Cob Jockey

A few weeks ago, I was in Grand Rapids, MI for work for the week (a fairly common occurrence) and decided use a free evening to hit the only local area tack store, Millbrook Tack.

This place is MASSIVE.  It's 20,000 square feet, and chock full of luxury English brands, as well as a gigantic western section I didn't even get into.  They had brands and items I've never seen in a tack store before - not that my area of the Midwest has that many tack stores.



I was like a kid in a candy store, but I was there on a mission for just one thing I had seen on their website: socks.

Several (four?) years ago, I bought a 3 pack of Ovation slimliner socks from a mobile tack store at a random horse show I wasn't even riding in at the Hoosier Horse Park - and I quickly couldn't live without them.  Remember when I got my half chaps they were so tight they cut off my circulation?  They're basically custom fit to my legs now, but I still can't fit much underneath them, so these socks are perfect.


When they started to wear out, people told me to try Zocks, but I just don't like that slippery, non-breathable feeling.  The Ovation slimliners have a thin cotton sock and a see-through top that's not slippery, it almost feels like cotton too.

Nope.

Others told me to try Peddies, but they're way too big for me, and I'm left with the foot part going past my ankle and the top part sticking out over my boot.  They were also far thicker than my favorite socks.  I also tried Ariat's thin boot sock, and a few other random brands.  Not even close.

Nope.

After four years of wearing three pairs of socks for every ride during the warmer months, they were definitely starting to wear.  But I couldn't find them anywhere, despite my really good Google skills!  So I continued to wear them well after they developed holes.


More holes:


So when I saw this picture on Millbrook's site:


My jaw hit the floor.  Kingsland, my favorite apparel brand (that I can't afford so I only own one item of theirs but I love it) makes virtually the same sock!  And Millbrook had them in stock!

In summary: I bought them, and they're almost the exact same as the Ovations, but even better in terms of quality and comfort.  The first chance I had to wear them was at the Indy Dressage Classic, and to Mary's credit, she didn't punch me in the face when I said, "These socks are amaaaaaaaazing!" for the seventeenth time that weekend.

Not to wax poetic too much about socks, but this is the culmination of a couple years of struggle for me: do I keep wearing holey socks, why can't I find more of these socks to buy, why don't I like any other socks as much, why am I so picky about socks.

Pros:
- Pretty much the same sock as my beloved Ovations
- Better quality fabric used on both the foot and the leg vs. the Ovations
- Probably better longevity based on fabric quality and construction
- They fit me better than the Ovations did
- Very breathable fabric
- The toe seam is on the tips of the toes instead of the top of the toes
- Price is almost 3 times what I paid for the Ovation socks ($11 for a 3-pack), but totally reasonable at $29.95 for a 3-pack

Toe seam on the tips of the toes.  This really makes a bigger difference in comfort than I thought it would.

Cons:
- I can't wear them in winter?  I really can't think of a single thing to dislike about them after riding in them for a month.  They're perfection in every way.

They had two 3-packs in stock, and I didn't feel like I could spend $60 in one sitting on socks, even on the greatest socks in the world, so I bought one...and then later bought the other 3-pack online, because I can totally spend $30 on socks twice but not $60 on socks at once.  Ha. Ha.  And hopefully rotating six pairs through instead of 3 makes them last forever.

What are your favorite socks?