I’m loosely in the market for a new pair of schooling boots. What’s the concensus on best value for the price these days? De Niro, Konigs, Petrie, etc?
I want a stiff boot that will wear well with zippers and BROWN. I don’t need tons of customization options (most of the styles on Dressage Boots Anonymous are a bit much for me, they need to go with anything) and I don’t need custom measurements. I’m hoping to stay around $500 but I know good boots will cost me a little more than that.
I’ve been happy with my Mountain Horse Serenades, which are in budget - but black.
Most of the boot makers also make plain boots. No need to go w bling
You can get fully custom Celeris boots for about $700. Petrie is another good option if you don’t want to go into 4-figure pricing.
I will say it took six months to get my Celeris boots, so be prepared for that. If you order now you might get them before the factory closes for the month of August. Mine came exactly as I wanted though, and fit like a glove (I measured myself and ordered through a Dutch store, though I’d probably go through Reitenleder in Germany next time). I got them normall stiffness and they are plenty stiff through the leg and ankle. Reitenleder also has lots of samples on hand ready to ship at marked down prices, so you might get lucky and find something there.
Not sure about the US but in Germany you can score amazing deals on EBay …. I bought all my recent boots there and paid between 15 and 350 Euro. They are all very slightly used, some are new and usually their owners stopped riding…. I got 3 pairs of brown boots there. One Petrie Polostyle boot with a zipper in the front which was new because the original owner wasn’t able to get in after they arrived. One pair of Cavallo plain light brown boots without a zipper and a pair of light brown Koenigs boots with laces….
. None of those were over 250 Euro….I have the Petrie Olympics in brown. Got them from Dressage Extensions a couple of years ago.
Yikes! the price has gone up!
https://www.dressageextensions.com/petrie-olympic-spec/p/X1-381304/
These look pretty cool as well. Actually I limit myself to look through the ads 
. I have far to many boots…
OMG! What a steal, I love the last pair especially…
I’m following, as I’ve put off buying new riding boots but my Tredsteps are really officially toast. I’d love to get brown with bling but can’t bring myself to fork over the ~$1.2k… 
But that Dressage Boots Anonymous group – holy eye candy!! Some really pretty combos in that group. I’ve seen some combos I’d never have gone for that look stunning once made!
I have a pair of custom Gallors that I really like. They’re brown with zippers, though they make laceup ones as well. You can select for different stiffness levels in their configurator and all in all they were around $700. You can go pretty basic with the style, mine are fairly simple.
I gave up on off-the-rack boots after I had more than a few pairs fall apart after a year or two of riding. I got tired of ankles sagging and holes in my calves, so I went full custom with Celeris.
I got my boots within 3 months of submitting measurements, and they fit wonderfully. They dropped a smidgey-smidge in the ankle, which improved the fit. I ordered the Bia and the lace up did help while breaking them in. They are stiff, very similar to older cavallos or Konigs, but not horribly so. I think all told, the boots were about $1000. Time will tell, but three months in there are no holes, busted zips, rotted laces, frazzled stitching or saggy elastic. The leather is substantial, and the stitching is lovely and even.
Yeah, my Mountain Horse Estelle’s were literally falling apart when my Celeris boots arrived. They didn’t last well at all.
I was thinking of trying European eBay, so I’ll keep looking over there.
Mountain Horse didn’t work for me either. I went through two pairs in about a year. They always looked waxy and didn’t wear well. The first pair I took back to Dover because the calf stretched so much I could put my whole hand inside. The second pair wore so unevenly they were like two different boots. This was a few years ago and either way they don’t make a boot stiff enough for my liking.
What if I don’t want to wait for custom boots? Is Calevo and Dutch Riding Boots still the best place to order Konigs and Petries respectively?
My schooling boots are Tredstep Donatellos but they don’t make them as wide as they did back then, at this point, the entire foot has been rebuilt by my cobbler but I don’t want to give them up. My show boots are LMs (ordered at DAD last year so after the order/shipping issues of previous years) but I know some people who got Cavallos, including custom Cavallos for really reasonable, nothing flashy but very functional and look like they’ll hold up.
If you need help please tell me!
I am an EBay Specialist 
.
I scored an amazing high quality mobile Saddle trunk last week, which will survive me for sure and I bought many (probably too many ) saddle pads.
One thing is that you need your exact measurements of the specific brand you want to buy. I found out that I have a range which will work for me but you need to be sure.
And the different brands do use different measurements for the height. For example in Koenigs I need a 49 or maybe a 50 and in Cavallo or Petrie a 47 is fine…. And honestly I have some custom made boots (one pair was at least 1000 Euro) which I think are kind of ridiculous. Yes there is one cm difference in the diameter of the left and right boot and obviously people were willing to pay 600 Euro on top of the regular price…. I paid 250 for them used and don’t even feel that the left and right boot are different…. I personally (only my opinion) think that custom made boots are only useful for the seller…… Maybe I am not sensitive and horrible, but because of this opinion I have a different beautiful pair of boots for every days riding 
. Also because most of them are already broken in they are comfortable from the beginning!!!
My saddle trunk 
it’s aluminum and plastic covered
That is beautiful! I am a sucker for a good deal and scored some really nice stuff from tack sales online, consignment, etc. But once you get a taste of luxury you can’t go back… lol. I’m not scared to buy from Europe. I’ll wait a couple of extra days for shipping to save $60 (!!) on long lines. I’ll send you what I’m looking for!
Can I enlist your super-sleuthing Ebay specialists talents? I always seem to miss good deals by a few hours. I’m looking for anything brown in a 39 shoe, 43cm/17in height and 38.1cm/15in width. If you see anything I’d be indebted if you sent it my way. I think even with international postage I’d still be paying less than buying custom.
I love my brown DeNiros. I got them in a SmartPak sale for around $500
Cavallo boots — extra-extra stiff / without any bling:
Oooh, I love the polo boots with the buckle.
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