Austrian tack stores: SO DANGEROUS (even to a confirmed non-tack ho)

This week, I'm in the Czech Republic for work, but I managed to sneak down to Vienna for the day on Saturday to meet up with Tanja, who has the Dressage Hafl blog. We've met twice before, and it was so great to see her again!

She had a full day for us planned: First, shopping at two very large tack stores just outside of Vienna, and then attending an FEI show in the afternoon. I've been to a few European tack stores before, and they're fun because the brands are so different from what we have in the US. However, I usually manage to walk out with my credit card relatively unscathed since I already have so much stuff and rarely feel the need to buy more.

Uhm, yeah. So that didn't work out for me this weekend. I walked into the first store and the first thing I saw was this:

MATTES. NOTHING BUT MATTES.

And you know how much those pads are? ~$150 US, as compared to about $270 for a Euro-cut Mattes dressage pad. Luckily for me, they didn't have any color combos I really wanted in the right size, or I would have come home with them.

This one was super tempting, but it was an AP. 

Did you know that Mattes makes a "baroque" style pad? This would have looked fantastic on the Brego for jousting, but not for $350.

There were lots of other pads to choose from. This is about half of them. I managed to restrain myself.

And browbands. So many browbands.

I didn't get any pictures, but the entire second floor of the first store was clothing, and it was all matchy-matchy stuff. Breeches, polo shirts (short and long sleeved), vests, jackets... everything you could want to match the saddle pads downstairs. Even a color-challenged person like me could look super coordinated without much effort. I tried a few things on but didn't really find anything I loved, so you won't be seeing me in anything super matchy anytime soon. Sorry.

I managed to leave the first store with a few really nice brushes and a saddle pad for Taran, thinking I was doing pretty well. And then we got to the second store and my credit card basically leapt out of my wallet and went on a shopping spree.

I had tentatively been looking at some brown tall boots, because they're gorgeous. But then I saw they had real DRESS boots (the stiff kind, not like my floppy Ariat Volants that are really designed for hunter derby riders) and I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying them on.

This is actually my size in Euro sizing. Confusing as hell, since I'm a US 7.5 or EU 39. 

But, I hadn't really planned on a new pair of dress boots, so I went to look at breeches instead. I probably tried on 30 different pairs, because they actually had that many different brands/styles in my size.  Well, OK, they had more than that, those were just the ones I liked.

And this was the row of Pikeurs... in my size. This is maybe 1/10th of all the breeches in the store.

After trying on so many, I've discovered that I'm a Euro size 80, which is more or less a 28 long. Getting the "long" size meant that I didn't have the problem with tight knees that I usually do, so that was pretty amazing. I also discovered that I really prefer the tech fabrics, especially the Scholler. It just molds better and has a better feel than anything else. Besides, the Pikeurs I liked were exactly 1/2 as much as I'd pay for them in the US - thank you, strong dollar. I restrained myself to only one pair, despite the little voice in my head suggesting that I get two because they're half off, right?

And then I went back to the boots and tried them on some more. Checked prices ($300 less than in the US). Walked around more. Considered. Looked in the mirror. Asked Tanja's opinion. And somehow I found myself at the checkout with a new pair of dress boots.

So tall. So pretty. So uncomfortable.

I know it looks bad, but it's not ALL mine. 

Only this part. Good thing I brought a large suitcase that was half empty.

There were a few more items, but those are gifts and I'll have to wait to post about them. In the meantime, anybody got any suggestions for breaking in really really stiff boots?