Really? I’m surprised. I’ve always felt they are the most size inclusive of the brands. It’s one of the few brands that makes almost all of their boots from a extra slim to an extra wide calf.
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Nope, they never carried short/slims. Maybe they do now. I always ended up with a short/regular and swam in the calf and ankle (and even their slim was always huge in the calf).
@Training_Cupid Treadstep, DeNiro, and Ego7s both have various short/slim combos with a tapered ankle. I went with Tucci for about the price the Monacos used to run.
I don’t know. I’ve only had Ariats and they’ve always fit great due to the large range of size options (though I’m a pretty standard regular calf). My current pair is almost 4 years old, though 2 of those years they didn’t do much. The pair before that lasted a few years as show boots, then a few more as schooling.
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I think Ariat quality took a nose dive when they switched everything over to China.
That said, I had a pair of the V Sport tall boots for every day that I loved so much I preemptively bought a second pair just in case Ariat discontinued them or changed the style. However, when I finally switched to the second pair (well over a year after I had bought them), they gave me rubs on my Achilles tendon such that I could ride in the boots but not walk in them.
After several months of suffering and disappointment, I called Ariat on a whim. The customer service rep wanted to know when I had bought them. I couldn’t remember. Where had I bought them. I had no idea. Receipt? Yeah, no on that as well. She sent me a form to complete and send back with detailed photos, which I did, and within a week I had a letter back agreeing that the boots were defective and that a replacement pair would be sent. A week after that I had the boots and I am happy to report they are as comfortable as the very first pair.
So, a happy ending and a shout out to Ariat for great customer service. (Now, if I could only get them to tell me where to return the defective pair…)
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Here to say the same thing as others. Old school Ariat was fabulous! Their new stuff…not so much.
I haven’t liked the quality of Mountain Horse either. I clean my boots after every ride and don’t wear them for chores, etc. And still they look really worn after only a year. And I don’t ride that much really.
Are there boots out there nowadays that don’t cost an arm and a leg, but are even semi decent quality?
Like you, I’ve been unimpressed by Ariat or Mountain Horse lately. My Heritages rotted out in less than two years, and I didn’t even get a year from the Sovereigns before the seams all gave out. I’m not that hard on tall boots either. I change out of them for bathing, I don’t walk in them that much, and I’m riding only 2 (maybe 3) horses a day.
I’ve since had good luck with Ego 7. I bought them from Fundis, so I saved about $150 on them right off the bat, putting them in the $330 range. They broke in fast, and seem to be holding up. They aren’t the buttery soft second skin of my Parlantis, but I feel better schooling in these since they seem to be durable.
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Yeah but the xw calf comes with an equally xw knee. I could stick a good-sized novel between the boot and my knee when I tried a pair. Hurray for free returns but I was crazy disappointed.
Well, Like any brand they have to make the sizing to fit most people. If you have a very different leg shape than most then it’s not going to work out, you probably are going to have to go custom. Most people with an XW calf will have an XW everything. Same with how a slim is going to be slim for everything.
I’m an XW calf, and ariats fit me pretty well. My ankle is smaller than they account for, but it’s something I’ll live with since I’m not paying 1k for customs.
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I have a pair of the Heritage Contours that I got in maybe 2015? I wear them every single day and they’re in great shape. They’ve been soft since day one and were very easy to break in. I was planning on buying the brown ones this year, but after reading this thread I’m hesitant to spend the $ if the quality has gotten that bad.
Does anyone have recommendations for a nice brown tall boot that isn’t $1K+?
The Heritage does fit my leg shape really well, but if the leather quality is poor I don’t want to invest in them.
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Some of their boots definitely come in short! That’s the only reason why I bought them in the first place!
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It seems everyone wants the baby soft calf skin and that leather will never hold up. You’ll be lucky to get 3 to 5 years out of those Italian butter soft boots and that’s not riding in them every day either.
I’m going to go old school but the brands that will stand the test of time: Vogels or dehners.
Customs are the way to go and get the leather you have to break in and get sores with. Those will last till your old and grey because the leather is made to withstand it.
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This is my agitating issue. A wider, shapely calf does not and should not equate to a stovepipe fit. I have a runners calf that is in the full/extra full range in most boots (Parlantis don’t even have my calf size on their charts), a normal ankle that would like a fitted/contoured fit, and a normal knee that would also like a non-gappy fit.
Monocos fit me off the rack and look excellent, but I can still fit my hand in the top of my boot on the outside. I tried on a pair of DeNiro Salentos (sp?) that fit off the rack but I know there would be a lot of bloodshed and fallen-asleep feet during the break-in process. Those will likely be my next show boots since they at least make an elegant fit to what is otherwise a “fluffy” boot size (according to size charts and fit of other brands).
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Hello my twin 
. Used to run and raced up to half-marys, but I’m bone-on-bone now left knee soooo… But big calves since childhood, plus running for years, and yeah, 16.5’’ calves with “average” ankles and knees. Parlantis don’t go to my size either. I have Salentos and they had to custom the knee because the normal size is 2cm (or inches? can’t remember) smaller than the calf and I’m 4 and 4.5 (different because the bone-on-bone knee is always a little inflamed these days). So even off the shelf wouldn’t have fit me! They are indeed very elegant!
Not sure on the tall boots but the paddock and western boots only last me maybe a year now when twenty years ago I wore them to work for a year, showed for a year, and the third year they were my muddy nasty day boots.
Not near the quality that they used to be.
I had one pair that lasted for years and I was so happy with them. Durable and very supporting of my foot and just a pleasure to wear. I have 2 other pairs I bought recently and they just don’t feel the same and bother my feet if I wear them too long.
I am disappointed.
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The last pair of Heritage Contours that I purchase c. 2016 ended up being a “make do” pair for schooling and an occasional show. I was fine wearing them until they wore out last year, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend them. My biggest complaint was that—apart from the inner calf—they never really softened up and dropped. I never expected butter soft leather at the price point, but I also didn’t expect to wear heel lifts the entire time I owned them. They became unusable once the tongue wore out and I’d regularly come home with arena dirt in my boot.
I’ll try a different brand once I get around to purchasing new field boots.
That said, I am very pleased with a pair of their Wexford booties that I purchased for wearing around town.
Also reach out to the retailer. Dover guarantees their products for a year. If you got them there or somewhere equally large, they might help you.
Otherwise, I don’t think the Heritage’s quality has gone down in the past few years. I have a pair. I work for a tack store and sell them, so I see and feel the new ones shipped in.
But I do think Ariat is backing out of supplying quite so many tall boot options. And it’s getting hard to find dress boots rather than field boots.
There aren’t many other options for better fit, quality and availability at the $340 price. Dover just created their “Madison” boot for $20 less plus a higher cut to the Spanish top. I don’t think those will hold up better than the Heritages, nor be more comfortable in the footbed. But with Dover’s year guarantee and the pretty tops, one might wish to roll the dice on a pair of those.
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I still buy them exclusively. I’m plus size with a wide calf and they’re the only boots I’ve found that fit me well off the rack without going semi custom (out of my budget)
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I had a pair of the old Ariats when they were made in Italy, sure do miss those boots! I’ve been wearing Ariats for 30 years, the quality has gone down but so has the quality of a lot of products. Ariat has been one of the few boots that has fit in the foot despite the changes my feet have gone thru. They offer an extra wide calf that is actually extra wide. Their sizes stay pretty consistent, unlike comparably priced brands where one size is way too small and the next size up is way too big. My biggest complaint these days is all their boots have a toe cap. I’ll continue to buy them mostly because they fit and are in my price range. That said their new fabric tall boot is a no go, I’ll stay with leather.
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On a side note, regarding wide or extra wide calf sizes. Not all people with a larger size calf necessarily have a large ankle or a wide/extra wide knee. I wish a few boot makers would realize this.
While I’m on it, please offer a wide foot! Not everyone has a narrow foot, I’m tired of going up sizes to accommodate a wide foot and having boots that are too long for my foot. Too long of boots makes it harder to ride with since the toe of the boot and where my actual toes are not the same.
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