What brand of Dress Boots do you wear? Do you have full custom boots or off the shelf boots? Do you wear them for schooling and showing? What do you like/ don’t like?
Thank you!
Ariat off the shelf for show. I like them because they are not stiff and hold up well. For various reasons I did not show for several years so these are not the most current design - makes me want to update but I probably wont.
For schooling - Mountain Horse. For me, one horse/day rider, they hold up extremely well - over 3 yrs , at $250. I actually saved first pair after buying a replacement as they were still decent but in need of a heel. Full gusset along zipper line is a great addition. I’m one of those who is not big on cleaning, or other maintenance of my schooling boots. Like the size options, as my legs are short.
Dress boots or dressage boots? I ask only because there’s a difference between the two. I have both dress boots which have a softer leg and dressage boots, which have the stiff leg. My dress boots, which I school in, are Ariat V-Sports (the black ones with the blue trim on the top), and my dressage (show/clinic) boots are DeNiro Raphaellos which were fully custom. Absolutely zero break-in time for the Ariats and minimal break-in time for the DeNiros. What I love about the Ariats is that they’re super comfortable and feel like a sneaker on my feet. The DeNiros are beautiful and I love them, but I’m starting to feel like the shape looks kind of dorky since they’re stiff and I have a chubby calf. They don’t have that super nice straight leg that you get if you have a size 14" calf and are a little more curved/shaped. :lol: Whatever, though…I’ll still wear them!
DeNiro, full custom.
Off-the-shelf dress.dressage boots for men are not even an option. You might find a special purchase/closeout, or women’s boots in very large sizes, or men’s field boots with which you decide to make do.
I don’t know if there’s a tack shop in the Country that routinely stocks mens dressage boots. Maybe in Wellington. I have not been there but I’ve heard from others that they might.
I had to travel out of state in order to order the DeNiros from a mobile vendor. There is nothing local to try on as far as samples, and there’s nobody local to measure for custom. There is a local dealer for Konig and I tried that route but they wouldn’t measure me for a custom order.
Cavallo Piaffe Plus, ordered from Calevo in Germany. I fit an “off the shelf” size.
Winter schooling: Ariat Bromont dress boots (Horseloverz sale).
Summer schooling DeNiro Dressage boot (bought off of Smartpak on killer deal around July 4th), brown.
Show: Konig Favorit, off the shelf, black (Dressage Extensions sale).
My favorite in terms of fit/stiffness is DeNiro. I like my Konigs well enough, but the fit isnt quite as good as DeNiro for me. The swell for the calf on the Deniro is in a better spot that matches to my leg than the Konigs. Eventually I will get black DeNiros. No need to go custom for me.
The Ariats are great for winter, they are insulated but super breathable- so your feet stay DRY and warm. The dress version took longer to break in/shape than the original field-boot style I had prior (before they made the Bromont in dress-style). They are not super stiff boots- but supportive enough. Also, for some reason the right boot is a bit of a pain to zip up for the last inch…its almost too long or something for my right leg. I don’t have this problem with any of my other boots, and I suspect if I took a close enough look I’d find there is probably an issue with the construct of that right boot. The left is great though, haha.
Years ago I wanted to get fully custom boots, and I thought I’d go with an American company…so I went with Dehner. Pretty much a waste of money. They cost hundreds more than the options above, they never did fit right, I tried wearing them, breaking them in, adding zippers after-market, and, well, they just suck. Quality was good - but they are nice to look at and have on hand in the event of a boot emergency (lol) and that is about it.
Good luck!
Cavallo Passage Plus, off the shelf (they have a TON of sizes). Very affordable (similar to Ariats) if you buy directly from Europe. I have an every day pair and a show pair, although I need to replace zippers in the every day pair, so right now, riding in the show boots.
i have two pairs of boots - my brown soft DeNiro dress boots (which i love love love and would never have bothered to buy another pair of boots had i not moved and been forced to trailer out to ride in the winter and have to trudge through mud). i have worn them for everything - schooling, shows, x-country, trails - LOVE!! they were technically off the shelf but as DeNiro has so many “standard” fit options, they fit me like custom.
my second pair of boots were a more recent purchase - Ariat Volant S. these are my answer to the mud and muck issue of trailering out to ride on a daily basis. they’re much stiffer than my DeNiros and so are taking longer to break in but they look nice and i think would actually clean up well to show in should i decide to show in black rather than brown. 
these i also got off the shelf as Ariat seems to have a decent amount of fit options that worked for me.
Schooling: ariat volant, show: ancient Petries
For schooling I used to wear a pair of Mountain Horse dress boots that I got of closeout for $30! at my local tack shop! THey were a little big, but not terribly so and were super soft and comfy. Unfortunately the zipper broke about a month ago after 3-4 years of use, and b/c my care for them was nonexistent, the leather had started cracking on the foot so I threw them away. For shows I have a pair of custom Konig Grandjesters that I’m trying to slowly break in by schooling in them, but can only force myself to wear them about 1x/week b/c they leave me w/ beautiful bruises of the backs of my knees (though now is probably the right time to do it since I’m wearing tights with all my dresses and skirts!). Otherwise I wear my old Grand Prix paddock boots with Ariat half chaps.
Might have a vendor out at some point at a clinic - I will keep you posted!
UGH - above to Silverbridge, sorry, I can’t edit post and apparently cannot reply with quote either.
I wear Petries but just got a pair of gorgeous other Italian boots. 
Full custom from Kroop Boots. I like being measured for boots by one of the people who will actually make them. Perhaps unsurprisingly they fit perfectly from the get-go, with the small exception of the top needing to settle a bit; no other break-in issues at all. Despite a more-than-ample collection of paddock boots and half-chaps I’ve worn only the Kroop boots ever since I got them.
My new boots are custom Konig Excelsiors in brown with a caramel top. Due to flash the top looks lighter than it is.
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My 6 year old boots are Vogel dress boots.
Pluses: The new boots are SOOOOO pretty. The Vogels fit me like a second skin and did from the start, still the most comfortable things I put on my feet.
Minuses: Custom boots are stupid expensive. I have small feet and calves which would fit in multiple brands in wide if my feet were one size larger. Instead, no off the shelf boots fit me except Mountain Horse winter boots. I live in the warm desert.
I would NOT get custom boots if I didn’t have to. I had fun with the Konigs since I had to, but would have happily gone far less expensive. With stiff boots, you also don’t get as good a fit if your calf is significantly wider than ankle and the area below your knee. I don’t know if I’ll get stiff boots again, but wanted to at least try them this time. They go great with my saddle and I do enjoy the matchy matchy thing. I’d still be happy with a pair of decent fitting Mountain Horses if that were an option, though!
Custom Dehners. Love them!
I scored a great pair of sergio grasso boots on ebay that are super comfy and are TALL enough for me. Apparently all of my height comes from my ridiculously long shin bone. They are very soft, w/ and extremely comfortable footbed and I’ve had to replace the zipper once from basically 2 years of near-daily wear. I love these for schooling, but fear that since this model is discontinued I’ll be back to the drawing board for tall enough boots when the die 
Since I cant afford customs just yet I scan ebay for gently used custom boots in my size - which is not often.
For show I found a sturdy pair of petires on ebay. They are more of a traditional dressage boot and they fit well, but nothing flashy or fancy. Definitely not comfortable enough to do barn chores in.
For those of you with customs - do you trust yourself to measure for them - or did you go to a tack shop and have it done by a pro? I’d love deNiros, but I’m afraid I’d botch the measurements and pay big bucks for ill-fitting boots.
A lovingly preserved pair of black Ariat dressage boots with no zippers, from back when they were made in Spain out of nice leather, for showing and clinics. I reckon I’ve got at least another season left in these before they get too shabby.
HKM brown zippered dress boots that were less than $200 and are very comfortable for non-winter schooling. I’ve had them for about 3 years now, had the zippers replaced, worn the daylights out of them, but they still polish up pretty good.
Ariat Bromonts for winter schooling. warm, comfortable fit well, but they do darned well squeak!
Ariats fit me off the shelf, I’m lucky. But, the quality isn’t what it was 18 years ago!
[QUOTE=BatCoach;9007519]
For those of you with customs - do you trust yourself to measure for them - or did you go to a tack shop and have it done by a pro? I’d love deNiros, but I’m afraid I’d botch the measurements and pay big bucks for ill-fitting boots.[/QUOTE]
Definitely not!
We used to have a tack store in town, and she made the guarantee it would fit when I got my Vogels. They came in perfect because she measured well. She also said with as narrow as my ankles are and as high as my arch is, there was only one style of Vogel among the multiple types of customs for which she would measure. Since we no longer have the tack store, I got measured at the last Vegas WC finals for my Konigs. That was through a tack store in Wellington who guarantees the fit of the boots. On my own, I can 95% guarantee I’d get it wrong.
I actually did try to contact Vogel and would have gotten the same boots from them in brown if I’d been able to get anyone responding - they have the measurements already.
I have to admit, I have a bit of a boot fetish. I used to school year round in paddock boots/half chaps or softer field boots and then just whip out my dressage boots for shows, but I found it difficult to adjust going from a soft boot to a stiff boot and my riding was compromised. So now I ride in stiff boots most of the year, unless I’m jumping (half chaps/blundstones or really old Ariat Volants) or during the coldest part of the winter when I wear my Ariat Bromonts.
For schooling I have:
Off the shelf De Niro Giotto in brown (purchased from Smartpak). It’s an ok boot for the price. For a stiff dressage boot, they are pretty soft. That means they are very comfortable, but I doubt they will stand the test of time. With lots of cleaning and conditioning the brown has developed a beautiful “patina” and they look great with denim breeches.
My favorite pair of schooling boots are Petrie Rome Polo boots. They are full custom and I measured myself and ordered directly from Holland. They are a great value for the price. Mine are dark brown with cognac “polo straps”. They are divine! I get so many compliments on them. The fit is far better than what I got with custom boots measured by a professional fitter at a tack store.
For showing, I got custom Cavalllo Piaffe Plus in black patent! They arrived last fall, so I haven’t actually been able to show in them yet. The fitter who measured my was a bit overzealous about having them tall enough, so they are a bit too tall, even after having dropped and with heel lift in. In the future, I’d just use the same measurements and ask for a few cm shorter. They are a very nice boot and well made, but for the price I’d rather just measure myself and get Petries.
My next pair will be Petrie Significant with crocodile patent accents!
I school in paddocks and half chaps or my andalusian riding boots (used to be sold by smartpak and then vanished). I show in a pair of black ariat field boots (that is what I have)- so far I have not been kicked out of the ring.
