Showing In Long Brown Boots?

M

Miss.Geek

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 April 2010
Messages
87
Visit site
Hi All!

I am looking at buying some new long boots and I'm really tempted to buy a pair of brown ones. Does anyone have any recommendations on which ones to go for?

Thanks :)
 
Not for showing!
Long black boots only!

Long brown boots looks either very amateurish or very much all the gear no idea!
 
I've always thought that was the case but then I swear I've seen people in them.

I thought that dressage style boots were frowned upon once upon a time though, maybe in another 10 years they'll be all the rage ;)
 
Lynn Russell wears/wore them but she's Lynn Russell and therefore can do what she likes.

This did increase the popularity of brown long boots but personally I think it looks like people are trying too hard, sorry.
 
Lynn Russell did wear them for a while and you got a lot of copycats who tended to be newbies who blindly copied a producer whilst riding sub standard horses and hence the view of all the gear no idea!
 
Maybe I could just get some for schooling/hacking in... I'll stick to my black ones for the ring. Although, I do really need a new pair...
 
I have a pair of long brown boots which will be used for showing side-saddle, as I wear a brown hat (either bowler or velvet hard-hat depending on rules) with my habit (which looks daft with black hat/boots - I've tried it both ways), and you absolutely never mix hat and boot colours aside. They're actually second-hand Hawkins ones that I miraculously happened to find in the perfect size (unfortunately the company no longer seems to exist), but any smart pull-ons with flat tops are fine for showing at all levels.

Admittedly, given that non-bespoke pull-ons are a bit of a nightmare to find, it's worth noting that both Tuffa and Caldene make some quite nice zip-ups with garter straps that look almost as good (probably wouldn't wear them at really big shows - eg. The Great Yorkshire - but they'd go up to ordinary County level okay, I should think).

As to the brown vs. black thing, there are some tweeds out there that do look better with brown, but never with a black/navy jacket or a black hat (probably not with a navy hat either, though I personally think navy hats look a little odd just because they're navy, except with a very specific sort of tweed). Black boots are certainly more versatile if you have to stick to just the one pair.

To be honest, if both you and your steed are immaculate, well-balanced, and looking like you have a bit of quality, nobody is going to care what colour your boots are.
 
I think, but not 100% sure, that brown boots with tweed is perfectly acceptable in hunter classes at least (something to do with correct dress in the hunting field in autumn). I think you need to be careful with the colour of your hat and jacket for this to look right.

So, for hunters / cobs I would think you would be fine.
 
Always black boots! Perticularly in the very traditional hunter and cob classes

Pennandh you are in a very small minority as the vast majority of women wear navy with tweeds of all colours as it is correct. You will get the occassional woman in the m&m classes wearing brown or green hats but that is practically unheard of in the horse classes
Black hats are for men only
 
I just checked the sport horse breeding dress code. Day time wear in hunter classes - black OR brown boots with tweed.


Edited to add same rules apply with the BSHA too.

So while brown boots are not seen so often, it is perfectly acceptable in hunter and cob classes to wear brown boots with tweed.
 
Last edited:
KautoStar1 said:
I just checked the sport horse breeding dress code. Day time wear in hunter classes - black OR brown boots with tweed.


Edited to add same rules apply with the BSHA too.

So while brown boots are not seen so often, it is perfectly acceptable in hunter and cob classes to wear brown boots with tweed.
Click to expand...

Ahh I never said it was against the rules, I just said it looks either very very amateurish or a severe case of "all the gear, no idea" whilst it is allowed in the rules it is just not the done thing, just as there are no rules forbidding the dreaded pink tweed in the horse classes, but it just isn't done! Its one of the unwritten rules.

This jacket is totally within the rules for both societies but you would be laughed at if you turned up in it.
photo-12-e1408226194883.jpg
 
Last edited:
That is a truly awful jacket Conniegirl. On every level.

As for the brown boots, well I think it stems back to the tradition of ratcatcher on the hunting field.
I must admit I've not seen many brown boots but I think with the right tweed and hat they look smart. Need to be a dark chocolate brown rather than a nasty tan colour. Actually come to think of it, I've seen tan boots. Um !
 
I can't think of any reason why anyone would wear a pink tweed!!

I currently show in my black boots and have done for years. I've done hunters, workers and M&Ms. I think brown boots with the right tweed, right hat and right colour horse could look really smart.
 
And this is why I would never even contemplate showing. "Oh, it may be allowed in the rules but you still shouldn't do it," means that, unless you've got somebody to point you in the right direction, you're shafted from the start.
 
Pippity said:
And this is why I would never even contemplate showing. "Oh, it may be allowed in the rules but you still shouldn't do it," means that, unless you've got somebody to point you in the right direction, you're shafted from the start.
Click to expand...

And what a quandary if you rocked up on by far the best horse but made a faux pas in the dress stakes?!!!
FWIW I love brown boots. But then I run fast in the opposite direction from the show ring, can't be doing with the politics!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top