Custom dressage boot recommendations

[Zevida]

My boots no longer fit, are woefully out of style, and are falling apart. Due to the combo of my calf and foot size I need to get custom. (Extra extra wide calf plus large/wide foot.)

My current pair are Dehners and I’ve generally been happy with them but they don’t offer a lot of options and have things on their website like they discourage zippers which seems really out of date - maybe their site is just way out of date? My current pair (13 years old?) have zippers and have been great, but I am looking for things like zippers and even elastic to allow for some give.

I was also considering DeNiros but I don’t have any experience with them.

Any thoughts on either of those or others I should consider.

[Feathered_Feet]

I have some new custom De Niros and I love them. Soooooo many options for customization means you can get exactly what you what, in the specific shade of {insert color here} you want. They took ~ 3-4 months to get to me once the order was placed.

A lot of people at my barn also have LM Boots (Le Mondial, I think?) and love them, and they look great, and I think are a bit cheaper than De Niros. I opted for the De Niros because I had a very specific look in mind and LM had fewer customization options (but still a lot).

[BMargieRad]

I recommend Kingsley - the most comfortable boot I’ve ever worn (always had Dehners which I loved).
I’ve ordered mine through The Dressage Store https://www.thedressagestore.com
Kristina is great to work with. Use the online configurator to design and have fun!
https://configurator.kingsleyfootwear.com

[BrokenArrow]

I have a lot of friend’s who are riding in Celeris boots.

They’re fully custom. Reasonably priced and have a multitude of options. I’ve never heard a bad word about them. I’m currently saving up for my own show pair and funky fun ones for home.

[Piaffe11]

My experience with Celeris wasn’t great. If you do go that route, I would suggest going through a rep versus working directly with the company.

I follow Reitstiefel Kempkens on Instagram - they seem to produce lots of custom boots for high level riders and have some fun designs/colours.

I also have a pair of custom Petries which fit me like a glove and are very comfortable. Not sure if they do much in the way of fun colours yet though.

[Jealoushe]

@BrokenArrow

Reasonably priced

I think this is subjective last I looked they are around £1300

[eponacelt]

I love love love my Konigs, and they can be fully customized. I ordered through Beth at The Horse of Course.

That said, I have friends who are now riding in Kingleys and they LOVE them, and the customization of them is amazing and beautiful, so worth checking out.

[BrokenArrow]

@Jealoushe

I think this is subjective last I looked they are around £1300

Really? I priced a pair of plain black patent ones without all the bells and whistles. The softer variety ended up being around $800AUD while the stove pipes were just over $1100AUD. Patents and coloured designs were significantly more expensive than plain leather.

For custom patent boots, it’s one of the more reasonable prices I’ve come across. My husband has different sized calves and had to go the custom option. His boots that were done by a local bootmaker in plain leather were a lot more expensive than what I got quoted for my Celeris boots. That bootmaker was good though because it’s a 6 month wait and you pay them off as you go. Still a little heart stopping when you find out the actual prices.

[Mersidoats]

I have a pair of custom DeNiro field boots for my everyday boot. Love them. I’ve replaced the zippers once, they lasted 3 years of hard riding. I will most likely have to get a patch put on the calf soon because I think I’m about to bust through. Even though they were custom, they still were tight when I first got them and it did hurt to break them in. Now I can wear them all day.

Kingsley has a lot of fun colors and styles, and you can build a virtual boot in their simulator… not that I would know anything about that.

[LetItBe]

I love my custom DeNiros and they fit perfectly. I went with a slightly larger then measured foot as that’s what I tend to wear and all the other measurements were just spot on. Never even really had to break them in. Lots of customization available I’ve got green leather trim, zippers and spur rests.

LetItBe

[soloudinhere]

I ordered 2 pairs of Celeris boots…neither of them ended up fitting the way I wanted.

I now have Kingsleys (2 pair) and a pair from Pioneer - but caveat, the Pioneer boots were made in a stock size. The Kingsleys fit perfect and I’d order another for sure. Their stock boots start at 600, and they have a pretty wide range of stock sizes. Full custom I think starts around $850.

[emo]

I totally agree with the recommendation of Kingsley. I got mine from Cu at X tack, based in Wellington. They’re great to work with!

[Zevida]

Thank you so much for all the suggestions! I had been thinking of pretty traditional black boots and now I’m dreaming of navy boots with a paisley pattern top. Maybe I’m about to buy two pairs of boots…

And I need to brush up on rules about boots for competition.

[starsandsun]

Hmmm … I ordered Dehner’s last year, and they had zero problem putting in zippers. Maybe something has changed. These are my second pair; they wear really well for me so I was delighted to be able to get the old ones replaced.

[Jealoushe]

@BrokenArrow

Really? I priced a pair of plain black patent ones without all the bells and whistles. The softer variety ended up being around $800AUD while the stove pipes were just over $1100AUD. Patents and coloured designs were significantly more expensive than plain leather.

That is what their instagram page showed me! But I never went to the actual website.

[RatWrangler]

My trainer is a Kingsley rep, and one of the cool things about those boots is that the base price is the price–it includes all the customization, not like a lot of the other companies where as soon as you start changing things, the $ start going up.

[CLB15]

Those with Celeris- good & bad, did you measure yourself or go through a rep?
I just got a pair of Kingsley boots from Misty View Equestrian. I’d had all Petrie boots for the past 12 years, but love my new boots and MVE was excellent to work with. The Kingsley online configurator was also nice to form ideas.
I’d been considering LM boots- I’d read some bad experiences of them online (though in general I think people are more likely to share negative experiences more than positive ones) but we have a rep in our area and have heard all happy feedback on the fit & customizations.

[lorilu]

SUprised no one has mentioned Romitelli. Very comfy. Great designs. Definitely affordable. We have an agent right here in Ocala, and they are great to work with, present at many shows. http://romitellibootssocal.com/

[Anglo-Trak]

I have an older pair of Dehner field boots that I just had zippers put in to. They also added a gusset. Their website may not encourage zippers, but I think that’s just dated verbiage. If they fit you well otherwise, you could send them in to be added.