I have LaMundial dressage boots. They took 7 months to receive - but after waiting a lifetime for tall boots that actually fit and I didn’t have to pay a mint for…I have to say I LOVE them. I got the thick black leather with reinforced inner calf. They took a good 20 rides to start really breaking in and now they are almost perfect. They are easy to clean…use Lexol wipes for the every day cleaning and Effax LeatherCombi for deep cleaning. Have to say - they are great. Customer service is extremely lacking, however, now that I have a pair - I’m very happy. I was fitted by a mobile tack shop…and the fitter did a LOT of the communicating with LaMundial for me…so I didn’t have to deal too much with the lack…however, the time it took - that was unacceptable.
I realize this is kind of an old thread, but I got a pair of these about a year ago. Several of us at my barn were ordering, so a fitter came out one afternoon to measure everyone at the same time. He took 45-60 minutes to measure me, and remeasure, because my left ankle is a lot bigger than my right due to some old injuries. They came about a week late, but fit perfect and are around a year and a half old and still look great!
I do have an issue with the zippers, which zip from top to bottom, not staying up. I used to have that problem with half chaps, so I think it is something I do with my leg.
A few months ago one of the spur rests came off, and I just took them to a local shoe repair who fixed it for $20. I didn’t feel like that was that big of a deal.
My trainer has at least 2 pairs of these, as do several other riders, so our experience may have something to do with the volume they see through my trainer.
One of the other adults I ride with has the Parlantis - and they are gorgeous as well!
I just got a new pair shipped to me a few weeks ago and they actually fit this time around. I am worried they will stretch out a little too much but time will tell. At this time they go on and fit well. The sole looks a little slippery so I plan to take them to th elocal cobbler and have a grippy rubber half sole put on. Just relieved I have boots but sadly I bought some sergios because I had given up hope. With shipping and multipal customs they have cost me around 1000.00.
I was curious to see what these boots looked like — and the web site seems to have disappeared. :eek:
The front page is still there, but when you hit ENTER, there is nothing else to go to.
Le sigh…
I guess it is trying to tell me something.
I wish I would have seen this before I got mine…
Long story short, I now have 2 pairs: one too short and the others too tall.
I wear the short ones around the barn at home, and so far I have had to get both zippers replaced (one zipper getting replaced currently, hah), the heel fell off one of them one day, the calves have started getting holes and the leather is cracking… mind you, these are less than a year old. Frustrating!
Ordered a pair at the Royal 2010. They arrived on exactly the day they said they would. Beautiful and a perfect fit. Two years old now and still in great shape. Will definitely order from La Mundial again.
La Mundial boots
RUN -DON’T WALK- AWAY FROM DOING BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY!!!
They will take your money - not deliver until well past the 90 day window you have for contesting a charge on your credit card- and you stand a very good chance of never getting your boots. That’s what happened to me - no boots - no refund - no way of getting anything back from this thoroughly disreputable company. They’re based in South America, so good luck getting any resolution to your case.
Unfortunately I have to agree. I ordered boots from them. Boots arrived and were terrible quality leather and did not fit at all. I spoke to the rep and he was very nice about agreeing to take them back and exchange them. He remeasured me, and since the boots had been way too short last time, I stressed that I REALLY wanted the boots to be super tall with a Spanish top. I asked that they be taller than he thought they should be, because I like boots extra tall.
My second pair of boots arrive- and they are still WAY too short and have no Spanish top. They are too loose in the ankle but a little too tight in the calf. The leather is very poor quality compared to all my old tall boots (Ariats, Ariat Monacos, and Vogels). The zippers never stay up- they literally fall down every time I ride in the boots. The boots don’t get very shiny because of the poor leather quality. I couldn’t get in contact with the company to return them- no customer service.
There is $550 I will never get back.
La Mundial boots - = disaster
They’re very clever in that they wait until it is close to too late to dispute a charge to send you their shoddy product. Then when you dispute the charge they fight it and you will spend fruitless hours on the phone trying to get your money back. Meanwhile, I had to buy boots to make up for the ones I never received from them. Even after my disasterous experience, they promised to replace the boots that were wrong the first time - and this second pair was never delivered. They are a truly awful company and I think the shows that allow them to have a booth should be notified that buyers are being ripped off.:mad:
This is without a doubt the most frustrating and non-productive retail experience I have ever had. Horrendous. I am out $650 and have no boots.
Let the buyer beware
Well, Same song different day. If you buy these use American Express so you can contest the charges. I did and was refunded. (Although La Mundial seems to be unaware of that.)
Mine showed up over a month after the promise date.After run around after run around I was told they were held up in customs and would show up soon.
They did…the foot is too small and they are too tall although they might break down okay. It took at least 10 phone calls to get through with someone as they constantly hung up on me.
What I have surmised is that they must have some Ecuadorean sweat shop kicking out these boots. Their website is now up, and they have a huge line of supposedly custom boots and apparently they are trying to rival Ariat and other custom boot makers. They now have representatives all over the country.
It is up for grabs whether you receive a decent quality boot without problems.
I will see to it that they don’t get a booth at Spruce Meadows in the future with the problems that fill the 3 pages of this forum and probably many more unreported.
The only way to stop this kind of greasy operation is to keep them from being able to sell at North American venues. Hate to put all those Ecuadorians out of work, but this is nonsense.
They finally sent me a shipping label in png format that I had to convert to jpg to print, otherwise it didn’t print correctly even with PDF, and promised to fix them but with a problem in the foot, they have to send them back to Ecuador.
I will send these back and tell them to keep them. It is too bad the leather is so soft and sweet, but I don’t have time for this nonsense.:mad:
p.s. there is a hint when one boot bag comes with a handle and the other doesn’t. The current website has misspelling up and down.
Love my boots
I ordered my pair at Spruce Meadows Masters in September and they arrived this morning. So yes, a little late, but they’re GORGEOUS and fit like a glove. I’m currently wearing them around to break them in, but I honestly feel like I could ride in them tonight.
Lord Helpus, that website quirk happens to me on my laptop (PC) too, but on my husband’s Mac it works without a problem.
Seriously, for the price, I’m extremely happy.
I love my boots too!
I got my boots RIGHT on time and they are GORGEOUS! They fit great, a little snug on top of my foot but has gotten better (ive only ridden in them 2 times)
My trainer has 2 pairs and absolutely loves them along with a few other people at our barn… all of which have nothing but great things to say about these boots!
I am so surprised at all the negative comments! Hopefully mine last! I had vogels before these and the zipper broke 3 times within the first two years of owning them… my boots didnt fit AT ALL when i first got them, and they ripped after 3 years
I have a pair of paddock boots. They are ok, needed to use a sneaker insert to make them comfy. The first zipper broke, it is up the back as I wanted lace up look, so I sent them back and they fixed them, it did take a long time.
They aren’t that comfy though.
I have two pairs of Dehners, field with no zipper and zip up dress.
I will stick with Dehners, support craftsmen and women in the USA, and IMO if you can afford custom tall boots, you can probably save a little bit more and get American made…or if you are European, made in Europe.
My dress boots with a zipper were under $700! But would be $750 + $100 for the zippers now, and Dehners has a sale every year where you can get 150 off, so it would be $700. The field boots are calf so that leather starts at $945 but I ordered those with the sale, added gussets and those were 790 when I bought them, they would be 895 with that sale in today’s prices.
I think I have had the dress boots for six years now and the field for four. The calf is extremely comfortable and shines up amazingly, but it it will not last as long as the Voyager leather, which also shines well.
All of mine are fully lined because I need them to last, they were big purchases that I saved up to buy.
A friend ordered a pair maybe three years ago at Equine Affaire. Finally got boots and they were not tall enough. To be fair, her legs are tall and skinny and maybe they thought the 4" or whatever had already been added? She tried to make them work but realized they weren’t going to as they broke in. Contacted company and brought boots to Equine Affaire the next year. They offered to put tops on and took the boots. Not sure what the next sequence of events was but there were problems. Her husband is fluent in Spanish and very persistent. Somehow she ended up with the “fixed” pair and a new pair that she was happy with. Except I think there was a problem with a zipper that she got repaired stateside.
Based on their experience (I don’t have a husband, let alone a persistent Spanish-speaking one) and reading what I’ve read here and hearing that the soles are kind of thin I personally would not order them.
YMMV.
RUN AWAY … don’t walk
Run away from La Mundial and Karol King, their California rep. When I ordered and they charged my Visa up front, I was assured I would have them in time for Thermal. Three months later, Thermal in full swing and no boots. Now Karol King has stopped answering my voice mails and it is, of course, past 90 days so I cannot get my VISA refunded.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.
Now I’m of to starve myself to get back in to my beautiful Fabbri boots which arrived 4 weeks to the day from the day I ordered them and fit like a glove … until I gained 25 pounds. GRRRRR
I got my La Mundial boots on Monday and I love them. I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on them. They fit really well and the leather is gorgeous. So far I am happy with them. It did take 5 months for them to come in but it was worth the wait. I did call them a few times for updates. I was supposed to get them at the end of February but was told they were delayed by a month.
Just don’t do it! Don’t buy La Mundial!
For those of you who actually received boots that fit and have held up, congratulations, you just won the lottery. For all the rest of us, that was $550 I’ll never get back. I was relatively persistent, they sent me 4 different pairs of boots over a 2.75 year period. I finally gave up. The last pair almost fits (too small, the zippers will not go up all the way.) I can wear them if I put electrical tape around the top to hold the zipper up (about an inch from the top). Woo hoo – what a great buy I made! (your sarcasm meter should be in the red as you read that) Tried to get my money back thru VISA but it was obviously way too late. They lie, they do shoddy work, and good luck finding someone to talk to even if you are persistent. The reps are useless, they will not help you…I imagine after they’ve been there long enough they realize they are like rats on a sinking ship…
The thing is, my calves change shape quite constantly. So if it’s just the leg, not height or foot size, that doesn’t fit, well… maybe it’s because your calves have changed in the time since the fitting? Honestly, my Ariats, and my La Mundials both don’t fit sometimes when I’m having ‘one of those days’. But that’s my problem, not the maker of the boot! Height, unless you’re growing, or foot size, yup, maker problem.
I still love mine, and they’ve broken in (if you can call it that, I was jumping in them my second ride!) wonderfully. for the price difference, and the horror stories I’ve heard about every type and level of boot maker, I’d definitely take the risk again.
I’ve got a pair that I love. I have the most ridiculous leg to fit and no off-shelf boots would fit my long narrow feet and average lookin calves (I swear the foot size I need must be made for giants in the leg!!! GRR!) Tried all sorts of brands, new and used… saw a booth at the FTW Stock Show years back and we talked to them and I sat down to get measured. I’ve always been a “budget rider” so the 400-500 for custom boots was a godsend! 
Got them in right around when they were supposed to be there and they looked and fit great! I still have them to this day although my calves have gotten a bit bigger over the years and zipping is a bit pf an issue… time for gullets to be put in!
