[QUOTE=Equibrit;5905880]
Option #2…unless;
You want to be viewed as a poser/upstart/ignoramus/wannabe, or the subject of scorn and derision.:D[/QUOTE]
See: “Princess Daisy” when Robert Urich decides to take up hunting to get close to Daisy and ends up with the wrong boots 
I would wear the field boots for now. Since the boots are new you ought to go back to the store and see if they can have the tops modified so that they are snap on. The tops on my Dehners snap on. Even though I bought this particular pair of boots to use for hunting only with an insulated foot, fully lined and all that I still had it so the tops could come off. That way if some day I ever become full time staff or something I can get a pair of brown tops made. But if they can be made to snap on they will be much more versatile. I know the way Dehner does it you can’t tell by looking at them that the tops are snap on and it does help when you want to really thoroughly clean them to be able to take the tops off.
When I worked at Horse Country I once had a TOTAL brain fart and told a woman competitor in the Field Hunter Championships to wear WHITE breeches. Needless to say she did NOT win and was told why. Quite rightly I was called on the carpet and was SO EMBARASSED! I mean I knew better. It was just a brain fart. We couldn’t award her a ribbon, but we DID give her a pair of tan breeches for my carelessness.
So. What I would do if I were you is: a) go back to the tack shop and tell the OWNER what happened and how you were relying on the shop assistant for advice. Get them to talk to the boot maker. Not sure who made your boots, but Dehner can certainly remove the tops and you’ll have a perfect pair of dress boots to learn to hunt in. If the tack store owner has any sense they’ll absorb any charges.
b) next call Horse Country @ 800-882-4868 and speak to Jean about any other apparel questions you have (as an ex J-MFH she knows the etiquette backwards and forwards and many hunts’ particular quirks), then ask to speak to Jenny in the book department. She’ll send you the booklet recommended earlier, “Riding to Hounds in America” by Wadsworth. It’s $6.00 new and you’ll use it so often it’s really worth buying new.
It’s good that you have a sense of humor about yourself, it’s indispensable in the hunt field!
new info!
I’d like to recommend Resole America. They are a franchise cobbler/shoe repair business that does work for most of the tack shops in our area. Located in a warehouse in Vint Hill Station. They take ship ins/outs. Huge operation with about 8 work stations and racks of boots/shoes being worked on. I learned they do work for all the local shoe repair places. EX: local shoe repair place will charge you something on top of what it costs them to send it out to R.A. to actually do the work. I found a Warrenton place charging $92 for full new soles on my boots. They don’t actually DO it but send it out to RA. Resole charged me $55.00 to do BOTH boots soles AND new heels! RA does soles/heels for many of the shoe repair places in northern Va. It’s a huge operation apparently. Glad I found them! RA does the work on boots for Journeymans in Middleburg even! When I was there picking up mine on friday I asked about removing tops and yes they can do. They don’t put tops on though I think she said.
[QUOTE=holdhard;5908227]
Dear Blues Buster,
I get to have an opinion, as I have been hunting since '67 (not 1867, despite the rumours.)
Here is what you must do. Put your perfect topped boots away in a box, taking care to store them correctly. Next, become a perfect member of whatever hunt you have joined. Arrive on time, don’t follow others too closely when riding, open gates, help with trail clearing, help with fundraising events, don’t chatter while hounds are working, etc. etc. Secretly, in your heart-of-hearts, hope that someday you will be awarded colors and thus be invited to wear your lovely boots along with them. Never voice this aloud; make it your secret dream. Once or twice a year you may take your boots out of the box to admire them and condition them. Put them back until the hoped-for day when your value to the hunt is publicly recognized by the entire membership. Once this happens, you may be justly proud, but I hope not so proud that you lord it over newcomers who, like an earlier you, are trying to learn the ropes.
And have fun.
Paul Mellon’s love child[/QUOTE]
Or, do as my non-riding dad did to skip all this pesky work. He got a bee in his bonnet to be a foxhunter (actually, I htink the problem wa in another part of his clothing) he bought a total packer, joined a hunt with very loose standards and paid for alot of stuff. Mostly alchohol. I was shocked when he was awarded his colors in his second season. Mostly cuz I had heart failure every time I saw him jump. Think weebles wobble :lol:. Then, he goes and gets a pink, so every flipping newbie will think he can be relied on to get them home safely if they choose to follow him and not the rest of the field, being led by people who know what they are doing.
Totally tongue in cheek! You will miss the whole point of hunting if you take the easy route!!
JSwan covered this.
Final update.
I spoke with the boot manufacturer, La Mundial, and they will remove the patent tops and replace them with normal leather for free as long as I pay the shipping ($115).
I haven’t decided yet if I’m going to do this or just keep those boots in the closet until I, hopefully, get my colors someday. I’m not sure if the boots will look nice or if I’ll look like Batwoman if I swap out the tops…decisions, decisions.
Thank you all for giving me so much advice and especially for sharing some of your stories- they made me feel so much better!
I hope you all are having a great fall and, ofcourse, Happy Hunting!
[QUOTE=Ridley;5907577]
…only members with colors wore frock coats.
.[/QUOTE]
This is NOT universally true. It may be true for that particular hunt, but it is not true for all hunts.
good to know
[QUOTE=Jennifer Alcott;5917933]
This is NOT universally true. It may be true for that particular hunt, but it is not true for all hunts.[/QUOTE]
Interesting. The tack shop was in Middleburg, and I hunt in Maryland, but she never asked which hunt. and, here I thought I was saved from humiliation! Opening hunt is this Sunday – I’ll check out who’s wearing what – and ask the master!
I would wear your new boots and not worry about other people’s opinions.
I’m sure you spent a lot of money, where those beauties with pride!:yes:
Actually, no. “Correct” or “proper” attire in the USA is that a member that has not been awarded colors or buttons does NOT wear a frock coat – nor do they wear a shadbelly. Most people are clueless regarding correct hunt attire, however, so it becomes acceptable at some hunts. But acceptable does not equal being correct. So the M’burg tack store that the OP was at was correct in stating that she should not being wearing a frock coat if she does not have her colors, acceptable within the hunt or not.
[QUOTE=SidesaddleRider;5930001]
Actually, no. “Correct” or “proper” attire in the USA is that a member that has not been awarded colors or buttons does NOT wear a frock coat – nor do they wear a shadbelly. [/QUOTE]
Is there a definitive guide to this standard attire? I’m really curious.
AHSA rulebooks from the 1920s and 1930s spell out various appointments and items. I do not remember them stating the frock vs hunt coat, but if you research what was proper (or just speak to the “old timers”), you can easily find out attire guidelines.
I keep talking about writing a book on this, as it isn’t that hard, but it is interesting, and I didn’t earn the nickname of “proper hunt attire nazi” without a reason…
I’m going to go on a limb and say that while all traditions change to a degree, change comes much faster to oral/unwritten tradition than to that which is codified in writing.
I’m only saying that because if you believe that hunting traditions are being lost (not passed down from older to newer members), perhaps wiriting a book may be quite useful.
Yes, please write a book!!! Pretty please with sugar on top.
OP - disregard Post #30. Show up to hunt with those boots and you’ll be labeled a poseur. Not a good way to start your hunting career. It’s akin to showing up with a scarlet coat for eventing or jumpers. You don’t display something you haven’t earned.
A huge DITTO on this.
(and OK, JSwan, I’ll get started on it this winter…)
Actually SideSaddleRider, I beg to differ. Ladies without colors may wear frocks and shadbellies…and gents without colors may wear frocks, too. IF this is not universal, it is certainly widespread/ widely recognized.
And I too have often been coined as the resident turnout Nazi…
You may feel free to differ. However,as I have already said, many hunts PERMIT ladies to wear frocks and/or shadbellies when they do not have their colors. Yes, such permission is widespread. No, it is not universal. Such permission, though, does NOT make it CORRECT, it makes it “acceptable” within that hunt. There is a difference.
Many, many people think they know “correct” turnout, when in reality they know “proper” turnout for their hunt. Again, there is a difference. Correct turnout says no frock/shadbelly for a lady without her colors. Correct turnout says a man can wear a black frock coat when he has earned his buttons. He should also then wear white breeches with tan-topped boots. But again, just because a male member w/o colors shows up wearing a black frock or weaslebelly when he hasn’t been awarded colors or buttons, and no one says anything, so he (and others) continue to do so, does not make it correct, it makes it permissible.
I’m not a turnout nazi (an admitted fuddy duddy) but that’s what I was taught too.
Frocks and shads were for members with colors. I’m aware that hunts differ and that turnout varies (an example would be two locals hunts who wear rust britches as part of their livery for formal turnout). Guess for every rule there is an exception. An example would be for guests who hunted with us for Opening Meet - the Master permitted them to wear the colors of their home hunt. But one should not assume that members with colors can wear them when hunting with other hunts. The Master permitted it for that day. (Which was spectacular, by the way)
Anyway - I volunteer my big horse as a model. SidesaddleRider can decide if he can serve as an example, or a terrible warning.
Oh, an example, I am sure!
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