My beloved Ariat Volants are about beyond the point of repair. What is everyone schooling in these days? I don’t want something I have to baby (Monacos are my show boots). I’m hard on them, I rarely clean them, occasionally get them wet. I’m a solid 10 ST in Ariat and have a skinner ankle. No Tredstep.
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DeNiros- they are reasonably priced, comfortable, and durable. They also look great.
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Would half chaps be acceptable at your barn?
If you already know Ariat fits you well why not try the Ariat V sport? I am on my second pair and love them. First pair held up great to all things–including wet. Finally retired to the trash a month ago after a few years of multiple rides a week.
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DeNiros, but mine aren’t solely for schooling. If I were showing, I would show in them too.
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Love my tennis-shoe-bottom Deniros (Ride-n-fly model). On my second pair. I wear them at home and for shows until they start getting broken down…then keep them as home boots. They are not as pretty as my Tucci show boots, but look nice enough to show in in general, and last a lot longer than any of my Ariat Volants or V sports.
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I prefer tall boots to chaps.
I don’t care for the look of the V sport. The front to side zipper is what I really love about the Volants.
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DeNiro! I have one pair for schooling, one for showing; different model for each.
I switched from Ariats to Dover Saddlery’s new Madison boots and have been really impressed. They fit me better than the Ariats did and are much better quality than I was expecting for the $350 price tag. I’m rough on my boots and they’re holding up beautifully over a year in, I expect to get 5+ years out of them easily.
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Alberto Fasciani’s vegan boots. Not because they are vegan but because the “leather” is machine washable and therefore, I don’t feel guilty wearing them in the wash rack!
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Ego7! Love the textured inside calf as well.
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Don’t laugh, but the Horze Rover synthetics! I think they’re like $136, you can beat them to hell and they still clean up great, they come in a variety of sizes, and for those of us with wide feet they’re a dream! My only complaint is that the zippers don’t always stay up, but considering how hard I am on mine, I can’t really complain! I go through about a pair a year riding 3-6 horses a day 6 days a week. I don’t take them off between horses, so they’re constantly getting wet and dirty. I actually showed in them at WEC because I was waiting on my Romitelli’s to come in and I actually received compliments on how great they looked! Definitely worth the money!
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I have been on a search to replace my volants and I think the closest thing I’ve found are these: https://hypostore.com/freejump-riding-boots-liberty-one.html
I haven’t found them in stock to try on, but similar zipper configuration which I really like in my volants.
I love my Deniros but I picked these up in a pinch last year and they have become very solid (and attractive) boots for schooling: https://amzn.to/44rtiME
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I got a cheap pair of Smartpak brand dress boots on sale a year or more ago and they’ve held up surprisingly well!
They just redid the Ariat V Sports to a real leather, kind of a cross between the old V Sports and the Volants. My Volant S boots are ancient so I picked a pair of the new ones up. I LOVE them…easy to break in and pretty enough to show in (to me.). Same sneaker footbed I love. I am riding in them until they are broken in, then I’ll use my Volant S for daily riding and these for shows and clinics.
Have to disagree with deniro, haven’t found them to be very durable. Zipper broke on first pair shortly after I got them. Second pair the toe cap came unstitched after pretty light use.
For a schooling boot I’ve so far been impressed with the Dover Madisons. They seem to be good quality for the price point, flattering and they have a strong heavy duty zipper.
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Mine had both these things happen, but after a year of riding 1-2 horses 3-4 days a week, and a second year riding 1-3 horses 5-6 days a week (with a month or so riding up to 6 a day). I also don’t take particularly good care of them and let them get wet in the washrack, don’t regularly wipe them down, never clean my zippers, stopped using boot trees, etc. My zippers didn’t actually break, but both zipper pull tabs tore off and I replaced with pulls off of Amazon (which don’t last long). There is a small section of the toe cap coming unstitched, but they are otherwise in pretty decent shape for pretty heavy use. Waiting until I lose some weight to fix the them and suspect they will hold up well once I do.
If you’re looking for durable with no break-in period (although they do run wide, so size down in width) Tuffriders wear like iron.
