DRESS 245 



found that the majority of them do this, but are 

 rather ashamed to admit it, for fear that they will be 

 accused of violating some especially sacred etiquette of 

 riding clothes ! 



A boot should fit snugly in the foot and up the leg, 

 and there should be no space at the top of it. Boots 

 that are too big in the leg are an abomination, while 

 snug boots not only are smart-looking, but also have 

 the advantage of being a great protection to the legs 

 in case of a fall. I know from personal experience, 

 that when one of my horses fell with me, breaking 

 my leg in four places below the knee, my surgeon said 

 that had it not been for my tight boot, which I re- 

 fused to have cut off until the surgeon arrived, the 

 breaks might have been worse than they were; the 

 boot acted as a splint, and prevented the bones from 

 coming through the skin. I always remember this 

 nowadays, and whenever I hunt, or school green 

 jumpers, I am careful to put on my tightest and best- 

 fitting boots. 



Mrs. Hayes writes in The Horsewoman that she 

 recommends loose-fitting boots, claiming that in case 

 of an accident a woman's boot should be loose enough 

 to come off her foot should she hang by the stirrup, 

 but I cannot quite follow her line of reasoning. A 

 woman's safety in the saddle, depends not on the rather 

 slim chance of her boot coming off, but on the safety- 

 bar of her stirrup, and the very improbable advantage 

 a loose boot might give in this direction is more than 

 counterbalanced, not only by the superior looks of a 

 tight boot, but chiefly by the protection the latter 

 affords the leg. 



prefer, personally, to have both boots of equal height, not only for the 

 sake of symmetry but also because I dislike to wear a high boot even 

 on the left leg. 



