You were really close, I think these fixes should point you in the right direction. I went through and addressed some of your syntax issues and your conditional hooks. Hopefully this will get you rolling in the right direction.
// Load 'Working' jQuery
add_action( 'init', 'jquery_register' );
// register from google and for footer
function jquery_register() {
if ( is_admin() )
return;
wp_deregister_script( 'jquery' );
wp_register_script( 'jquery', 'https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.7.1/jquery.min.js', false, null, true );
wp_enqueue_script( 'jquery' );
}
// Try this Equal height:
function my_equal_height() {
wp_enqueue_script( 'equal_height', get_template_directory_uri().'/scripts/equalheight.js', 'jquery', null, true );
}
add_action( 'wp_head', 'my_equal_height' );
Let me know how this solution works for you 🙂