Buying Men's Dressage/Dress Boots

[youngrider01232]

Hi All,

I’m posting here for any advise anyone can give me. I’ve finally worn through my half chaps and I’m starting to look for a pair of tall boots.

It seems close to impossible to find a store, much less a local retailer, that carries any substantial selection of mens boots. Dover has said that if I send them my measurements they will enquire with their vendors. I don’t know how successful that will be, but I definitely plan on doing so.

In the mean time, it seemed worth while to see if anyone online had any ideas.

Manly, the questions I have are these:

What are the best, but affordable manufactures, especially for boots that fit men? I say “that fit men” because my next questions is, how different is a women’s boot from a men’s boot?

The brands I’ve initially thought to look at are Tredstep and Ariat. I’ve always worn Ariat before and loved their paddock boots, but they seem to have a limited tall boot selection. That being said, when I tried on a few of the ladies boots in a store the Tredstep seemed to have too small of an ankle, while I liked the feel of the Ariat Winchester.

If anyone has any advise shopping for mens dress boots, or even just suggestions on the brands to look for I’d love to hear them.

If it helps, here are my measurements, I don’t know how typical they are:

Calf:34cm/13"
Hight: 42-44cm/17"
Ankle:22cm/8.5"
Length: 28cm/11"
Width:10cm/4"

Thanks!

[egood]

I have a pair of Ariat dress boots that I ordered through a small local tack shop about 4/5 years ago. The problem I had with them originally is that the calf size I ordered was slightly too large, and the next smaller calf size was too tight. I ended up buying the smaller calf size and having a local shoemaker stretch the boots for me. Otherwise they’ve held up well. My only complaint is that the heel will slide down sometimes when I’m riding.

Other than Ariat, probably the other decent, more affordable brand would be Petrie, although I’ve never worn any of their boots. When I have to buy another pair I’ll probably go for the really good brands like Cavallo or Konig, even though they’re much more expensive.

[hoopoe]

did you do these measurements yourself, or did someone experienced do it?

if you did them yourself, you really need to go to a good store and have someone measure for you. It is difficult to get accurate self measure and there is a knack to properlu measuring

even if they do not have mens boots in stock for your size, they should be able to look at the manufacturers charts and tell you the size, if available, They can then order them for you

it may mean you need to take a little road trip, but this is an investment worth doing right

personally I like Petrie for a good quality, economical boot.

If someone experienced did these measures, you can go on line and find size charts and order on line

dressage extensions is probably the largest distributor… at least they were when I was active

[soloudinhere]

I would look into deniro. There are Canadian retailers who can help you with sizing and if you are in the US the price is very favorable.

Men’s boots will have less curve to the calf, a wider ankle, wider foot, and higher instep generally speaking. Your measurements don’t indicate you are a large man. Are you very tall?

[scruffy_the_cat]

http://www.straffordsaddlery.com/category/mens-riding-boots

[youngrider01232]

These are great reply, thank you!

@soloudinhere No, I’m only about 5’8"

[HSS]

Why are you looking specifically for men’s boots? Is your shoe size over a ladies 11?

Mine is, and I’ve worn Petrie’s for 20 years- worse case scenario you need a semi-custom with them, and you can order them from dressage extensions. They aren’t that expensive, because they wear like iron. Easily get 6-8 years from a pair, even if you ride in them every day, like I do.

[Silverbridge]

@HSS;8596711

Why are you looking specifically for men’s boots? Is your shoe size over a ladies 11?

There are more differences than just the foot length, between men’s and women’s boots. Generally speaking (and as already mentioned) men’s feet are wider and higher, and men’s ankles are thicker.

Of course there are exceptions and he could probably scour the consignment world for some custom boots that were fit to a woman with coarser feet. But why do that when most manufactures do make boots for men, too? Semi custom would still mean ordering so he may as well order a product intended for his gender from the heel up.

You should see Kinky Boots the musical if it comes through your area. The entire plot is centered on the differences between how boots made for women don’t work for men. Plus the music by Cyndi Lauper is amazing.

To the OP I had the same issues and ended up with custom DeNiros, ordered from and measured by a mobile vendor (Barbara at Horse & Rider Boutique.) I originally wanted Konigs but the local rep wouldn’t measure me for full custom. I agree with those who say you should use an experienced fitter to take the measurements given the cost.

[arabiansrock]

My son purchased Tredstep Mens field boots (he is a dressage rider but they are allowed), and he is very happy with them, reasonable price and fit perfect.