boots for showing??

[jenren!!]

i show my pony and i show with a tweed jacket, beige jodhpurs and black jodhpur boots. i tend to do m&m and working hunter. i just wondered - could i wear long riding boots for showing? it's just that i'm 15 and im getting a little old for simple jodhpur boots and clips, as well as my long legs looking even longer and looking too big for my pony. My friend's 16 and is very tall and lanky - she's got sum of those 'gaiter boots' which are really fab - u know the ones - zip at the back and little button. anyway, these really suit my friend with her long legs and she shows in them. im not really prepared to pay like £200 for some leather boots so i'll probably get some from ebay or wherever cheaper. what do you think? should i stick with my jodhy boots or go for the adult stuff?

X jenny X

[Kanuma]

untill you are 17 or rideing something bigger then 15hh then you should wear jodpurboots although in the large M&M you might get away with it in the WHP you wouldnt get away with it, the gaiter type ones are frowned upon in showing!
what level are you doing this at?

[jenren!!]

just simple local level!

X jenny X

[Kanuma]

still you should be wearing short boots, and if you are a girl try and get yourself some canary jods as they look better for showing!

[LesleyR]

I don't know about juniors wearing long boots but I was surprised to hear you say gaiters are frowned on. I seem to see more and more people wearing them on the showing circuit these days

[Kanuma]

i know you do and i know alot of panel judges hate it!! (have alot of friends on judgeing panels) they also dont like too much makeup on a horse as it creates drycleaning bills, and impolite people are the bane of there existance!!!!! word of warning
people judges do remember people who are rude! and if it comes to a choice between the rude person and anouther the other will always do better!

[lindz]

I was wearing long boots at 16. If you are fairly tall for you age, I dont see why you shouldnt start wearing top boots now.

What breed do you ride? If you ride a small breed it is correct to wear jod boots even if you are an adult.

It is also correct to wear jod boots on a section C. Well this is what my sister told me, I disagree as jod boots made my legs look long and lanky and spoiled the overall picture.

I agree that gaiters are a bit naff in the show ring but I have seen professional riders wearing them in the ring at county level. I can see why panel judges would frown upon them, I feel it respectful to the judge to compete in a class wearing the correct traditional clothing so I would not wear them.

I personally would recomend getting a second hand pair of top boots. I might seem like an old git when I say this but I feel its true; They dont make em like they used to! My top boots are about 60 years old and I have had them about 10 years, they shine up beautifully and arent too wrinkly. Good hob nailed soles too. They cost me about £40

[jenren!!]

well my pony's a 14.1hh-14.2hh Exmoor gelding - with a little TB in him so he's got fairly fine legs. he's dark brown and is quite muscular and in an overall picture he's really very native.
i just hate wearing jodhy boots in the ring cos i find it hard to ride in them and i can't keep my legs still whereas with the long boots i can keep my legs still, which improves my chances in equitation! i can't exactly say the judges are too fussy round our area - you can wear long boots in the ring but i'm not sure what they'll think of placing you. which are better - gaiter boots or chaps?

X jenny X

[kel]

hi,im 16 and i wear long boots but im on a small rh/isrt,i have a mate who rides her 14,2hh m&m in long boots and it makes no difference ,i think it looks better!
i have seen some where gaiters as they r acceptable in the ring,well i no they are 4 bsps.but all the sp and sh riders where joddy boots as its correct dress coad,they would say some thing at local level if you had long boots on though,but untill you get out of ponys you should really be wearing short boots
kel
x

[Kanuma]

gaiterboots chaps are a big no no!!!!!!!!!!!! also sorry to get picky but as he isnt a true purebred M&M you shouldnt be in the M&M classes, they are for purebreds only and exmoors shoulod be no more then 13hh anyway

[kel]

chaps are a no but gaiters are ok,for bsps it is any way,in rule book!!!

[aliw]

It is only people that are 16 and over that are supposed to wear long boots.

[kel]

this is the quote from bsps rule book.
"NB. Chaps are not permitted. Gaiters may be worn. "
but bear in mind this is for people on intermediates no sp/sh

[Kanuma]

it realy depends on the class, i ride a 14hh connemara but as i am over 18 i wear long boots, if i then ride my 12hh secb i wear shortboots, but as you are under 18 (i think the age may be 17) then you should be wearing short boots.
kel it may be in the rule book but how many judges do you see that stick to the rule book like glue, most dont like them, again it comes down to the personal preferance of the judge but then again that is what showing is about! and i agree that you can wear them for isrt as you are supposed to wear long boots anyway, i dont do much bsps as their M&m classes arent wonderful and qualifying for them is a nightmare as you cant find places with heritage classes anyway!!! i prefer the NCPA, PUK and NPS

[jenren!!]

are you sure kanuma? it's just that every show i've been to the schedule has always said 'pure or partbreds' as i said, my pony has thoroughbred in him and this makes him a partbred. many judges have asked what breed he is and they have not said a thing. the thoroughbred brings up his size.

X jenny X

[Kanuma]

normaly they are 2 separate classes at shows, is it a particularly small local show? as all my locals have them as separate calsses and anything bigger than loocal it is always separate classes

[jenren!!]

yes they are quite small shows. there are separate m&m classes for the in-hand (usually) but the ridden m&m is for all sizes, as long as they are pure or part-bred.

X jenny X

[Kanuma]

no most locals have 3 classes, the m&m small, which is welsh a&b dartmoors, exmoors, shetlands. the large which is fell, dales, connemara, newforest, highlands and welsh c and d, then they have a seperate class for partbreds and m&m's arnt alowed in the m&m class

[jenren!!]

i suppose it must be different wherever you are - does it differe from region to region?

[Kanuma]

it might at the realy little shows but ive never heard of the partbreds being allowed into the M&M classes even at our local tiny shows they are separate but the small and large are in the same class at the large shows though it has to be separate

[LesleyR]

And is it just me but if something is in the rule book as correct dress (i.e. gaiters) - do judges have any business 'frowning upon them?' To me it's the same mentality that has a judge in a cob class (where the lower height limit is 14.2) say to a competitor that they had a lovely ride on their cob and that it has good confirmation but it can't come up the line because at 14.2 it's too small!

[Kanuma]

it may be in the bsps rule book but as far as im aware it isnt in any other, and any just because it shouldnt make a differance doesnt mean that it doesnt, showing is alot about personal preferance! other wise how can it be that at the same show i did 2 M&M classes, against the same competition, i won the first and was 8th out of 9 in the second!!!!! it was because the judge in the second didnt like connemaras, and the one in the first did!

[kel]

judges do like different things and some will accept things like gaiters and some wont as kanuma said it is personal preference.i dont wear gaiters in the ring just long leather ones i have seen some wear them especially in the cob classes.

[LesleyR]

Of course showing is about personal preference - the point I was trying to make is that surely the criteria for exercising that preference shouldn't include a prejudice against something that the rule book says is correct

[Kanuma]

lesley in an idealm world it shouldnt, but this isnt an ideal one and it does, so to get the best result and to try to get the results your pony deserves, you shouldnt do anything to distract from the pony!
i know it sounds silly but its the way it works and whislt showing is all about the judges oppinion it will always be so! if your pony is easily the best in the class then it wont matter, but if your pony and anouther are very close, it will come into the desicion

[LesleyR]

I know! That's what the moan was about!