You may remember last year’s edition: Ding Dong the Watch is Dead. Apparently I kill one essential piece of equipment per year? This time, unfortunately, it’s a big ticket item: my tall boots.

I’m pretty sad about this, because I like my boots. I nabbed a pair of Ariat Monacos brand new off of eBay 5 years ago for under $400, and they’ve fit me perfectly from day 1. They haven’t been very durable though, having already required various repairs 3 times. Still, they’re really flattering and pretty and fairly comfortable, so I’ve tried to baby them a bit. Sadly, apparently Arizona was the last straw.

I noticed on XC day that I managed to have a blowout (for like the one millionth time with these boots) at the left ankle, where the fabric of the zipper had come unsewn from the boot itself. I was sporting a pretty nice gap for all of Coconino. We’ll call it airflow.

Then, on the very next wear, I noticed that on the inside of the right boot the stitching had separated on a seam in two places, leaving two holes in that boot as well. Two legs, three new air vents. I also noticed that the sole is starting to separate on the edges of both boots. Well crap. At this point they’ve been repaired so many times, and the leather itself is getting really ragged and torn up, I don’t really think it’s worth it to keep trying to repair them. More blowouts seem inevitable, and I’d hate for one to happen at a really inopportune time.

I think I can coax them through the fall season since I’ve only got a couple shows planned, but I’ll need to get something new in the off season. The only question is… what do I get? I hate tall boot shopping. Luckily I’m very average sized, calf and foot and proportion-wise, but I like a boot that is a little bit too tall. Plus it’d be nice to have something that wasn’t super boring. I really want some of these bad boys:

But there’s no way custom or semi-custom boots are in the budget.

My favorite off the rack option that I’ve seen so far are the Mountain Horse Sovereign, although I’m not sure they’re as tall as I want. I haven’t really seen anything else that catches my eye so far, nor have I actually tried anything on.

So – what are your favorite options for tall boots under $400ish that have at least something a little bit fun about them (even if it’s just a damn square toe), have a tall option or run tall, are pretty, have a slim ankle, and will last? Ready, go.

Now that everything has pretty much settled back into a normal routine and my budget has (kind of) recovered, it’s time to buckle back down on taking some lessons. Most of my spring/summer lesson budget actually went toward trainer rides, getting Henry ready for his moveup. It wasn’t until Wednesday, when I was tacking up my horse before my lesson, that I realized- I haven’t actually had a show jumping lesson since like… MARCH. Good god.

I jumped Henry over a handful of very tiny fences last weekend, just to make sure his brain was plugged back in after his vacation. And to make sure I could still like, steer and stuff. You never know. Then on Wednesday, Trainer came out for lessons.

We warmed up briefly (it was approximately 9000 degrees with 4 million percent humidity) while Henry protested the fact that he is now going in a flash again, and then we started hopping over a warmup fence. It started as a crossrail, yet every time I came back around it had grown significantly, until it ended up as this:

And  while it definitely looked decent-sized, I had zero trepidation about cantering down to it, so… progress? Once I actually started using my outside aids to rebalance, turn, and straighten, everything kept coming up golden. That one fence above might have been the best I’ve ever felt him jump. Henry was leaving the ground out of a really good canter with plenty of power, and I was leaving him alone. Miraculous how that works out. Also miraculous that I’ve heard this a million times and still cannot remember to do it consistently.

We did one full course and then just broke out the one piece of it that I was having trouble with – an angled fence, bending line to a one stride. The angles made it a true test of riding off the outside aids, so it’s not a surprise that it took a few tries for me to really get it. I kept letting that outside shoulder get away from me, which really messed up the line and the balance. Once we did the exercise reasonably well a few times, we let him quit.

I’m pretty excited that Trainer lives closer now and will be able to come out on a regular basis for lessons. What a luxury it would be to have some consistency! Or at least more consistent than every 5 months…

Anyone who slogged through the plethora of Coconino recaps might recall that before XC the first week, I was questioning my decision to have Henry run such a challenging track. Of course, all of the concern was for naught, since he ate it up in typical HennyRunJump fashion, but it touched on something that I take very seriously: making the right decisions for my horse.

I feel a very serious responsibility to this horse (all horses really, but this one especially because he’s just so damn genuine) to not put him into any situation that is unfair to him or that he’s unprepared for. He loves his job so much, I want to protect that quality and nurture it.

Yet it’s pretty unrealistic to think that we, as humans, are always going to make good decisions. Sometimes we just don’t. Sometimes shit happens that is beyond our control. Sometimes we can do everything right and it still doesn’t work. But luckily, most of the time, these horses are forgiving enough to not really hold us very accountable for the occasional error in judgement. Still – I don’t want to make bad decisions so often that a very genuine horse suddenly starts questioning his job and his desire to do it. It just makes sense to stack the odds in your favor as much as possible, and it’s something I think about every single day.

That’s why I elected to have a pro ride him at his first couple Trainings. Could I have done it? Maybe. Probably. Do I feel a lot better knowing that he’s had two very solid, confidence building runs that will hopefully carry him forward when I point him at the same size fences with a little bit less rider confidence and skill? Oh hell yeah.

The funny thing is, I still got some hate for it. Some people thought it was silly, or unnecessary. Maybe they’re right. Honestly, I don’t really care. At the end of the day my obligation is to the horse first, and to myself second. I’m responsible for what happens to him, and that’s paramount. So I’m going to do whatever I think is best for him, regardless of my own pride (hopefully) or someone else’s opinion. And people are certainly welcome to their opinions, whether I agree with them or not.

I don’t think I’m unique in the least, feeling the heavy weight of decision making… this seems like a very natural thing for most horse owners and riders to experience (although probably in varying degrees). Bobby and I talk about it ALL. THE. TIME. constantly evaluating and re-evaluating our plans and ideas. We both tend to be conservative in how we view ourselves, but really honest and optimistic with each other, so I think it helps keep us both moving forward rather than end up paralyzed by the idea of making a bad choice.

I’m not sure that I have ever, as a horse owner, felt more elated than I did when Henny and Trainer crossed the finish at Coconino with a double clear. Knowing in that moment that I’d made the right choice, that he was so happy with his job, and so proud of himself… all of the stress and worry was worth it, tenfold. Of course, it could have gone the other way and I’d be sitting here feeling like a pretty crappy horse owner.

Do y’all feel the weight of “owner responsibility” as much as I do? Why or why not? Do you go 100% with your own gut, or do you bounce options off of other people for their input? How much do other people’s opinions play into the choices you make? And how hard do you want to punch someone that acts like you’re a total moron for putting the horse first? Just kidding, scratch that last one… or don’t.

Break time is officially over – we started back into work this past weekend. Henry’s thoughts on that:

Each ride has featured at least one randomly placed series of pathetic dolphin leaps that Henry likes to think of as really amazing bucks, so fear not, he feels just dandy these days.

But last week the only riding we did was a couple of meandering, aimless, bareback road hacks. One of which I decided to document via photo, so that you guys can fully appreciate the titillating, edge-of-your-seat excitement that takes place while riding a fit thoroughbred bareback down a country road.

First of all, having the right set up is paramount: a sidepull (because who needs brakes) and an Ogilvy pad (save the lady bits).

Then I sometimes get distracted taking a bunch of shadow pics because Henry makes derpy faces and I’m easily amused.

At some point Henry will walk past something, think about it for a while, then decide it’s scary. He’ll stop, look back at me, and ask if I also saw whatever super terrifying thing is now at least 30′ behind us.

So we go back to make sure it’s not zombies (you never know), then Henry suddenly realizes he’s absolutely famished from all the thinking.

And so begins the snacking phase. He’ll continue trying to snack the entire walk back to the barn, which makes it impossible for me to get any pictures. Once the snacking starts, it’s all over. Even retrograde spooking at possible zombies.

Once safely back at the barn, Henry spooks at the cat bowl in the washrack because OMG THAT’S NOT USUALLY THERE WTF IS THAT INSTRUMENT OF DEATH? *snort*

Oh, it was a bowl. Totally knew that. Just kidding. Wasn’t really scared.

OMG IT’S BEHIND ME RIGHT NOW, ISN’T IT???