Holy moly, look at some of these prices. Grandgesters for 399 Euros??? Limited sizes but still…
That Is exactly my point! Everyone always mentions height and width in boots, and forgets we all have different FEET!
1 Like
When i made the transition to stiff boots . . . actually yeah I can’t even say I am successfully through that transition yet. I bought custom Konigs as my first pair of stiffies because it was the only dressage boot my store offered. I paid a ton of money, and i kind of hate them. Whoever described them as “Germanic stovepipe” is 100 percent correct. I only have one horse that i can even wear them with because I find it is such a struggle to switch to anything like a heels down position if i am trail riding/want to gallop/jump/ride my greenie who still has hairy moments and will throw a spook/buck.
I had been showing rated dressage in a Tredstep dress boot which is fully lined so not hunter-soft, but not stovepipey either.
I did luck out and find an off the shelf XW Ovation Gold Circuit front zip dressage boot with a stiffener on clearance a couple months ago. They do not seem like they will be too stiff to live in, like the Konigs, but i also haven’t broken them in yet because I am not going to wear them until i have to.
I witnessed the failure of a pair of mid-range Petries in <2 years riding 1 horse 4-5 times per week. The foot upper and stitching failed and the rider switched to a pair of Rectligne boots. So I’m not sold on Petries for the price you are going to pay.
Interesting. I finally tossed a 10+ year old pair of Petries that survived 4 or so zipper replacements. The leather and stitching was solid, although they were quite broken down/in at the ankles.
That was over 10 years of riding 4-6 times a week.
I’m actually curious if they’ve taken a big dive in terms of quality. My 10+ year old Petrie 3000s are in better shape than my 2 year old Konigs but I have heard a report or two that the new ones don’t hold up. That being said, a pair of Petrie Allures is <$500 if ordered overseas so it might still be worth a try. After all, the afore-mentioned Konigs haven’t held up any better and they were well north of $1k.
I have two pairs of Petries and they seem to be just fine - Athene and Olympic - I ride two or so a day 5-6 days a week and they broke in fine and are not showing much wear. They’re not the expensive models, either. I paid around 330 euro for them from Van Huet.
My mom"s comment when she got her first pair of real dressage boots was that she finally understood why the German army goose stepped.
After getting a USDF bronze medal in Vogel field boots with serious wrinkles (which maybe indicates how much this all matters; also my horse was a TB) I caved in and bought a pair of Konigs. I didn’t find the transition all that awful, though I didn’t get the super macho stuff ones and I never attempted to ride with short stirrups.
1 Like
I LOVE my Konig Favorits. I got them from Classic Dressage in London and they were quite cheap, especially considering I paid I think 65 pounds additional to get them custom cut (I have XXXXW legs). I essentially got custom cut boots, in an off the rack style, for about $600 USD.
It was a tough transition but now I love riding in stiff boots and hate riding in soft boots, or half chaps.
Hi, I second DeNiro’s- they have “degrees” of stiffness and they are lovely and the break-in was mild. Four years ago my trainer also told me it was time to get a “real” dressage boot. I definitely have a better leg in the stiffer boot. Now I wear my soft boots for trail and my DeNiro’s for dressage.
I think it’s all about preference. I rode in pretty soft boots until I broke mine and borrowed an old pair of Cavallos…liked them so got some Petrie Olympics. Now I have 2 pairs of Petrie Sublimes…I love them, the foot bed is comfortable for me, they’re a bit stiff to do much walking around in, but I have worn them all over HITS without any negative effects. They are great to ride in. I have relatively soft field boots for jumping and young horse riding…when I’m backing the babies, I think softer is better.
I know plenty of people who have shown through FEI in soft/field boots, so I don’t think you need stiff ones unless they work for you.
If you are short and or your horse has a round barrel, the soft inner calf/stiff outer shaft is a very good thing. At least for me. I have the Petrie Anky Elegance and some less expensive medium-stiff Petries without the soft inner calf. The stiffer boots are fine on a slimmer barrel, but impossible for me on my well-sprung almost-pony.
1 Like
