelain gifts because their houses were being over run with the stuff.

[lcw579]

OMG I FOUND them! They DO still make them!!
http://www.toesocks.co.uk/Knee-high_Stripy_Rainbow-p-241.html?cat_sel=160_67

For something more local I looked on Ebay. Not only do they have those lovelies (I put a bid in on them for the kid! Not anything I would EVER have bought her unless she said this am she would LIKE them gawd help us.....) but I also found an even BETTER pair to bid on. Pink argyle toe socks with pink foofie stuff (think feather boa...) around the top cuff and a pink pig knit onto each big toe!

My 8 year old is sitting on the couch proudly wearing HER toe socks, even as I type! She has turned them into slippers and can't wait to wear them to pajama day at school. Hers are purple and pink striped with a googly eyed (yes, glued on eyes) yellow cat across the top of the foot. The toes make the four legs and the pinky toe makes the tail. Oh, and let's not forget the blue fish that are up and down the stripes in case "kitty" gets hungry! Truly a lovely example of toe socks. Found them at one of those big discount shoe warehouses in case you all want to run out and get yourselves some. :D

As for my worst Christmas gift, Mom was horsey, so my horsey gifts as a kid were all really good ones and nobody else ever tried.

However, last year my MIL gave me (and all my SIL) those spangly purses that look kind of like disco balls - you know the ones teenagers were carrying for a while? Well, she thought they were the cutest things and got them for all of us. I am over 40 - no woman my age should be carrying this thing - actually no one should be carrying this thing period. I did my best to be polite and figured my youngest could play with it. A week later we were invited to a post-holiday party where we had a horrible gift exchange! Well, I had the perfect gift and was the clear winner of that contest! :yes:

[Mali]

One of those nylon halters where each piece is a different color! I think I gave it away the day after Christmas!

The worst non-horsey gift: Chicken pox. Broke out in them on Christmas Eve about 5 years ago. I must have been REALLY bad that year

[kellyb]

Everyone thinks they need to get me a horse calendar. Everyone. I get at least 3 a year. I don't even need 1 calendar!

:lol::lol:

[kellyb]

It's worth mentioning (again) that this thread make me LOL so hard. Someone needs to make a book out of this thread!

[Catersun]

ummm....we just recieved a GIANT like 4ft long TROUT pillow from my hubby's brother.

Is that bad enough??? What do you DO with something like that???

Edited to add something horsey... my Dad's SO...bought me a "helmet"....it was about 2mm thick...fake velvet...and had an elastic band for a chin strap....that wasn't removable....Couldnt sell it, couldnt give it away, couldn't return it!!! I have NO earthly idea where she got IT! (and I don't really like her either anyways so it made it that much worse...)


perhaps she doesn't like you either ;-) why else give someone a faux helmet lol

[EponaRoan]

Is that bad enough??? What do you DO with something like that???

Well, first do your thank-you - "Thanks for thinking of us. Blahblahblahblah, It's interesting. We just love the way the eyes follow us around the room. Bless your heart, etc, etc."

Then post it to your local freecycle or craigslist and see if anyone actually finds it a great thing. Often the stuff that I don't like has people that just RAVE over it. Different strokes and all that. :D

http://www.freecycle.org

http://www.craigslist.org

I still like the hair dye/douche combination gift the best. That was awesome! :lol::lol::lol:

[snbess]

I don't have a horrid story. But these stories are the reason I pretty much banned everyone from getting me horse stuff unless specifically directed. I have lots of aspects to my life and there are plenty of other things to get me!

Thanks for the laughs!
Sandra

[Manes&Tails]

The huge, honkin cowboy belt buckles, one for me and one for my husband. I do not come from a rodeo family and the only buckles my husband and I wore were trophy buckles that we had won.

They cost a lot of money, but they were the size of dinner plates!!!:eek:

[Lou-Lou]

I HATE horse-related gifts. I'm 18, not 8. Last year I got a hideous horse candle. We always ask my cousins what they want, yet my aunt thinks she knows I want a horse candle, lol.

Also, my brother got married last year. At Christmas, his wife's mother was going to get me some stuff from Bath & Body Works, but my SIL told her that if she wanted to get me something I really wanted to get me something horse related. Umm, no. hahaha

[Hunter Princess]

Well, theres always the array of bath and body products that my aunt gets me every year, even though I've clearly asked for a gift card to a store so I can actually buy myself jeans or clothes, and the fact that she knows I can't even use them since the perfume in the lotion inflames my already sensitive and uber-dry skin. Apparently I'm supposed to get all giddy and excited about it..and even more so when the mani-pedi tool set comes out...I got one 5 years in a row...I don't think that she really gets the fact that my nails will never stay nice for more than one day. Maybe she's hoping that this will coax me into spending more time grooming myself than my horse.

Though this year takes the cake, at school, my RA staff was having a gift exchange, $10, not so hard, very easy, right? I got my giftee a movie night from Blockbuster, $10 gift card, with a box of candy all inside a bowl of popcorn, and my giftee got me a book. Not just any book, but one from the Border's 'bargain book rack' about horses. The ones that everyone gets from family members when they find out you're into horses, and this was a guide to breeds. Did I mention, I'm 21 and have been riding for...about 10 years...and she knew this. What made it even better was the sticker on the back that said $4.99.

:no:

[yellow-horse]

my husband bought me a sewing machine, do i look like i want to sew

altho he also got me the closed circuit tv for the barn but in a way it was his own gift since if i hear the horses at night i wake him up to go out and check them

[camohn]

Thank goodness my inlaws have given up on buying me clothes. If they want to get me clothes (and at times they do) they have my hubby do the shopping for them now. The first couple years we were married the problem when THEY did the shopping was size. MIL was probably 5'1 in her heyday. She is about 4'11 now. I am 5'8. Shopping for me at Talbots petites shop really does not work very well.............I have enough trouble getting anything not labelled "tall" with the hems and sleeves long enough not to be 3/4 sleeve tops or clamdiggers.....
One year I got a Ralph Lauren sweater with a horse on it. NICE sweater though at a size too small think the old tight high school cheerleader look. I could not exchange it as by after the holidays they no longer had it in a bigger size so I still have it. For one the hubby kind of LIKES it if I occasionally wear a sweater a size too small! I figure at the rate my daughter is growing she can wear it soon......so she will soon inherit it (along with be helpful doing wash not knowing wool sweaters MAY survive the washer but definitely NOT the dryer.....and he did it TWICE after I was upset he did in the first one!!)

[My2cents]

A good friend (but non-horsey) gave me some bubble bath, lotion and spritzy misty stuff for christmas a few years ago. Thank god I waited to open it up when no one was around because the first whiff of it smelled EXACTLY like, um, shall we say 'a stinky horse dinky'. I couldn't just chuck it because every time she came to visit, she asked if I put the lotion in the guest bath and if people loved the smell as much as she did. Ugh. I finally emptied the bottle for her last visit and left it in the bathroom so she could see that it was all done. I told her PLEASE don't stress out about replacing the lotion. She told me the company didn't sell that 'flavor' anymore anyway. Probably too many horse people all making a gagging sound at the same time. . . . . .

[Brigit]

hahahaha!! I love this thread! Work is so slow today and this is keeping me entertained! Some of the presents are so funny! And some are just terrible.

Now I'm not too fussy about things, in my humble opinon you don't HAVE to spend a lot to get someone a nice gift, it just takes time to find something that they'll like. I'm good at being thrifty but still getting awesome presents (at least I think I am LOL). I personally LOOOVE to get people things that I know they'll love.

I am SOOOO SICK of getting cheap Walmart/Zellers/Grocery store "Bath" sets, y'know the stuff with the bubble bath, bath salts and stinky lotion. Bleh. I rarely take baths and don't use stinky bath stuff.

Worst present ever? Hmm... that's a tough one. My step mother's mother always gets cheap, stinky weird stuff but she means well. My step mom is actually pretty awesome about presents.

Last year my aunt sent me a big carepackage of interesting foods (some VERY interesting lol) and a book on "Women's Health". You name it, this book had answers/descriptions about it. Kinda handy I suppose?

Probably the worst is that I rarely get horsey stuff. Nobody in my family knows much about horses so they have no clue as to what I want, even if described in great detail. My mom actually does pretty good, she's gotten a lot better over the years.

Oh and nobody buys me clothes anymore THANK GOD!!! Not only did most of the clothes not fit but they were sooo not my style.

[Guin]

Alright. I was just given a T-shirt that says "15 hands between your legs is better than one."


Folks, we have a winner.

[Reynard Ridge]

Folks, we have a winner.

:lol::lol::lol: I second that motion.

[Reynard Ridge]

OMG that tops the year my father decided to get Mom a new dishwasher for Christmas...installed Dec 22. My family opens gifts on Dec 24, not Dec 25. This resulted in lots of dust from the old one being removed, all over the kitchen floor:eek::eek: mixed in with mud from the service man's boots, AND it took longer than expected to install:rolleyes:, maybe because we still had the original goldenrod yellow dishwasher from when the house was built circa 1985. Can we say right idea, wrong time????? :forehead slapping icon: Dad kept repeating "But I thought you'd want a new one in time for Christmas dinner"....nevermind that Mom handwashes all the good china, wineglasses and silver!

:lol: Off on a tangent here - Mr. RR did much the same thing on our wedding day.

We had a dishwasher that didn't work real well. And another one, slightly used sitting in the garage. On our WEDDING DAY he decided that having the "newer" one from the garage installed might be a nice present. :eek: He was late to the church waiting for the dishwasher installer guy to finish. There's Mr. RR, standing in the kitchen in his tux, tapping his foot while Mr. Installer Guy fiddles around trying to get the slightly used dishwasher installed.

He failed - to install it that is - and Mr. RR finally kicked him out to get to the church before everybody thought I was being left at the altar. We returned home on our wedding night to the kitchen all torn up and no dishwasher.

He's a great guy, so he's long forgiven, but good grief, don't ever schedule a major appliance install the day of your wedding! :rolleyes:

[pintamino]

My grandmother went on for months and months about how I would *love* my christmas present... I was thinking, new show coat or something like that. Day after Christmas when we went to visit... I got a Tiffany lamp shaped like a horse. Probably fairly expensive, but it sits dusty in the basement in all its pink-maned glory.

[tangledweb]

Alright. I was just given a T-shirt that says "15 hands between your legs is better than one."

I guess it is aimed at western riders.

If it was aimed at DQs it would say "18 hands between your legs is better than 15."

[Timex]

That same year my mother got a bottle of Summer's Eve Douche and Miss Clairol Haircolor and a note that said "Now I've taken care of both ends, enjoy."


OH......MY......GAWD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TOO flippin' funny! :lol::lol::lol:

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

I am always worried when someone prefaces handing over a gift to me by saying, "Really. You are going to LOVE this."

My cousin is awesome. I send the info, she gets it. She may not know what it is (like the year I received a beautiful leather halter, but she seemed - squeamish - about me opening it in front of my then 10 yr old godson. Because, it seems, she wasn't sure if it was really for the horse and was worried it was something "kinky." But a "kinky" leather halter beats a pair of frilly young jr pajamas hands down.

[Sandy M]

Bad presents... hmmm....welllll...not so much. Usually stuff it's easy enough to recycle if it's not to my taste. But I have been the victim of hideous horsey candles and multiple horsey calendars, and, oh yes.....a fringed cowgirl shirt. (Ridden "english" in one form or another since I was 9, 'tho I have been on a few cutters and reiners along the way).

However... I do have a friend who has it down pat (but of course, she used to have horses): She always asks, "What does _________(horse's name) want for Christmas." LOL This year, I (that is Mark) will get a new leather halter. *G* And my brother and SIL give the best present of all for a horse owner: CASH.

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

I did a bad thing. Well, maybe. A fellow COTH (name not disclosed to protect the innocent) was complaining to me about her sister, who works for the fashion industry in NYC. Who decided this year she was going to get (using her major discount, of course) something for our fellow COTHer from the collection she works for. A "young junior" type collection. J-Lo's specifically.

Our fellow COTHer was disheartened. Money is tight, she's a student in a combined MD-PhD program. In lab, you wear jeans. At the barn, you'd wear breeches. At a meeting or seminar, you'd wear nice, adult, professional slacks. You wouldn't wear anything made by J-Lo aimed at the 14-18 year old market. Trust me on this one.

The fellow COTHer had gotten a nice gift for her sister. Something her sister wanted. Something the sister specifically asked for.

I advised her thusly:

Bring the original gift, keep the receipt at home. IF the sister was simply messing with her, and gets her a more lifestyle- and age-appropriate gift, go ahead with original plan. If not, get her a gift in kind. And hand it over with a beaming smile, and say, " I had gotten you something else, but when you told me what you were doing for my present, I realized that you were trying to share with me what it is you do, and how important to you it is, and I felt that the original gift wasn't in keeping with that wonderful sentiment! So I decided instead to get a you something that would share with you what I do. Thanks for thinking of this!"

She has the perfect gift. It's a book about the discovery of one of the first cancer genes. Even better, it was free - someone left it in the lab's library, and it's new.

My reasoning is, this way, our fellow COTHer makes her statement with a "spirit-of-the-season-sentiment", and her sister will not pull the same stunt next year. Really, these issues need to be addressed!

Next question. Does this make me evil? Bwaaa ha ha ha ha!

[kellyb]

I was tempted the next year to get them a rectangular tablecloth, since their dining room table is oval, but I resisted.

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

[Eireamon]

A couple of years ago my mother bought me a little plastic pink diary from the Australian kids Horse show. It would be suitable for a 9-10 yr old horse mad girl.
I was 45!! I could not understand what she was thinking.

Worst present ever and was the straw that broke the camels back in a marriage was a cake baking book from darling husband.
Now I don't even like cooking as a rule. Baking well thats a very evil word. He knew I hated cooking and did not bake so it was a 'dig' I did not think it was funny and the marriage ended not too long afterward.

[Sassenach]

From my Nana who thought I was 13 (I was 16 :rolleyes:).

A black velvet/plush/some kind of soft material dress (the top half) the bottom was this red material (with that icky scratchy fou fou stuff little girl's dresses have underneath) that had yellow horse heads on it.

And she kept calling me Leslie (NOT my name - but then again she does have 61 grandkids at last count so I'll forgive her a little...) and told me to put it on (guess what it didn't fit).

[lucky dog farm]

Okay. I think I might win the worst present award. My wonderful husband has no idea what those very large 4 legged things are out in the backyard that I spend oh SOOOOO much time on. I would LOVE anything from Dover or LL beans but n-o-o-o he bought me Olive oil. Yes, that's right 12 freakin BOTTLES of Olive oil. I got 7 bottles of olive oil in my stocking along with olive oil soap! Granted they where different flavored olive oil but still. So we move down to the livingroom to open presents. Guess what I got? I got a loverly holder with three more bottle in it and to top it all of he got me a BIG bottle of the stuff just in case I didn't have enough. Well after 5 years I am finally down to my last and final bottle and I have never let him live it down. Now I make sure he knows what I want! one of sThe best present I ever got was a bag of oats when I was poor, owned horses and was going to college. At least my horses would eat.

[grayarabpony]

I always got clothes that were irregular and not the right size (almost always too big) because they were on sale.

[Gray Horse H/J]

I'm pretty sure I'm guilty of giving my old trainer HER worst gift ever! I was about 12, and my mom thought this would be so great. I got her one of those baseball hats that says "Because I'm the trainer, that's why." on it.

I canNOT believe I actually gave her that. She never once wore it and I don't blame her.

I'm pretty sure I made up for it in following years by giving Bath and Body Works products, tack shop gift cards, Gap gift cards, etc.

But oh lordy, that hat...

[Lou-Lou]

Okay. I think I might win the worst present award. My wonderful husband has no idea what those very large 4 legged things are out in the backyard that I spend oh SOOOOO much time on. I would LOVE anything from Dover or LL beans but n-o-o-o he bought me Olive oil. Yes, that's right 12 freakin BOTTLES of Olive oil. I got 7 bottles of olive oil in my stocking along with olive oil soap! Granted they where different flavored olive oil but still. So we move down to the livingroom to open presents. Guess what I got? I got a loverly holder with three more bottle in it and to top it all of he got me a BIG bottle of the stuff just in case I didn't have enough. Well after 5 years I am finally down to my last and final bottle and I have never let him live it down. Now I make sure he knows what I want! one of sThe best present I ever got was a bag of oats when I was poor, owned horses and was going to college. At least my horses would eat.

lol that is odd

[Mali]

Okay. I think I might win the worst present award. My wonderful husband has no idea what those very large 4 legged things are out in the backyard that I spend oh SOOOOO much time on. I would LOVE anything from Dover or LL beans but n-o-o-o he bought me Olive oil. Yes, that's right 12 freakin BOTTLES of Olive oil. I got 7 bottles of olive oil in my stocking along with olive oil soap! Granted they where different flavored olive oil but still. So we move down to the livingroom to open presents. Guess what I got? I got a loverly holder with three more bottle in it and to top it all of he got me a BIG bottle of the stuff just in case I didn't have enough. Well after 5 years I am finally down to my last and final bottle and I have never let him live it down. Now I make sure he knows what I want! one of sThe best present I ever got was a bag of oats when I was poor, owned horses and was going to college. At least my horses would eat.

I didn't realize they had an "olive oil of the month" club :lol:

[mayhew]

Well, you could have given it to the horses.

[TrueVictor]

Some of these have me practically crying over here with laughter. :lol:

I feel incredibly lucky that I have not received anything that can compare to these presents.. Christmas is coming up though, so we shall see..

The biggest thing that gets me is that 90% of my extended family (Aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.) cannot (or just do not bother to) spell my name correctly.. I get Erica the most, followed by Ericka, but never Erika.. I have decided that I need to choose my battles wisely, and this is not one worth pursuing.

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

Hey, there's always this year ...

[HFMini]

Hahaha. This one time my Aunt and Uncle got me dead seahorses. No joke. They were all dried out and spiny and had eye-sockets and.... ugh. Then they called explaining where they got them, and all about how seahorses work (they're scientists), and UGHHHH. They thought I'd like them because they were seaHORSES. We threw them out pronto.

[PaintPony]

OK so I admit that my parents are incredibly generous - and now we have a good system for gift giving: my mom asks for a list and buys me EXACTLY what I mark in the Dover catalog or whatever.

However about 10+ years ago I had just gotten a new horse and she thought she'd surprise me with something special. It was a nice thought, but unfortunately she had one of those "horse gift" catalogs. So she calls me up and says "how much does the pony weigh?". Weird question. But I was excited because I thought I was getting a custom cooler or something. (Let me preface this by saying that my horse was kind of a fatty, but had a very delicate head.)

Turns out this catalog sized halters by weight. Huh? So on Xmas I unwrap a DRAFT SIZE black nylon halter with neon puffy paint carrots and apples all over it. It came with a matching flat nylon (think dog leash) lead rope. :eek:

It seriously was the ugliest thing I have ever seen - and I was in college at the time. I'm sure if I had been 8 I would have thought it was cool - even though it was 4 sizes too big!

That was the last horse item my mom ever bought me without asking first.;)

Funny story though - I gave the halter to a 10 year old in the barn because she had a big headed horse. That damn halter is still around today! She is all grown up now and recently pulled out the hideous thing because her good halter broke. I crack up every time I see it! :lol:

[King's Ransom]

See now, this just goes to show that one man's trash is another man's treasure. I would have LOVED the olive oil gift! Never got anything as cool as that!

THE worst gift I ever got ... I was dating a very wealthy man for awhile. He gave me his credit card numbers and told me to go online and buy myself something. Ugh! I am not exactly poor myself, so if I'd wanted to go online and buy myself something, I sure could have ... and would not have had to put up with him to do it! That guy gave me a lot of very expensive stuff, but he was no good. Which also just goes to show that it really is the thought that counts, and don't get carried away by someone who gives you cool gifts. I'd take an honest cowboy who gives me lots of olive oil any day!

Hey, now, that is something to think about ... cowboys ... olive oil ... ;)

[RU2U]

I was thinking olive oil for my mom, but KR I really don't even want to think about going there!

Met a gal and she works at a olive oil store. It sounds pretty cool as that is all they sell and she invited me for a tasting. I'm thinkin maybe that would be a nice after lunch thing to do with my mom...she'll have to find her own cowboy!

[missamandarose]

Just last month for my birthday my MIL got me a *lovely* jacket with horses on it... Its very nicely made, but not at ALL my taste. Doesnt even look like it would be warm... it looks kind of Navajo-blanket style with horses running across the chest. Feels like an itchy blanket, too, and isnt even lined on the inside. If I knew how to attach pictures, I would show it to everyone. Maybe someone out there would wear it... I'd be more than happy to give it to you! Its just not anything I could ever, ever see myself wearing.

Darling MIL has also given me a subscription (that magically renews EVERY YEAR) to Cooking Light AND a subscription to Prevention Magazine. She thinks Im fat! I think she ought to eat a steak once in a while!

This year I have asked multiple family members to give me a Dover (or other approved horsey store) gift card for Christmas. No more "do it yourself" horse gifts. That just never ends up right...

[Krallen]

My dad gave me this LARGE decal made to put on a vehicle that said "100% cowgirl". I had bought a new pickup a few months prior to Christmas and I ride, so therefore I must be a cowgirl...???!! Nevermind that I ride jumpers and dressage, and breed warmbloods.

To make it worse, he graciously applied this large decal that was style like an American flag on the rear window of my pickup. Now, I am soooo not the type to have large, tacky, gaudy stickers on my vehicle. He was so proud of it, I just couldn't hurt his feelings So, everytime I left his house, I pulled over soon after leaving to peel the monstrosity off. Everytime I would return to visit I would stick it back on right before I pulled into his driveway. Eventually after being put on and off so many times, it quit sticking. Thank God.

[Brio]

The biggest thing that gets me is that 90% of my extended family (Aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.) cannot (or just do not bother to) spell my name correctly.. I get Erica the most, followed by Ericka, but never Erika.. I have decided that I need to choose my battles wisely, and this is not one worth pursuing.


I feel your pain. Happened with me as well. Its taken them 25 years to figure it out. I still get it spelled wrong. But mine is first and last name. Dad's side (uncles, g-pa) butcher the first name, Mom's side can't spell either of them.

Oddest gift - "the quilt" yes, when its a family tradition you know its bad. Grandpa would go to the church and buy a quilt. They were usually hideous. Brother's is burnt orange and brown. I have a teal, teal and red. They all are found in our trunks during winter. :D

One year grandpa brought an odd shaped present. Can of oatmeal for the "hay burner".

[BelleBoyd]

One year, we drew names at work and the girl who got my name kept telling me weeks in advance about how hard she was working on my present and how much I was going to looovve it (WARNING, WARNING). Gift exchange day finally arrived and she was practically giddy while I was opening it. She had started doing ceramics and yes, you probably know the rest of the story....approx. 18" tall, the horse is white with sparkles and astride it sits a beautiful American Indian angel complete with sparkly wings and long black sparkling hair. The creator of this beauty then began to go on and on and on about the special techniques she had used to achieve the overall sparkliness of her masterpiece.

Anyway, the fun part of this gift is I regifted it as a joke to my SO's cousin and then she regifted it to another relative and so far it has not returned, but it ended up causing howls of laughter across the nation!!

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

Hahaha. This one time my Aunt and Uncle got me dead seahorses. No joke. They were all dried out and spiny and had eye-sockets and.... ugh. Then they called explaining where they got them, and all about how seahorses work (they're scientists), and UGHHHH. They thought I'd like them because they were seaHORSES. We threw them out pronto.

I am a scientist and I promise you I would NEVER get anyone dead seahorses.

Although I would get my neice and newphew anything that would stain upholstery and carpets.

[RNB]

I am a scientist and I promise you I would NEVER get anyone dead seahorses.

Although I would get my neice and newphew anything that would stain upholstery and carpets.

:lol::lol::lol::lol: Gosh DGRH...you must REALLY like their parents!!! :lol::lol::lol:

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

Well, I love my brother.

So, by the process of elimination...

[Gray Horse H/J]

Well, I love my brother.

So, by the process of elimination...

Oh the joy that is a sister-in-law...

[GoneAwayFarmCT]

>>Anyway, the fun part of this gift is I regifted it as a joke to my SO's cousin and then she regifted it to another relative and so far it has not returned, but it ended up causing howls of laughter across the nation!!<<

In the GAFCT family we call this an 'oogie'. He who is last to possess the oogie each holiday season must store it for the year and see who they can unload it on the next year, which usually requires stealth, as most of us won't open anything even vaguely shaped like one of the oogies currently in circulation.

These include:

1. A frozen square of shrink-wrapped bannanna bread from my grandparents' assisted living facility with the word 'MILK!' scratched in ballpoint pen on the top (because, presumably, it's not non-diary?). This was lovingly wrapped and given to me by my grammie probably five years ago, in a box that'd originally contained one of those butt-donut hernia cushions. When I opened it, she just stared at it, perplexed, and said, "Why would anyone give something like that as a present?" {I feel okay poking gentle fun, because she's now medicated and much sharper, thankfully.} Said bannanna bread has lurked in freezers across the country in the years since.

2. A pair of Groucho glasses with male genitalia where the nose should be, given to my fairly staid grandfather by my (very not-staid) uncle, and bearing a yard-sale price tag.

3. A six-piece set of placemats made out of heinously scratchy acrylic yarn in this odd brown, pink and yellow color scheme straight out of the shag carpet era, courtesy of Mr. GAFCT's side of the family.

We currently are oogie-less here at GAF, and are hoping to avoid becoming oogie custodians for the year. As an added degree of difficulty, a couple of family members on his side have... interesting taste. There have been a few unfortunate incidents where heinous gifts were assumed to be new oogies to put into circulation, but turned out to be real gifts. Oops!

To keep this HR, I've gotten the usual assortment of vinyl horse picture-bearing t-shirts and the like, but I think the oddest was the 'Visual Horse' I got from my father (you know, the clear plastic model you can assemble all the organs and such inside). Which was cool enough... except I was maybe nineteen or twenty at the time. I regifted it to one of the pony kids at the barn, who thought it was the coolest ever.

This year, Mr. GAFCT's present request to his family (after one too many brass horse head bookends) was 'donations to the Vogel fund'. Gotta love a guy who's got his own horsey gift list.

[snbess]

Ok, I now have another thing I need to ban my friends from doing: shopping while on vacation. Now, I shop on vacation lots of times, but it's for ME and is a remembrance of a trip I've taken. Friend Dave recently went to China (for work) and warned us he was doing his Christmas shopping over there. No, he didn't buy anything with lead-based paint. But he got me a piece of art...a painting, more precisely...of a Chinese woman in the moonlight. Which would have been great except that I have nothing in my house with an asian theme. Had he gone for a Chinese mask, I would have had a great place for it, but no. Even better, I had given him a list and he decided to be creative instead. Good for him, but...now I have to find a place for this thing so I can pull it out when he comes over. It will likely end up in my exercise room and then be strategically placed in my bathroom for when he's here. Never, never buy art for someone unless you know precisely what they like!

[TwoArabs]

I feel the same way about clothes. My ex-fiance had this thing about beautiful clothes and he did have great taste. He could not understand, however, that I'm a petite. I returned many beautiful clothes that had sleeves a foot too long and the lenght of the legs were way beyond my feet. My SIL understands the petite thing, but thinks I'm still a size 4 which I haven't been for 25 years. She also loves to get me sweaters with huge flowers on them. I'm not a print type even when I was a size 4. And, if I get one more copy of "Chicken Soup for the Horse Lover's Soul" I'll have more than Amazon.com.

[Chardavej]

At our horse club Christmas party we did a Chinese Christmas and the set price was 20-25 for the gift.

We got a nice horse bucket and put in it a round metal curry comb, a over the rail bucket holder, a body brush, hoof pick, small bag of horse treats and a few other items, we just put everything in the bucket and didn't wrap it, spend about 25.00.

Now Chinese Christmas (for those who don't know) is you draw numbers and then pick a gift you want, and if someone gets something you want you can take theirs from them and they then pick another gift. One gift though could only be "taken" 3 times then it belonged to that person (our bucket gift was "wanted" three times so that made us feel good) what did I get? A 2.00 PLASTIC coffee cup with a horse on it, and I don't drink coffee!! Nothing else, they had just brought a coffee mug. :shrug:

Now at our barn party hubby and I went to the dollar general and TSC and bought a lot of small odd cheap items for "Bad Santa" gifts (A can of WD-40, a travel sew kit, a cented candle in a jar, a jar of vanilla frosting, a childs toy feather boa, toothpaste with a toothbrush, small first aid kit, tobogan, small toy john deere tractor, bag of peanuts, bag of taffy candy, weanie dog dog sqeak toy, felt reindeer antlers you wear on your head, Mr Clean Magic Eraser (hey they're the BOMB!) tidybowl toilet cleaner, etc) then we went around and got some junk from around the house (4 used dirty spark plugs arranged in a necklace box, a door knob, old wall light switch with a burned out car tail light bulb, a sink drain plug, a piece of broken hose, two old porceline faucet knobs, the ones like a white cross with a "H" and a "C" on them. Funny thing about that is one of our boarders is redoing her house to it's orginal era and has been wanting knobs like them! She got them from the person who picked them and she is tickled! One mans trash.....) and you drew numbers out of a cowboy hat and then picked a gift. Man it was hilarious! You just didn't know WHAT you were going to get! Some things aren't something you would normaly give as a "gift" but you WOULD use (for example WD-40, magic eraser).

Whats fun is to have EVERYONE do this and bring their "Bad Santa" gifts to the party and put them in a pile, that way you have a HUGE variety and everyone is literally on the ends of their seat to see what is someone else gift is. It is a hoot!!

[Vivace!]

I just found out last night that this year, my step-siblings are getting deer meat from their dad and step-mom.

Yep. A check didn't come through, and since my step-dad and brother had just been to the deer lease and come home with a couple of big bucks last week...

It's hilarious... no matter what my mom has done for those kids over the years (and she's sacrificed a lot), it's never enough. The one step-brother already knows and is ecstatic... but when it comes time to tell the girls that their presents are in the freezer (along with a couple of frozen heads)... I will be rolling film.

:winkgrin:

[lcw579]

One year, we drew names at work and the girl who got my name kept telling me weeks in advance about how hard she was working on my present and how much I was going to looovve it (WARNING, WARNING). Gift exchange day finally arrived and she was practically giddy while I was opening it. She had started doing ceramics and yes, you probably know the rest of the story....approx. 18" tall, the horse is white with sparkles and astride it sits a beautiful American Indian angel complete with sparkly wings and long black sparkling hair. The creator of this beauty then began to go on and on and on about the special techniques she had used to achieve the overall sparkliness of her masterpiece.

Anyway, the fun part of this gift is I regifted it as a joke to my SO's cousin and then she regifted it to another relative and so far it has not returned, but it ended up causing howls of laughter across the nation!!

That's what I gave everyone for Christmas - when I was 10 and a new pottery shop opened up the street! Do you mean everyone wasn't thrilled with all my various creations???:lol:

[kellyb]

I just got the worst present last night...

My mom (slightly crazy) got me a bunch of great gifts, and then made a goodie bag for my dog with treats and toys. I was going through the bag and pulled out two pairs of baby socks...

I don't have kids.

She told me the socks were for...the dog ("Do dogs have ankles?" my SO quipped). She said she saw them and thought they would be perfect for her. I hear they're all the rage with rottweilers this year? :confused:

She insisted I put them on, to my dog's dismay. The dog put up with it for a little while and then, in a flash, gobbled them off of her feet. In less than 10 seconds she swallowed 4 infant socks!!!

I was freaking out!! To say the least. Luckily my dog just ended up getting sick this morning, and threw up five giant piles of muck (containing 4 baby socks). :no:

[hundredacres]

Well, I have one that is not funny and not horsey. But since Christmas is coming up again, and we're all talking about it, I would be interested in what you guys would do with this.

A few years back, at the end of a very serious relationship that went suddenly and unexpectedly sour, my soon-to-be ex-BF gave me a VERY expensive watch. Here is how he did it. He called me and gave me his cc # and exp. date and told me to go online and buy it. He really wanted me to have it, but was too busy to do it himself. ???? At any rate, the danged watch is a Cartier and it cost a bundle.

Fast forward to today. I love the watch. In theory, at least. It's a wonderful watch. But I hate the whole situation surrounding it. I always think of it as my "booby prize" (no pun intended) or "parting gift." I think the guy felt very guilty for the very slimey thing he was doing, and this expensive watch made him feel better. In many ways, it made me feel worse. Definitely my worst Christmas gift ever.

AND, to keep it horse-related, I have nowhere to wear this watch anymore. King entered my life as the ex- exited. Now I live on a small farm with two horses and absolutely nowhere to wear this expensive watch.

So ... do I keep it and wear it occasionally and forget about the whole awful-ness of the thing ... send it back to the guy with a hateful note ... or sell it on ebay?

Hate the guy. Love the watch. What to do?

Sell it on ebay, with that story attached :)....and then buy yourself something nice!

[Barnfairy]

last year my aunt and uncle gave me Britany Spears perfume and purple beaded curtains. Luckily, I was able to return the curtains, but the perfume is still unopened and sitting somewhere in my closet.Aren't you curious?

Every year my MIL sends all her children a calendar, the kind that you have made up with your own pictures. Really bad, unflattering pictures taken while you're eating or when your eyes are closed. Every month features a different (adult) child or grandchild captured in a fine moment. It would almost be funny....but it's not meant to be. One year she didn't get around to having the calendars made up in time I guess, so instead she sent us a WWF calendar with photographs of us --pictures we had sent her intending for her to keep-- taped over the calendar pictures. :confused:

One year I got a pair of leg warmers for riding -- they had suede knee patches. Very 80's.

I of course have received the obligatory collection of odd horse-themed items: wall-hangings, socks, mugs, earrings (my ears aren't pierced), you name it.

[Sassenach]

And, if I get one more copy of "Chicken Soup for the Horse Lover's Soul" I'll have more than Amazon.com.

:lol::lol:

I think at one point I had 5....

[Artful]

not horse related, and not me--- but when my kids were 4 and 5, my MIL ( who had been to Europe 3 times that year,plus China) gave them a tin of popcorn and some Andy Warhol postcards.

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

Well - here's a spinoff - did you ever get a gift that was crappy for you but that you managed to turn into a good present for your horse?

A few years back I told my parents Ted would convert to Judaism if they got him 8 presents. After all, Ted's no dummy: he gets 2 stockings (one at home, one in the barn) plus presents...why should he accept less than that?

So they got him a package of 8 rice cakes (they are NOT horsey people).

Needless to say, Ted did not convert. However, my parents do send care packages to the lab, and they always throw in peeps, neccos and/or goodnplenty for Ted (and maybe even some bona fide horse treats), so it's not like they don't care.

Rice, wheat, oats, hay - it's all the same, right?

[cholmberg]

Without fail, every single year my MIL gets me a pair of earrings. Sometimes silver, sometimes 10K, this year it's vermiel (silver coated with gold). They are usually tasteful earrings, nothing gaudy. . but I wear earrings maybe a dozen or so times a year. I have plenty of earrings and I know the gold ones. . the price would buy a couple of nice brushes, some boot socks, some fine chocolate. . etc. I have tried getting the husband to drop hints, but I guess he's lousy at it. I do like the earrings, but I would never ask her where they came from to return. I'd be afraid of hurting her feelings. I love my MIL, but I wish they weren't so dead-set on never giving me a horse related gift.

[&WithStyle]

That would be today! When I got off work, I went out to my car to find that someone had shattered one of my car windows. Tiz the best present of all!

[Over the Hill]

This thread makes me miss my MIL sooooo much. She always bought me the most wonderful horse gifts. The last Christmas gift I got from her was a marvelous cream colored hand knit sweater (which she made) with a horse colored like mine own knitted on the back. I will treasure that forever. My SIL however, one year gave me a horse clock, it was like a tin pie plate with horses painted on it, but it had the sound of horses galloping and neighing at the hour and half hour. It was sooooooooo annoying!

[glitterless]

:lol:

I have a book titled, Sixteen Hands Between Your Legs. It's actually a funny read... light-hearted description of eventing.

But no... I would not wear a tee-shirt with that phrase. That ranks up there with the free tee eCampus sent me when I ordered some books in college. In HUGE letters: "Easy! Fast! Cheap!" I gave it to a male friend who thought it was funny, and - sad to say - he wore it often. Oddly though, it seemed to suit him. :lol:

LMAO!! That reminds me of a jacket that my grandma gave me. She and my grandpa used to go to Vegas regularly. I think the back of the jacket said "Slots R Fun" or something...I was maybe 12 and wore it to school one day. Don't know if I knew what a slut was, but I heard it a lot that day!

[meupatdoes]

You know when you're in New York City and it suddenly starts to pour and all of a sudden every corner has a man on it hawking umbrellas and rain slickers for $5 a piece?

One Christmas, my ONLY gift from my mother was just one such yellow plastic (vinyl?) slicker, which came with a matching yellow plastic hat. It was XXXXL. I mean, if I were to sit on the horse wearing it, it would cover him too.

The card?
"For the rainy days in the paddock."

I was working as a stable hand at the time and my old boss still brings it up.
(My boss and her husband got me flannel sheets. They were LOVELY, exactly the perfect color, and five years later I still have and cherish them.)

[murphyluv]

ok, I definitely got one this year. A "wonky waker" or something like that- the barnyard series. A hideous brown alarm clock (old style looking with the two bell things on top) with a big horse face on it... that neighs ( sounds like those neighing stick horses) for the alarm clock. and no snooze button. I'm sure meant to be a joke... but...

[baileygreyhorse]

Backstory- My MIL used to own Bailey. She bought him and he was not the horse for her, so she gave him to me. After that, she leased a horse that looked a lot like him- ie big and grey.

This morning I opened a present and found the pic that used to live on her desk. A big grey horse. I thanked her and we went on opening presents. Upon further inspection I realized that it was NOT Bailey in the picture.

Yep, she gave me a picture of someone else's horse. Merry Christmas.

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

So, say you have an aunt. And she's really an okay aunt. And you know she has a horse. And she's always loved horses. Did I mention she's nuts about horses?

So, what do you get her for a present...?

Flannel pajamas. NOT horsey flannel pajamas, which would have been, at least, horsey.

Hey. At least they weren't frilly and frou frou. Of course, they weren't the size a young junior would wear either.

That's how you know when you are an old fart. Your nephew and his new wife get you flannel pajamas. Because, really, there's no hope left for you, and you might as well try flannel pajamas to stay warm at night.

[horse-loverz]

Ok.. I've told about my toilet B-day gift.. did Christmas get any better from my dear husband????? that would be a NO!!! What did I get you ask... a horsey Ceramic mug.. kind of cute.. with price tag still on it and a HOLLYWOOD VIDEO gift card!!! Now for the kicker.. do you know what he got his mother..???? A nice new 32" LCD HDTV!!! Hmmm $14 ceramic mug and $25 movie rental gift card for wife.. $500 TV for mom.... and he wonders why I am pissed! :rolleyes:

To be fair to his mom he is the baby boy and a mamma's boy she is not the "evil MIL" trying to make herself more important than me.. she is very sweet and told him herself it was too much.

Did I mention that we have separate bank accounts and I buy all of our kids gift's, my family's gifts and his family's gifts except for his mother... so all he has to buy for is me and his mom... :mad::mad::mad:

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

Hey - HL - how 'bout a pair of flannel pajamas? I can send them FedEx ground...in one of those trucks they send the scammer horses on...I can throw in the Enya CD.

[horse-loverz]

Hey - HL - how 'bout a pair of flannel pajamas? I can send them FedEx ground...in one of those trucks they send the scammer horses on...I can throw in the Enya CD.


Ok I can sit and watch Steel Magnolias which I rented with my gift card in my flannel PJ's while listening to Enya... Yeah that would pretty much tell the hubby he ain't gettin any for a while...:lol::lol::lol:



___.__
____/.\__=\
___|:uhoh:|___||\)

HL's hubby in doghouse... doggie trying to kick him out...:lol::lol:

[RNB]

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

[Simkie]

This Christmas I got an ostrich costume jewelry pin. It is just as ugly as I'm sure you all can imagine with the fake "gold" and the fake "gems" :rolleyes:

I also got lots of nice things that I really don't need--when there were SEVERAL things I really DID need and can't afford to buy myself :sigh:

[Lori T]

Well, it isn't a bad gift, but...
Money is tight this year...hubby is self employed engineer, and while he is very busy, the clients just are paying right away. So I did not ask for my new saddle, a Duett, about $1000. That is all I really want, what I really need. I DO NOT need clothes! So I asked for $$ to pay for Tucker's next series of allergy shots, gas $$ and my usual huge bucket of chocolate covered popcorn..YUM! So hubby is good, I get all that, plus $100 gift card to local tack store...and then, $300 in gift card to local mall, and another $100 gift card to same mall from my son. He spent over half of what a new saddle would cost! UGH! I would have rather gotten nothing and had him save the money til we could afford a new saddle. And of course, I cannot tell him that I don't appreciate the gift card...well, at least I need things for the house, maybe Sears has patio furniture that I like!
He did that one other time..I really wanted new furniture, $ was tight, yet he spent something like $800 on me...HELLO, that could have bought a couch! Sigh..engineers just don't get it sometimes!

[cowgirljenn]

Flannel pajamas. NOT horsey flannel pajamas, which would have been, at least, horsey.



Awww.. but I LOVE flannel PJs. Just think of how nice and snuggly and warm they'll be when you get home from a cold barn!

(I'm trying.. :))