Tuesday, February 7, 2023

Truthful Tuesday

 

Had a couple of random thoughts to share today for Truthful Tuesday... First is an equine related thought. Or maybe a bit of a rant, but I promise it's not terribly controversial. I belong to a few different Facebook groups that are horsey. And you always see people on there looking for advice on this or that. Great places to get insight for sure. (Though obviously, a fair amount of that info is... from the internet.) Anyway...

A frequent complaint I see from people is that their riding boots (or sometimes even their rubber rain boots) aren't holding up as long as they'd expect "for what they cost". They then go on to talk about how they've been wearing those boots daily for four years and can't figure out why they are falling apart. My favorite is when they go on to say well, yeah, I clean stalls and bathe my horse in them, but they should hold up to that! Lol. This kills me. Dude, they're leather boots. If you're traipsing through poo and getting them soaking wet and full of soapy bubbles that you probably don't rinse off, of course they're going to break down and rot! And four years?! Any boots I wear every single day and do chores in die after a year. Doesn't matter how much I pay (or don't). Want to know why boots lasted longer in the old days? Because there were more repair shops around. People had their boots FIXED on the regular. It's harder these days to find boot repair shops. It's often easier to just replace the boots. I remember when I was growing up (which was apparently a really long time ago, though it doesn't so much feel that way to me) having my boots resoled and restitched pretty much yearly. And sometimes stretched to fit my growing calves. (My feet stopped growing in the fifth grade, and I don't think my legs grew much taller after that either, just wider.) And the boots didn't have as many moving parts either. They didn't have zippers. We pulled them on! And bruised our friends' asses trying to get them off at the end of the day too. Anyone remember that? Pulling off your friends' boots? Or are you all too young? It was certainly a spectacle. Anyway, that's my rant for today. 

My other "deep" thought is really quite silly but occurred to me while my mind was wandering earlier. I find people in the UK use the word "post" in reference to sending something through the mail. And their mail service is called Royal Mail. But here in the US we say we are mailing an item. (Or shipping, we use that word a lot too.) But our mail service is called the US Postal Service. So shouldn't we be saying post, and our UK friends should be saying mail? Sorry. This is how my brain works. Anyone else ever noticed this?

11 comments:

  1. As a writer from a British English-speaking country who writes exclusively in US English, post/mail and store/shop still trip me up!

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  2. While I think it’s possible that the general quality of mass produced leather products has changed in the last couple decades…. Agreed about the shoe thing. I’ve just kinda had to accept that if I wear my good boots out to the pasture to bring the horse in, or wear them to hose him off after a ride… they’re just not gonna live a long life…

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    1. Exactly! I didn't have fancy boots early on, so I think my mid range items I wore were pretty comparable to mid range items now. But once I did get my fancy boots (Vogels back then) I definitely had many repairs done to keep them looking nice and remaining functional. I feel like my Celeris boots are for sure similar quality. My De Niros not so much, but I also have the lower end model of those, so probably not a fair comparison.

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  3. The boot thing drives me crazy, too! Just swap your riding boots for a pair of sneakers or something to do chores!

    There's a local cobbler I always sent people to when they'd come to the tack store inquiring about boot repair, and they were always amazed to hear he worked on boots. So I suppose it's possible people make assumptions about where they can have repairs done and don't bother to actually ask if a shoe repair shop can do the necessary work. I don't know!

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    1. That could very well be true. In this area, there's really not many places to even inquire. I did find a great guy about forty minutes from here though. A bit of a drive, but worth it. I have a whole pile of stuff to bring him.

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  4. I wear paddock boots to the barn and put my boots on before I ride. After my ride, my paddock boots go back on. It adds a little time, but I can't afford to replace my boots annually, so I have no problem doing it. I bought a new pair of boots last year because it was less than repairing my old boots that needed extensive repairs.

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    1. Yes, that's smart! I do chores and things in paddock boots also. I am guilty of bathing in my tall boots though. With three to ride, it would be a lot to keep changing my boots all day long! But I am also fully aware of the damage that may cause and don't blame the manufacturer for my misuse.

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    2. 100% understandable. I'm only ever riding one horse, so I usually untack, remove my boots and helmet and then rinse the horse off.

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  5. I'm with you on the boot thing. If you use and abuse them, they're not going to last that long. That's why I have a daily pair and a show pair, and I don't wear my show pair to clean stalls or bathe at shows either. That's what paddock boots or regular shoes are for.

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    1. Yes! I keep my show boots in the trailer. They arne't for everyday! (I did wear them at home for a week to break them in.) Though I am guilty of bathing in my show boots. It just happens sometimes...

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