I owned a pair of tread steps for six months and they broke at the lease and they stretched out a lot
I have a pair of Tredstep Donatellos and I love them! I have small calves and ankles so I have always struggled with finding a boot that fits me. (I am size 7 with a xsmall in width and tall in height for reference.) These boots have been great for me; easy to break-in, comfortable and have kept in super shape. I ride 4-5 times a week on 1-4 horses in these boots for almost a year now and they are still in fantastic shape.
I think you are lucky. I found mine to be THE most uncomfortable boot I’ve ever set my foot in. They rubbed the back of my ankle raw if I had to walk for more then fifteen minutes in them. BOO.
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Not a fan. Bought a pair of Medicis that had a major, unrepairable blowout along the seam in less than a year of light use.
Add me to the list of they fit great, I have thin ankles, but they murdered the back of my Achilles. Got a pair of Ariats and didn’t even keep the Tredsteps as a back up pair - straight to the trash!
Haha, maybe! It does seem like I have gotten lucky with mine, as the other replies do not say the same. Maybe it’s just my weird legs… :lol:
The Donatellos were great to ride in. However, like many others they MURDERED my Achilles. I sold them and bought Ariat Volante S and they are miraculous…
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I recently got a pair of Donatellos and they broke in quickly, fit quite well and are comfortable to walk and ride in. I do, however, have scrawny ankles and chicken legs–long very thin calves. Perhaps this is the conformation that is best suited to the boot.
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I’ve never bought Tredsteps, but put me on the list for Mountain Horse boots. Ariats have never fit my foot correctly no matter how many times I tried. I bought a pair of Venezias probably close to 10 years ago now and they’re still holding up beautifully. The first 3 years I had them they were ridden in 3x/week or so, including a few shows. After that they were only used sporadically while I was in college and then after, getting settled into “adult life”, but I’ve been riding again once a week for the last 6 months or so in them and they’re still extremely comfortable and I’ve had no issues with anything like dry rot or broken zippers. Even the elastic side panel has held up for me and a quick dab of shoe polish makes them look brand new - I could wipe them down and show in them today.
I also bought a pair of their OG yard boots about 7 years ago - I don’t think they even make them anymore and have since replaced them with the Devonshire Tall boot. I wore them every cold/wet/snowy day all through college (in Chicago, that’s basically half the year) and have even ridden in them. Now I live in CO and still wear them on the regular. The only problem they had was they ended up slouching quite a bit (not really that surprising), and I had to replace the insoles after a year of walking all over campus in them 5 days a week (also not surprising).
Granted, I don’t know if production quality has changed in the last decade, but I really recommend Mountain Horse to anyone who tells me that Ariats don’t fit.
I loved the fit on my Tredstep Dontaellos, but they disintegrated in ~6 months. That being said, their fate was for being a daily schooling boot for me as a working student - I rode holes into the calves and killed the zippers, irrc. They also didn’t work well as “walking around” boots for me as I have high arches and they rubbed both my arch and my achilles. I would have been more inclined to repair them had they been better on the ground. I LOVED how comfortable they were in the tack, however. The IEA riders who are riding 2-3 times a week seem to get really good mileage out of them.
Yup, same here! 12” calves and tiny ankles. Donatellos off the shelf fit me like custom, have never destroyed my ankles and have worn great. That said, I’m a 2x weekly rider and mainly train in half chaps so the tall boots are not abused. I wear them occasionally for lessons and show six weekends a year. But I love my “Donnies” so much I’ll happily buy a new pair when they do wear out!
