DSB & Saddles, Part 2

So I ordered new Dressage Sport Boots from Riding Warehouse a couple weeks ago- and my second pair finally came in! Patent/Glossy Silver with Black fleece...

Silver with Black Fleece.

And meh. I was so excited for them, thinking how awesome the contrast was, etc. And I hate them. I love the black fleece. The silver part... well it wasn't the quality I was expecting. My navy boots have a wonderful look/feel to them.

The super awesome navy boots. I love them. Everyone else loves them too.

Because the silver boots are a patent/glossy finish, they don't have the same durable leather feel to them that the navy ones do. They have almost a plastic feel. It kind of feels like cheap pleather (sorry Riding Warehouse!). I feel like they would glow in the dark or as Husband suggested, they would be great safety reflectors. Not really what I'm going for.

It took me a while to decide I hated the silver boots, and even now, looking at pictures, I'm second guessing myself. I love the contrast of the silver and black. I love the black fleece. I love that they're a little different. But I don't like how they don't work on Penn. Maybe it's his lack of glossy coat (dumb winter hair). Maybe it's because his socks are dirty, they look extra dirty compared to the shiny silver.

I pulled one of the ladies aside, told her I was on the fence about the boots, and asked what she thought of them. She was like, they're kind of "in your face" when you look at him. Too noticeable. So much to my trainer's delight, the silver with black fleece DSBs are going back. The lady and I agreed though, on a black horse, or a gray horse, they'd probably look stunning, just because of the high contrast.

Now, I do want another pair of boots so I can mix it up and have something nice for clinics and schooling at shows, so I'm trying to decide if I want to give the patent black with black fleece a go, or the plain black with black fleece. I don't like the way the patent boots feel, end of story. But I do want a little fun in the look! The black on black seems so... plain. But I know it will look good. Riding Warehouse is great, I asked them if I can exchange an exchange because I'm not sure I like the patent look, but I wanted black and black. They were like, "Yes! No problem! You can exchange and exchange!" So yay, but I don't really want to continue exchanging things because that's crazy.

And now I'm thinking, "Hmm, he might look snazzy in white with black fleece."

Thanks to a quick run in Paint, the Silver boots are now white.

Which lead me to this.

May as well make black boots while I'm playing in Paint.
I didn't want to pick pure black since in pictures and in life they won't be a pure black, so I pulled a black off his leg and it came out a little blue, oops.

Which brings me to liking the white with black fleece better. They look sharp. And they'll be clean when I use them, so they'll be bright white.

I'm thinking the glossy Black/Black is out of the picture (as a fashionable co-worker put it- cheap looking pleather will always look cheap no matter the color). Not that it's a cheap quality product, but I donno, compared to the plain finish boots... well the finish makes them look cheap.

So... Black/Black, or White/Black?! FYI, I'm liking the White/Black more and more. Help!

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On the saddle front, my tack shop has acquired a Euphoria saddle! Size 17" seat and a C/30cm tree. I'm picking it up tonight to test out over the weekend. I may not ride in it, but I at least want to see it, sit in it at the tack shop (not looking for fit for me, just see where everything hits me and if it's an option for me to ride in), take it home so I can see how the bigger tree fits Penn, and then see if I like the Euphoria better than the 1894.

I'm curious about the shoulder cut outs in the Euphoria- which is the main reason I'm entertaining this one still because I loved the 1894. If it sits well on him, and the cut outs are in the right place (the Toulouse I tried had them up too high), and I like riding in it, I'll probably change my order to a Euphoria. Either way, there will be pictures.