Riding in Dubarry/Dublin type country boots Warning!

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lcharles

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I have seen posts before about riding in country boots but after ignoring the warnings myself I thought I'd best write a post to confirm that riding in country style boots is a stupid idea!

I compete my horse at 1.20m but last night he decided it was too hot to jump a 1.05 oxer so stopped - i wrongly assumed he would jump lol, sent me forwards, I landed on his head and somehow managed to end up hopping up and down next to him with my foot firmly wedged in my stirrup. My horse is the type to gallop off as fast as he possibly can in these situations but I somehow managed to hold on to him and get him to stand whilst hopping up and down! I was very lucky, I must of been trying to get my foot out for a couple of minutes but seemed longer, if he had tanked off there is no doubt I would of been dragged. He would of also kicked out at me being dragged along behind him, as he's like that so I am very lucky. I cannot emphasise enough, please DO NOT wear them riding.
 
A girl at my yard went out hacking yesterday wearing boat shoes. And there's another girl who I regularly see wearing Ugg-style boots whilst riding. These I would definitely consider as a no-no...

I've never given any thought that country boots (which are aimed at equestrian-minded buyers) might be unsuitable for riding in. I've always worn my Toggi Canyon's for casual riding but wear my proper boots for lessons :S
 
Not the heel, no. Where I'd been launched forwards my foot had pushed through the stirrup and wouldnt come back as the widest part of my foot was stuck. I'm a size 6 so not the most delicate sized foot but I thought they were designed for riding and general country duties!
 
In that case the warning should be "Make sure that if you use different footwear you make sure that the stirrup size is still appropriate!":)
 
lcharles said:
Not the heel, no. Where I'd been launched forwards my foot had pushed through the stirrup and wouldnt come back as the widest part of my foot was stuck. I'm a size 6 so not the most delicate sized foot but I thought they were designed for riding and general country duties!
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In that case you need a bigger sized stirrup for the width of your boot. It is not the boot's fault you didn't check there was enough width to enable freedom in the event of an accident.
 
You're right then, the size should not have been the issue but inadvertently was because they were too big which enabled your foot to go through that far. You just can't win, lol! I hope your stirrup bar was down which should have enabled the leather to fall free if you hadn't been able to hop and skip; you had a lucky escape, thankfully.
 
Found same issue with Ariat boots (grassmeres - the brown lace up side ones?) they are half an inch wider than my riding boots. Thankfully my boy is a saint. Needless to say only wore them the once... shame as really comfortable. May consider getting wider stirrups and trying them with boots before buying.
 
I ride in Dubarrys daily at home (the country style ones, not the actual riding ones), however I always ride in bent iron stirrups so dont see how they'd get wedged. Maybe just ensure you use these stirrups in future?
 
You did get away lightly didn't you, that could have been nasty. Caged stirrups are the way forward!
 
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