Long boots v short boots & half chaps

[Bodshi]

Just wondered what everyone's preferences are? I usually wear short boots just because I find them easier to wear and to get on and off, but I do have a pair of long rubber riding boots which I only occasionally wear, but do quite like the rigidity of them and feel as though my lower leg is more stable than in the short boots.

Do the long leather riding/yard combined boots offer the same support as dedicated riding boots? They look to be more flexible around the ankle to me, so I wasn't sure if they were quite as good for riding in.

 

[Joyscarer]

Short boots for me and never bothered with chaps either until I saw some bright yellow ones on eBay to help with our hi viz look.

Even now I've lost my weight I still have massive calfs and struggle to find anything to fit them.

 

[joosie]

quite like the rigidity of them and feel as though my lower leg is more stable than in the short boots..

Hehe I'm totally the opposite! I don't like rigidity on my lower leg at all - I like to feel the horse against my calves. Long boots feel restrictive and I don't like that. I only wear long boots when I have to (for SJ). Usually I wear short jodhpur boots with thin, soft leather half-chaps, I'm in them for 10 hours a day & ride on average 4 horses per day - mega comfy!

 

[sjp1]

Long leather Mountain horse zip up boots and from No Angel - lovely pair of riding Suffolk sheepskin lined boots when very cold.

Can't be doing with chaps. We have loads of mud so cold never wear joddie boots for getting in, and can't be bothered with fiddly chaps, and changing wellies for jod boots - much easier with long boots!

 

[nat17]

I prefer long riding boots :wink:

 

[joosie]

My jod boots and chaps are both waterproof, so no need for changing! I just stomp around in the mud as usual and then hose them off when I'm done. I don't wear wellies anyway as I have Reynaud's and they aren't warm enough.

 

[Vicki100]

Much prefer long boots, like Bodshi i like the extra support! :smile:

 

[laceyfreckle]

I like short boots and chaps. I do ride in long boots but only really hack in them (or show in them when i have to and can't get away with chaps and leather gaiters) MUCH prefer the flexibility and contact half chaps let me have

so i'm with Joosie on this one! (althought i have got my eye on some Dublin pinnacles ;-) )

 

[Trewsers]

Long boots all the way! I have about ten pairs - I love trying new styles! Over the years I've found Mountain Horse High Riders, Afriat Winderemere and Harry Hall to be about the best. I like nothing better than a good boot cleaning and polishing session too!! Tbh, it started as a vanity thing, being stumpy I just did not look or feel right in short boots and found that chaps were a pain, both in a getting on and off sense and mud wise - I can't be the only person that splats mud everywhere when getting them off from the strap that goes underneath your foot??!
Guess I'm just a long booter.........

 

[Flipo's Mum]

I'm a long booter as well. I understand that you get a better feel for your horse when riding in short boots and chaps, but it feels wrong, I can't explain it. Probably stems from being a kid when half chaps didn't really exist for me. I hated the feel of my jodphurs rubbing and would always wear long boots....the habit has stuck. Love my toggi canyons to ride in.

 

[joosie]

I can't be the only person that splats mud everywhere when getting them off from the strap that goes underneath your foot??!

I don't take my chaps off separately, I leave them on my boots!

 

[Skib]

I dont think you do get a better feel in short boots and half chaps. But it depends on the long boots - It is the cheaper long boots that give what some posts refer to as support, but other RIs like mine do not like because they limit movement.
In top quality boots, it is like wearing an extra skin - your leg is closer to the horse than when wearing half chaps and the ankle can move freely too.

 

[joosie]

Depends on the chaps too Mine are close-contact chaps and don't restrict my ankle at all I know what you mean about the long boots that limit movement, many of our Pony Club kids in Portugal wore the cheap rubber ones and they were horrible! They had no flexibility in their feet or ankles, they kept the kids' lower leg very rigid, and the tops often got caught on the saddle flaps.

 

[chickflick1066]

Can't get my tree-trunk calves into long boots. Leather chaps and boots for me

 

[Trewsers]

I just like collecting boots I think.... Hehehe

 

[KarinUS]

I like short boots with soft leather half chaps

 

[Joyscarer]

Dumb question of the day, what's the difference between half chaps and gaiters?

 

[LindaAd]

Long boots! My Mountain Horse boots are easy to get on and off light and comfy, and soft and flexible at the ankles. I can happily wear them all day. I can't be faffing about with chaps - and that means four things to find instead of two ...

 

[KarinUS]

Dumb question of the day, what's the difference between half chaps and gaiters?

I figured we call them half chaps here in the US and you call them gaiters over there? No?

 

[Joyscarer]

I figured we call them half chaps here in the US and you call them gaiters over there? No?

No idea. I was browsing on the Robinsons website and there was a section called chaps and gaiters. I'd always thought that gaiters were the same as half chaps but then I don't wear them and don't know if that's true or not.