Cinderella

The haying paddock (a.k.a the arena) is locked up for hay. So from now, till the harvest is in, I am pretty much forced to ride out.

I put the boots on Princess, and off we go. Must be spring or something, because she is really quite a handful.

Then, on the canter home, I hear a funny noise. Sort of like a puff, puff, puff. I glance down. The boots are off. Three of them. I mean they are still attached to the legs by the gaiters (thank goodness for that), but they are off. I'm ropable! And, Princess being what she is, it takes me 5 minutes to detach the boots, and another 10 minutes to hop back on. I make her stand there, while I fume.

Back at the big shed I inspect the boots. They're not designed to be cantered in, upside down. The metal bits which hold the wire are bent. Two boots are okish, but one is bent to an unusable state. I'm on the verge of crying, and on the verge of putting shoes back on my horse. Obviously, in our rocky terrain, I need those little pins to keep the clip closed.