DeNiro Salentos (off-the-rack) for showing and clinics, Ariat Devon Pro paddock boots and Ariat Breeze half chaps for schooling. I ordered the Salentos because the extra tall/slim fit off-the-rack fit without issues. I’ve had them for two months or so now and absolutely love them.
I made the mistake of going on the cheap with DeNiros and rightly so they lasted about 2 years even with meticulous care. Literally they fell apart! I will say off the rack probably the best fitting boots for a person with a slim calf and ankle area. I’m back to Cavallo Piaffe Plus for both schooling and show. They are really well made, shine up beautifully for shows and are a stiffer boot which I prefer to the softer Italian made boots.
I’ve had several pairs of the Mountain Horse Victoria for schooling - I’ve found all of them on sale. I think I have a pair with holes in my garage, a pair bought this summer I’m using now, and I believe I have one more brand new pair bought on closeout from Dover on Black Friday.
Cavallo pull on boots for showing - no idea of the model, got them off Ebay for $60 just barely broken in with no wear on the soles.
Second pair of Cavallo pull on boots, brand new, chilling in my closet, off Ebay for <$180
Rectligne rear zip dress boots - need to sell these as I’ll never use them
Vintage brown field boots - no idea the make or age. They are a light red-brown but not cordovan color and the leather has this amazing almost dimpled texture. I paid more to ship them to me from the consignment tack store than the actual boots cost.
None of my boots have been custom for me - the Cavallo boots may have been custom for the original owners but not for me.
sigh - in a perfect world there would be a “Dressage Boot Bar” (complete w/ wine) where you could try on multiple brands at once and get measured by an expert fitter before investing in customs.
The biggest tack store around here only carries Konigs and Petries, which are both great brands, but I want to see how Cavallos and other brands fit. I’m not talking about stocking every size combo possible, but i would at least want to put my foot in the model of each brand and see/feel the quality for myself just to get an idea of what works best for me. Its like going to a specialty running store - you talk w/ a good sales person and they look at your foot, and put you in multiple brands and models and then they watch how you move in them.
Anyone want to invest? hahaha I’d have to have a pretty big stock room for all the boot boxes but I bet we could make it work
Off the shelf Petries that I self-customized. (Had zippers and calf gussets put in after market.)
