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Saturday, January 26, 2013

Another Tack Dilemma

As I've mentioned, Cuna and I are moving into the jumper ring this year. I'm an equine-fashion-conscious person, so I am a bit concerned about what he's going to wear. We need to look the part.

Here was his show jumping get up at our horse trials last year. The saddle/bridle/girth will stay the same. I add a running martingale as needed, but over BN stadium, it's definitely not needed.

We might go all crazy and get a navy bonnet and pad--I saw a cute chestnut gelding going GP at Thermal in navy and it was adorable.

But that's not the issue--BOOTS, PEOPLE. It's all about the boots. I'm planning on doing a post on the hows and whys of booting, but the fact of the matter is that I have tried Cuna bare-legged and he interferes and hurts himself.

I love love love my tboots up front. If you don't love them, well, all I have to say is you need to spend some time fondling the foam liners and then you will love them too. I wish I had brown ones, but what can a girl do?

Given that Cuna does interfere, I need to keep his kinds covered too. In this shot, I'm using my Eskadron climate wraps, which coordinate well and look sharp. However, wrapping is kind of a pain. Plus, one doesn't wrap when it's wet if one can at all help it. I'm wondering if he won't need some hind tboots (link here) to make life easier.

 

 
But there are other options... I love the look above, but I also love some of our other looks:



Fancy breastcollar, fleecy boots, fuzzy bell boots. I know Steph hates all the pretty colors and I'm on the fence about it distracting from the horse, but it is pretty.















And the other fleecy boots. Picture this with gum bell boots, I think.

I need some feedback from jumpers and fashionistas. ;) How do we put our best look forward in the jumper ring? Brown? Black? Boots? Breast collars? Ack! So many options.

17 comments:

  1. Random note about the t boots, that foam may be soft but when in Florida when the air drips with humidity and things never...never dry, t boots get some real funky stink going on :-P I love navy blue so my vote goes there!

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  2. YAY JUMPERS!! =-)

    Personally I've always thought of fleece boots as being more of a schooling boot than something you would use at a show so I like your first look the best.

    I do also like your fancy breastplate and I think it could work with the T-boots as long as you kept everything else simple.

    I gotta be honest, I think my favorite jumper look these days is leather open front jumping boots, have you considered getting a set of those? They come in all different shades of brown. ;-) I bought the dover brand ones on sale and love them, you can also get some good deals on eBay.

    A navy saddlepad and bonnet would look great on him!

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  3. With the miniscule amount of knowledge that I have about showing jumping horses, I thought that hunter-people were the preps (classic colors only) and jumper-people like (bright) colors. I really have no idea; that was just my impression. Navy blue is classic, definitely not a crazy color, so if your are worried about that, I wouldn't.

    I agree with Jessica that leather is an excellent look for competition. I think that you cannot go wrong there and you could have brown, too!

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  4. I second (or third) the navy pad and leather open fronts!!! :)

    I think he would look super sharp but maybe that is my hunter style coming through?!

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  5. Yes, open front boots are a must!! I have a pair of t-boot open fronts (an older model granted) and love 'em. I use them aaaalll the time.

    Open front boots and an ear bonnet just scream jumpers!

    And, please, please tell me you don't jump in wraps... I don't care if you are the neatest, most fastidious pony club qualified wrapper in the world, it's just not safe :(

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  6. ^ yes it is.

    Open front boots are key. Anything from eskadron I love for their fit and durability

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  7. I have no opinion on boots as I am neither a fashionista nor a jumper.
    But I just love that breast-collar!!! Its a must. Black saddle pad, plus a navy bonnet with light blue trim to match the breast-collar. That is my 2 cents.

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  8. To the rescue! LOL, j/k! For me, I LOVE full coverage fleecies, but are absolutely for schooling/ dressage. I want Pongo to feel it if he whacks a fence - so all that padded goodness around the fronts of his legs are not happening over the jumps for us. This fashionista however found fleecy open fronts/ankle boots and that's our go-to show boot in show jumping. Loads of different kinds of them out there. I like mine because they're washable and clean up easy - just toss em in the washer and dryer and they fluff back up. Ear bonnets are cute too. I like to keep it simple. Crisp white Fleeceworks shaped pad, coordinated fleece open fronts/ankle boots, ear bonnet if you really want (conservative color). Simple makes a huge statement.

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  9. I dont use hind boots in the jumper ring anymore actually. Yanks just doens't jump as well. I don't know if they get in the way of his ankles or he just gets lazy because he knows he can bump it with no ouchy consequences. XC though, simple woof boots. sorry I'm no help this time!

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  10. Oh and for the color delimma, simple in the ring. Leather, brown usually.

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  11. Open fronts are great, Eskadrons or Veredus would be ideal. A well fitted breastplate is key if you need one. The 5 points are in style now, if you want to be ahead of the trends. DON'T use pull on bell boots, too dangerous.

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    Replies
    1. Just curious as to why pull ons are dangerous? I've never had problems and am truly wondering!

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  12. I love, love, love navy on chestnuts! And Cuna would looks awesome all decked out in it!

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  13. I first must say that I have spent upwards of 10 minutes fondling and oggling the brown leather T-Boots. I've started saving, so in about 10 years maybe i'll be able to afford them...if they still exist.

    In terms of jumper fashion, I love a good breastplate. My horse never needed one, but I still would buy a nice supple leather 5 point breastplate with sheepskin. If not that, then I like the elastic ones with pretty colours. I say go for the navy blue! It would compliment the breastplate well.

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  14. The LUXE leather open front boots by EquiFit (actually manufactured by CWD for them) are just a fabulous as their regular tboots. I have had both and also love the foam liners. School in the standard and show in the leather :) There are used ones on ebay from time to time.

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  15. Tack dilemma? No, no, no. This is a tack opportunity. Or says the tack-horder in me. :-)

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  16. I also agree about the open front tendon boots. Every showjumper should have some of them.

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