Zoëbird Meets Tack Ho: Phase One

One thing about going from an OTTB to a draftie cross: nothing you own will fit. None of it. I've been sitting over here like "i'll always have my saddle pads", but guess what? Those gorgeous Ogilvy non-slip anti-microbial, contour-cut, tastefully-chosen beauties slip like a bitch on my round, witherless lil mare.

but she's cute!

Oops.

But hey, at least that means Z-bird is wearing a saddle, right?

saddles delicious!

Well yes. It does mean that. Of course, nothing I own will fit her except maybe the western saddle. But that seems like a lot of leather to lug around when it is a millionty-five degrees, so we haven't pulled it out yet.

I talked a local friend (auntie Crystal) into making a run to consignment with me and we resurfaced with saddles to try. I refuse to shell out $$$$ for a saddle for a four year old who's going to grow and change. We did find one that fit nicely inside the budget and yay! It's an all-purposey one, which I prefer for baby shenanigans.

Breastplate originally purchased for Izzy. Is magic. Fits.

Bits and bridles are a trip and a half. Zozo isn't that big of a horse, in terms of height. Hell, her girth is nearly a foot shorter than Courage's. Buuuuut. Her big smooshy face is not ever going in a cob bridle or (gasp! pearl clutch!) any of my browbands.

A moment of silence for the pretties.

A moment of raucous applause for shopping.

Of course,  "shopping for what" has been kinda the kicker here. Apparently "Zoëbird size" isn't really off-the-rack anything.

a flash of future Zoebird!

Auntie Crystal used to have a big mare, so we cobbled together a frankenbridle out of parts. It's a mishmash of three different brands and sizes, but it looks respectable. Of course, then I got all excited like MUST USE GIANT ASS PADDED BRIDLE WITH BLING BLING and we tried that on:

or not

So uh. That's a no on giant padded. It takes her pretty lil face and makes it look coarse. THE HORROR. I kind think Zo is going to just stay a custom/franken girl in the bridle department.

 You may also have noticed Ms. Zoëbird rocking a full set of boots. They are basically the one thing from Courage that still fits. Sort of. I'm deciding what I like on her and what I don't, but I would be remiss if I didn't share the video of her first time in hind boots:


We are supposed to get this shitshow on the road here pretty quick, so hopefully the girth and bit I ordered show up before my trainer has any real expectations. Or whatever. "Millionty-five" is the forecast for the indefinite future, so Ms. Zoëbird's training is not going to be overly strenuous.

Centaur Classic Dressage Boots Review

This past summer, I grabbed a pair of Centaur Classic Dressage Boots because the chunky look was all the rage and I wanted to take them for a whirl. I got them at Victory Canter, where there is always a 10% off coupon, so I paid around $70.

so new!

You might remember these boots from their hilarious video introduction on the blog.

Construction

This is a really interesting design for a boot--it's essentially a hard-shelled open front boot covered in a sleek non-leather lining with a layer of padding underneath. Per the official description, "Pliable padded vinyl boots with rigid protection plates where they are needed most - the ankle and tendon area."

who remembers summer?

These are possibly the easiest boots ever to put on. The molded shape means that you put them on the leg above where they would go, slide them down into place and when they sit comfortably, just a quick velcro up. No holding the boots up to make sure it covers the right things or trying to line up velcro or whatever. Drop 'em on, slap 'em shut. Done.

The pull tabs are easy to grab with or without gloves. There is no fleece to build up dirt and scurf in and they're very easy to hose out to clean and hang dry, plus the exterior vinyl looks clean with little to no effort.

Fit

Courage is a very, very average medium sized horse when it comes to fitting boots. Nothing weird about his sizing. (Lots weird about his opinions, but there's a whole Instagram devoted to that.) I got him the horse size and they fit exactly right. I loaned them to a friend for her tiny, spindly-legged critter and they spun like tops. There isn't a small horse or pony option I know of, but you can size up for bigger horses.

boots!

Basically, if your horse fits in average size open front boots (roma, eskadron, etc), these will be perfect.

hind boots fitted correctly

I will also say that the hind boots tend to fit a little lower on the hind legs than I expected. I tend to wrap pretty high up the cannon and these set 2-3" below where I would end a wrap, but since Courage interferes further down, it's really only an aesthetic thing and it doesn't bother me.

Durability

This is one thing I love about Courage--he actually does interfere, so we actually do test boots out. While most things I buy are a prettiness competition, boots are not.

gotta build the athlete

Within days of adjusting to wearing these boots, Courage wore through the external vinyl and padding on the hind boots. In case you're wondering, the hard shell is black. We can see it. The good news is that once that damage was done, it really hasn't gotten that much worse. The worn part is worn, the rest is fine.

That said, if your horse interferes a lot, I really can't recommend these. I keep using them to see how they're going to hold up and so far the wear hasn't affected function, but they definitely aren't as sturdy as other options on the market.

Value

This is a trickier thing to quantify. I tend to be more ok with shelling out for quality equipment than most people (see new boots for $55/pair, think "what a deal!" when others are like "omg so much $$"). Compared to comparable boots on the market, these are really well priced. There's the Eskadrons ($180/set), the Schockemohles (can't find link), the Horze model ($95/set), and the cool-colored-but-prohibitively-expensive-to-ship Pagony Anky model from Divoza (basically euro Dover, imho).

divoza boots on a very mismatched day

Obviously, the Centaur boots clock in as the cheapest bachelor on the market so if that's a thing you worry about (I did), then they're a good option to start out with.

Likes

Love the color, love the ease of use, love the pull tabs, love the funky fun design. 

Dislikes

The durability is a deal breaker for me. I enjoy these boots but am unlikely to replace them with a similar product.

Conclusion

boots!

These boots are fun, easily visible in dark indoor arena photography(!!), easy to clean and easy to store. If you have a horse that's not hard on boots, they'll probably last you a very long time and look sharp doing it. If your horse needs a little more protection, you'd be well advised to look for something more durable.

Gone Adulting (lol jk it's still me)

Because I am a responsible adult, I instantly used "SB got her job back" as an excuse to buy Courage a set of Euro-inspired knock-off dressage boots.

only the best for the vainest horse

I haven't used them at all because SOMEONE was CRIPPLED and I was pouting. Plus they're white and summer is gross and dusty with glaring light that makes photography both miserable and impossible. Plus having a job means I have to go to it sometimes which cramps my style occasionally (not actually complaining omg I love having a job).

Anyways. If you obsessively stalk all the cool instagrams (cough while unemployed of course), you've probably seen more expensive models of these boots floating around. I naturally wanted the Schockemohle dressage boots, but there was the slight issue of them costing roughly a billion dollars (aka $175 a set before shipping). That's kind of a lot for a horse who frequently decides he can't actually wear boots.

There's a slightly cheaper Eskadron version (and I do love Eskadron) but at $85 for fronts and $95 for hinds, I take it back they're actually not cheaper.

Horze also makes their "Laval" boot which costs $95 for a set of four and offers free shipping at that price point, but I have a slight problem with my mailman delivering a box with horze on it. I don't have much pride, but I just haven't crossed that bridge yet.

So anyways. I landed with a good old fashioned American knock-off job, aka the Centaur Classic Dressage Boots for like $68 shipped for a set of 4. When I told my friends I'd ordered them, I kept getting the same question:

"Do you think Courage will actually wear those?"

To which I say:



Uhhhhhhh maybe?