The Horsewoman: A Practical Guide to Side-Saddle Riding, 2nd. Ed.

by Alice M. Hayes

BOOTS.

I wish to lay particular stress on the necessity of riding boots having thin pliable soles, and being easy over the instep; because I once saw a lady dragged by her stirrup and only saved from death by her boot coming off and thus releasing her. I do not think that sufficient attention is paid either by ladies or bootmakers to the fact that a loose riding boot may be the means of saving its wearer’s life: I never devoted much thought to the subject before witnessing this accident. The use of tight boots in winter has the great disadvantage of keeping the feet very cold, even when warm stockings are worn. Saddlers have invented safety bars and stirrups, habit makers have provided safety skirts, but bootmakers have not yet thought out a hunting boot which would release the foot in the event of a safety bar failing to act, or of a safety or other stirrup being crushed in a fall. A thin pliable sole and plenty of room over the instep to allow of the left foot being easily pulled through the boot, would greatly minimise the danger in question. We seldom hear of a jockey being dragged, although flat races are ridden in saddles that have no releasing bars, and even steeplechases are often ridden in these saddles, when a rider has a difficulty in getting down to the weight; but all jockeys wear boots which have thin, and, consequently, very pliable soles. Fashion dictates that ladies’ top-boots should be as high as those worn by men, which is very absurd; because they are not seen, and the hard, unyielding leather of a high top-boot pressing either on the breeches buttons, or on the under part of the right leg is apt to cause great pain and discomfort. Then, again, when a Champion and Wilton saddle with safety bar flap is used, the top of the left boot is liable to catch in the flap when its wearer is rising at the trot and is thus apt to release the stirrup leather. [Fig. 64] shows the top of the boot in position to raise the safety bar flap in the manner mentioned. I have obviated these inconveniences and have ridden in comfort by wearing boots made two inches shorter than the regulation height, and by wearing breeches with “continuations,” no stockings are exposed to view, even when one gets a fall. With boots of this length there is no possibility of the left leg being hurt by pressure of boot and breeches buttons on the shin bone. Fashionable bootmakers who build boots for ladies on the pattern of those worn by men, seem to be unaware of the fact that a woman’s grip in a side-saddle is entirely different from that of a man in a cross-saddle, and many ladies suffer unnecessary discomfort by meekly accepting what they are told is “the proper thing.” Our friend Mr. James Fillis, in his interesting work, Breaking and Riding, says that for ladies’ wear he prefers “ordinary boots to long boots, which are too hard, and are consequently apt to cut the wearer under the knee, and to prevent her feeling the horse with her leg;” but as ordinary boots would not be considered sufficiently smart for hunting, or even hacking in the Row, the compromise I advocate will be found to answer all requirements. In ordering a pair of riding boots we should go to a good maker and have them of patent leather, which is smarter and cleaner than blacking leather. For wear in tropical countries, I found that boots which have the foot part of patent leather and the leg of morocco, with a thin leather lining to stiffen and keep the leg part in place, are cooler and more comfortable than any other kind. A pair of boot-hooks will be required for putting them on, and a boot-jack for taking them off. A little Lucca oil used occasionally prevents patent leather from cracking. The dry mud should be brushed off soiled boots with a soft brush that will not scratch the leather, and they should then be sponged over with a damp sponge and polished with a selvyt or chamois leather. Patent leather, which has lost its brightness from wear, can be polished with Harris’s Harness Polish or any similar preparation which does not cake on the leather or injure it in any way. We should remember that boots will last much longer and retain their shape to the end if they are always kept, when not in use, on trees. It is best to wear new riding boots in the house before they are ridden in, so as to make them pliable to the “tread” in walking, and to work off their stiff and uncomfortable feeling.