Gender Fail. Poor Boys.

Gimpel & Hermann Von Oppeinbroikowski, Gold Medalist 1936 Berlin Olympics. Couldn't you see Tarkin doing dressage in the very same uniform? :D In the Olympics in the early years officers were the only ones who could ride.

Of course we girls get annoyed when boys tell us we can't do something that we can do well.

In the past few decades horse back riding has shifted from a male sport to a female sport. A century ago women weren't allowed to ride in the Olympics. Now women kick some major hinny in all 3 Olympic sports. A few Olympics ago, we had an all girls Jumping team.

At the lower levels women tend to be dominate, at the professional level it’s a mixture. This is our Olympic team back in Beijing I believe. They all seem to be wearing dress boots I can’t see any lacing. But I’m not 100% sure. L to R: Will Simpson, Laura Kraut, Beeze Madden & Mcclain Ward Olympic Team Gold. Go USA!


Now let’s get to the real reason for this blog post. On the flip side costuming for Imperial Officers tend to be more men. But of course since the stores cater more for amateur female riders it’ll be harder for men to really get good deals on boots.

I was actually shopping at the Dover Saddlery in Chantilly and overheard the store attendant talking to a male rider. Ariats (which I <3 but calves are too big for) is a non-male friendly brand. They were talking about other brands, but that part of the convo they started talking about clothing. But the general conversation was, if you’re a boy, it sucks to be you because some of the horse companies are so male unfriendly.

But have no fear! Boys I’ll try and find good brands for boys and maybe I can find a friendly store that’ll give you guys discounts.

Closeout deal on Devon Aire Boots

Devon-Aire company is a no frills company. They produce average products. My first pair of tall boots were Devon-Aires. For 501st they'd probably be good buy. You may want to put an Scholl's insert, because unless they've changed the foot bed, they're really not for major walking. I don't remember mine being the greatest walking shoes when I had to wear them on a full day at the horse shows.

Devon-Aire Men's Cuff Lined Tall Boots $149.95

They still have a variety of sizes still available. Their sizing chart is absent, but I'll do some digging later today.

The Great Zipper Debate

I hate to stress you out. You're already stressing over all the details. I'm not sure how the 501st powers that be will address this as well.

Zippers.

When I first started riding pull on boots were traditional. It was a coming to age ritual, you graduated out of jodphurs and you got your first pair of tall boots. The lady at the store helped torture you into your first pair of evil black boots. Then you wore them everywhere to break in and your calves hurt, your feet hurt, but you were proud!

Then came the zipper. Someone figure why not just zip them bad boys on!

Slowly over the past 5 or 10 years the pull on boot has started to disappear more and more. You can find them online, but in retail stores they're special order. Most don't want to special order them, because if they don't fit they're stuck with a pair of boots they can't sell.

The only boots that generally still are pull ons are the rubber/pleather boots and those aren't allowed. (I'm not 100% sure on the pleather).

This is an example of a nice looking pair of Ovation Ladies GC Pro Dressage Boot with a side zip. I talked to someone on the forum and he said that the side zip may be a better option.

Problem with Side Zips: They're not a normal feature. Most of the zippers will be down the boot's seam. I was shocked to find an Ovation to have this feature. It's usually a custom boot option. But I'm impressed. I've never owned a pair of Ovations, but at this price I may soon.

Now the normal feature like I said is the zipper down the back like these pictured. These are TuffRider's Men Baroque Zip Back Dress Boot. I don't know anything about this brand, but just by the picture the leather looks a little shoddy. In my opinion, it doesn't look like a good quality boot. Leather looks dull and just not impressive. But I could be wrong. (This company is hit or miss. Some of their equine products I love others I loathe.)


Why I Hate Zippers
I had three pairs, different brands, and the zipper broke on me. Dirt/Hair gets in the zipper and you really have to take care of it. I love the look of the pull-ons. Though I have to say side-zip would be my second choice if I had to go with a zipper.

Where To Shop?

Boot shopping=Total Mental Failure.

If you're like me and blessed with a nice muscular calf you love/hate boot shopping.

Now people have had luck shopping online and others have had better luck going to a tack shop.

Online
I'll recommend online shopping only if you measure yourself and you can fit within the fitting chart. (Fitting post will come soon)

Here are a few of the more popular sites:
Dover Saddlery (They have stores too.)
Smart Pak Equine
Dressage Extensions
Equestrian Collections
HorseLoverz

In Store
If you have big calf/weird measurements/fitting chart is a little funky to you I'd recommend going to the store.
Take your breeches with you!!!
I'll explain more in the fitting post, but generally you always wear your normal riding clothes when you try on breeches. Thick/Thin fabrics can affect your fit.
Feel like a boob taking your uniform with you. Some folks may think you're a wierdo, but most horse people don't care. If it generates business they'll get over it.

I can't recommend local tack shops, unless you're in the Virginia/Maryland area. But I have friends across the country, so if you need a recommendation I can always ask my buddies of local tack shops in the area.

Next Topic: The Great Zipper Debate

My Dehners

Now I won't be using these awesome boots for my Imperial Officer but you can see an example of a great pair of dress boots. Now I'll go over a few things about these boots with the pictures.

The spurs are not needed. I just finished at a horse show and didn't take them off. Now if you look at the top of the boots, you'll see I have what they call a Spanish Top. I'm a shortie, so any way to make my leg look longer I'll take it.

Now these are customs. I have to send these boots back to get tweeked, but I was waiting after my show season was over. 1. They are a touch to tall, as you can see the leather is bending at the top. They need to be 1/2" shorter.

Another thing is that when I was measured last Christmas I was 15lbs heavier than what I weigh now. hurray for lost weight! bleh for remeasuring things. But I'll take the lost poundage. A properly fitting boot should fit like a glove. No gappies one nice piece of black leather to all the way from top to bottom.


This is US Olympian Steffan Peters. If you look at his boot you can see what I'm talking about. There are not gaps on the top of the boot. His boot is nice and streamline. If you're curious about how he got his boots so extra shiney and sparkly, most of the upper level riders tend to get their boots made out of patent leather. So it has that extra sleek glossy finish. So when it's clean it jumps right out at you. So don't have a heart attack if your boots are just shiney not supper smacking hit you in the face shiney like his are.

Expensive Choices First

So as with anything you can go full out and get the most expensive piece of leather you can find, or you can go through the cheap models first.

I know many people are going to look at the cheapest alternative possible. But since I own a custom pair of boots I’ll showcase them first.

Customs are a good option for folks who have a funky leg shape. That’s partially why I got a pair, but I also got them because I ride professionally. So it’s a good investment.

Custom Boot Brands
Dehner http://www.dehner.com
Dehner is what I own. The reason why I ultimately went with Dehner’s is their durability. Police officers usually wear Dehners. I’m abusive to my leather items and I wanted something that would last. The sales rep told me that she had a 30year old pair of Dehners come in the store. The lady wanted them to be stretched, but they can’t do it if the leather is older than 15yrs old. They are made in the United States if that concerns you.

Der-Dau http://www.derdau.com
Vogel http://www.vogelboots.com/
These companies I believe are both based out of New York. Der-Dau in my opinion are flashier and have more of that Louis Vuitton aspect in the horse community. Vogel are less flashy and like Dehner are durable. If I had to rank them if I had to pick between the first three it’d be Dehner, Der-Dau, and then Vogel.

Konigs/Cavallos/Petrie: These are European boot brands. I’d say stay away from Konigs and Cavallos not because they’re crappy, they’re far from that. It’s that they usually start at like $1,200.

Petrie: I will talk about Petries further down the road. But if you want to jump the gun now, Petries as well as some other companies do what is half "semi-custom". They have all different options. You just have to get your conversion chart out their size chart is in cm! :)

Riders Mall/Hispar: Now. I want to say that I’ve never had a pair of these boots. I’ve heard good things and I’ve heard baaaaad things. But I’ll tell you want I’ve heard from a horse back riders point of view and how it may not apply to a person who doesn’t ride.
These boots are traditionally sold on ebay. So we know how that goes sometimes. They offer a lot of different custom options on the boots. I’ve heard that these boots don’t last a long time. For a horse back rider our legs are constantly rubbing on the leathers in the saddle so I’ve heard that these boots disintegrate fast. Now for someone who’s just slipping on the boots and walking around at a con, this may not be too big of a concern. So this is an option for those that may need to customize their boots but don’t want to shell out a major amount of money.

There are other companies La Mundial or Lucchese, but I have no knowledge about these. La Mundial I heard is inexpensive for customs and are really nice.

Next topic: Dehner Boots in action.

Field boot vs. Dress Boot?

So you're excited you have your either making your costume or getting it commissioned. In the meantime you look at all the accessories that are just as important as the uniform itself.

The boots.
While Star Wars officers wouldn't mount on a horse and gallop away theoretically he could. His attire would allow him to charge into battle on horse, tauntaum, or whatever charger he may have to ride.

So you type in riding boots in google.

It brings you to a mirage of useful and useless websites. You click on a few links.

Dread.

What does this all mean?

Field Boots avoid!

Generally field boots are for hunter riders. Hunters is a discipline where the horses are jumping natural brush looking fences the rider could encounter if they were to go fox hunting. It has evolved over the years and taken on its own essence. But that’s the general idea.
Field Boots always have laces. For this reason you need to just scratch all these boots out of your shopping list.

Dress Boots or Dressage Boots?

For Imperial Officers these are the boots you should shop for. When I was shopping for my boots recently I really never knew there was a difference between a dress boot and a dressage boot. I found out, there really is none. Some may say that dressage boot is stiffer in the shaft, but some companies just use the terms interchangeably. The boots to the left is an example of a Dehner dress boot. I have these.

next topic: We'll start with the Expensive first.

Welcome to the Imperial Boot...

Welcome to the Imperial Boot. I'm an aspiring 501st member. Hope to be approved in 2011. :) Lurking on the Imperial Officer Corps forum I noticed a lot of questions on horse back riding boots. I've been riding for 15years and have extensive knowledge on riding boots. So I wanted to help in any way I can.

So this blog will focus on brands, fitting, pros+cons of different brands, type, care, etc.