From: Dennis
Hi Jessica, I too love reading your column and find the information very educational. My grand daughter has been riding for 4 1/2 years. She learned with Western lessons for 3 years, then moved to Florida and has been riding hunter/jumper for a year and a half. She is going to be in a big equestrian show in Palm Beach where she lives on Dec 5th. She will be performing a precision synchronized routine to music over jumps with a team of ten girls. I bought her a pair of Arriat Challenge Zip Field Boots. She went to a local tack shop and had them fitted there. She says though they are killing her and we are wondering if you have any tips on breaking them in faster. We already questioned the tack shop and they re-measured her and the boots are the proper size. They say she just has to tough it out until they break in. Any advice you can give will be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much! Dennis
Breaking in boots can be a painful process, your granddaughter has my sympathy! Blisters and sores are very common during the breaking-in process. One of my old riding instructors used to say that she had a pair of scars for every pair of new boots she had ever owned... The leather is stiff when tall boots are new, and until the leather softens and the boots develop creases at the ankle, it's possible to be extremely uncomfortable in them.
I'm going to assume that her boots fit comfortably in the foot, the heel, and the calf area, because if they do NOT, they probably aren't the right size! New boots ought to be comfortable across the instep and allow flexing and sliding room in the ankle and heel - and they ought NOT to be super-tight in the calf. The major cause of discomfort from a pair of new boots that fits well should be (ONLY) the painful rubbing behind the knees that's caused by the excess height.
New boots are always a bit too tall - at least an inch too tall, sometimes an inch and a quarter - so that they will be the ideal height when they "break in" at the ankles and drop lower on the leg. The painful "breaking in" period can be made much less painful by wearing heel pads inside new boots. In fact, I generally recommend that riders with brand new tall boots begin by using TWO heel pads or "lifts" in each boot. They can remove one pad after a week or two of riding, when the boots begin to drop, and then remove the second pad when the boots are truly broken in. This will make the rider much more comfortable, and will help avoid the unsightly "dog-eared" look that results when the back of a tall boot folds over.
Meanwhile, your granddaughter should fasten her boot laces loosely and spend a few minutes each day working boot cream (or, since she has Ariat boots, the Ariat leather cleaner/conditioner) into the ankles of her boots, so that they can soften a little more quickly - and so that she can control the depth and location of the creases. (For more on this, see the HORSE-SENSE archives - the article should come up if you use "tall boots" as your search term.)
Just in case she was sold the wrong size and is experiencing pain in areas other than the back of the knees, here's the telephone number for Ariat: 1-800-899-8141
Jessica
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