 |
| The Unicorn Boots |
No-turn
bell boots…that DON’T TURN?!!! You heard me right.
Boots of riding past had me convinced that I might as well hope for a unicorn. Or even more improbable, a horse that never goes lame! While I will probably die without seeing the latter, I didn’t have to clap my hands or chant, “
I do believe, I do believe…” to realize this dream (
I don’t ask much, honestly!).
The Magic Bell Boots
I was delighted when
Horze.com inquired as to my interest in testing a few products; I may or may not have perused their site with covetous eyes before. Delight turned into ecstasy (
ok, I’ll admit it, horse owners are weird) when I looked down after a three-hour workout, nearby in VA's
Occoneechee State Park. Not only had these sturdy
Horze No Turn Bell Boots STAYED PUT for the entirety of Encore’s
tripping trotting carefully through the woods playing “
dodge-the-stump-hole” & “
I didn’t see those large rocks, *stumble fumble* I was looking at the lake,” but there was not even a hint of a rub on his wussy skin.
More Loves:
The only shortfall I can see is if your horse has jumbo feet; Encore wears a size 2 shoe (
for comparison, Solo is a completely average size 0) up front & a Large in pull-on bell boots. Thankfully,
helpful reviews on the Horze website suggested ordering a size up, so these are the largest option, the XF (eXtra-Full). While they fall in just the right spot for my boy, an equine Sasquatch would need to look elsewhere unless larger models are offered.
 |
| Bridle matchy thrills Encore |
AND Gloves!
Horze didn’t stop at the grail, though. My grin of matchy delight got even bigger when I put on the
Horze Lyon Synthetic Leather Gloves. In the dripping environs of NC, I am constantly on the lookout for
affordable, lightweight, breathable, lightweight, technical, lightweight (see a trend?) fabrics. Wow, do we have a win!
I love the sporty design with the nearly-transparent contrast fabric across the backs & the soft glove material slides easily on, erm, skin that sweats like a pig. They’re also thin enough that I retain actual manual dexterity while wearing them, a rare & wonderful find.
And the grip! I use web reins interwoven with strands of rubber (solid rubber reins are too big & heavy for me) and
these babies had one of the best grips I have ever felt; something I value highly on a horse who shakes his head hard…because his bangs tickle his ears. :/
 |
| Camera flash bleach-out, boo |
Only one concern haunts me. I have
a history of glove massacre due to my enormous hands (
seriously, they measure ~8" from fingertip to wrist) and long fingers; I wish I could do without, but I also have baby skin that falls off with the least provocation. As a result, I usually buy
gloves in men’s M or L. The single
on-site review at Horze gave me some hope, as it was written by another person with giant man-hands. Alas, despite ordering the XL (
only women’s sizes were available), they are still too short from fingertip to wrist. They feel amazing, though, so I will baby them with hope that the seams will hold out against my mutant extremities (
I have the same problem with socks, sigh).
For those of you lucky (
all other) people who have normal-sized lady hands, however, these are a super prospect for hot days and sweaty reins!
*gets on knees & begs Horze for mega-sizes*
Both get a “very well done” from me thus far! Thank you,
Horze, because I can’t wait to sport our colour-coordinated awesomeness in our lesson next weekend! I usually do something stupid, but at least this time, I’ll look good doing it.
 |
| The matched set in dark blue |
|
 |
| Career as model: unlikely |
|
