Riding Boots/Grace Boots

These are my riding boots. My Dad calls these boots my Grace boots.

These riding boots are definitely the shoes I wear most often. Summer, spring, winter and fall, these boots are perfect. They withstand slushy snow, but on the flip side they can be very breathable too. I know I’m contradicting myself, but I swear it’s true! Whatever the weather I’m somehow comfy in these boots.

I love everything about them: the color, the lightness, the buckles, the strap in the front, the warmth, the zipper on the side, the height. Not only are they my favorite to wear but they remind me of two of my favorite things in the world too…horseback riding and Grace Potter.

I was with my Mom when I got these boots. I was at Charlotte Russe with my little brother (he was super thrilled to be there), and my Mom was somewhere else in the mall. It was around Christmas time and I was supposed to be shopping for other people. But I convinced myself it was perfectly okay to help my Mom out with her Xmas shopping, and pick out some things for myself since we were there. Plus, I can’t physically walk past Charlotte Russe without going in...they notoriously have the entire back wall designated for shoes, so you can imagine how difficult it is.

When I found them I was immediately drawn to them. They reminded me of horseback riding. I’ve been riding since I was about 10 years old and so I was used to wearing those tight tight tight riding pants and the riding boots that go up to your knees. When riding boots came into style about a year ago, I was ecstatic. I’d been wearing these for years already! My friend Shevawn, who I used to ride with a lot, jokes that we were ready for this trend since the beginning of the millennium.  

Horseback riding is an amazing experience. Having a 1,000 pound animal underneath you is terrifying and powerful at the same time. There are so many things that the average person doesn’t realize about English style horseback riding. I often hear people say that “it looks easy” and they bet they “could do it no problem.” What they don’t realize is you use every muscle in your body. You don’t just sit there and ride. There’s a technique. Your knees have to be in, close to the horse, your heels stretch down and out, while your toes are pointed toward the horse. Try to sit in that position for more than 30 seconds…it’s painful. The reins have to be laced between your fingers a certain way, thumbs pointed forward. The horses head should be down and you have to have a firm, blistered grip onto the leather reins and constantly be alternating pulls so the horses head drops. Your back will feel pain it’s never felt because you have to scooch your butt out, with your middle back in and your shoulders back. You must remain composed and perfectly straight and posed while a horse runs beneath you.

But horseback riding isn’t all pain. When you do it right, you can feel it and it’s exhilarating. The wind in your hair, the movement of the animal beneath you and the power you can control with a single clucking noise or jerk of the hand.

When I wear these boots I think about that feeling. That feeling of control, beauty and perfection.

These boots also remind me of my favorite band Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. My Dad and I are obsessed with Grace Potter and her music. They’re sound is unlike anything I’ve ever heard before and the stage presence of Grace is beyond extraordinary. Her voice is beautiful, it commands attention. Her lyrics and power in her voice are mesmerizing.

My father and I go to her concerts constantly and we even met her backstage at a concert last October. My Dad and I re-connected after a long time of being estranged over finding a common interest in Grace and her music. My father and I hold Grace Potter close in our hearts because it reminds us of what we almost lost and how amazing it was that we got it back.

Grace Potter is notorious for wearing short dresses and knee high boots. Almost every time we go to her concerts in Burlington VT, she’ll be wearing the shortest dress imaginable and the highest boots imaginable. The first day I came over to my Dad’s house wearing my riding boots, he didn’t notice until I was about to leave. He called them “grace boots” and the name has forever stuck.

When I listen to Grace Potter and the Nocturnals or talk about them with my Dad, I’m reminded of how happy I am that I’m close with my Dad again.

When I wear these boots I think about that feeling. That feeling of re-connecting again when you weren’t sure you would, of getting something back you thought was lost and the joy of being passionate about the same thing.

Shoes can remind you of things beyond people, memories, events or where you bought them. Sometimes shoes can remind you of an emotion or a passion or a moment where you felt a way you thought you couldn’t ever feel. Horseback riding and Grace Potter are important to me because I wouldn’t be who I am today without either of them. The feelings I get when I wear these shoes, or when I ride, or when I listen to Grace is beyond a material object, a blister from the reins, or a song I can’t stop listening to…there’s something deeper there, something more profound and deep-routed in our senses than a pair of cute shoes. There are bigger things going on. 


Here's a video of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals most famous song "Paris." She's so beautifully bad ass.

And below is a picture of me meeting Grace. One of the best days of my life. She loved that my Dad and I were there together. And she told me I have pretty hair. My dad said I was freaking out so much that I "practically shit my pants." Thanks Dad, haha.