Truthful Tuesday

 

Guys. I'm getting itchy for more fun boots. I realize this is crazy. I have SO MANY boots. But I dunno. I think I just like designing them. I have a couple ideas in mind even... But I am not allowed to buy more boots. Unless they fund themselves. Which brings me to how I spent my Monday. 

My helper spends his work hours in the winter when the horses are away giving my barn a good deep cleaning. In the process though, he has to move all my stuff around. And being that he's not as detail oriented as some, nothing goes back where it was. So I spent my Monday putting the barn back together since the horses will be home soon. Once that was done, I did something I've been saying I needed to do for awhile. I cleaned out the boot cabinet.

I pulled out all the pairs I never wear, except for one which I do want to wear but just always forget about. And I listed them all for sale on my personal Facebook page. IF I can sell them then I can order new boots! Problem is, I have such a weird foot/leg size I'm not sure I'll get any of them moved. I'm going to leave them on my page for a couple weeks and if that is unsuccessful I'll reach out to a consignment shop. 

ALL FOR SALE!!!

I'm really sad to sell those purple ones. but they are ridiculously short. Someone who fits in them better should enjoy them. 

So today's confession is that I'm trying be responsible in my irresponsibility. That has to count for something! 

Truthful Tuesday: the one with the boots

Alternate title: The One You've All Been Waiting For

Ok, first, I have to point out that despite everything going on, I haven't bought any new boots during lockdown! I mean... I do have a pair reserved from holiday time that I haven't actually ordered yet (waiting for new leather options). But that was before. Anyway... Today's confession is that I own 23, yes, TWENTY THREE pairs of boots. I tried to get photos of them all this weekend, but some are over at the barn still. Fear not though! I photoshopped them in. It's super amateur. Obviously.

Yeah. I forgot to leave room for them when I took the photo. So they're just haphazardly stuck in there.
Now I know that's an unsatisfactory photo, so let's just look at all of them shall we? I photographed them by brand but also individually. So... this could get long. They will appear in alphabetical order by brand (not model).

Ariat: Off the shelf

 Ariat boots don't actually fit me all that well... My calves are a little too fat for them. These two used to fit... not sure if they still do, it's been awhile since I've worn either of them.

Bromont winter lined boots:

These are my second pair of Bromonts. They are wonderful winter boots, very warm. But I think they've officially been replaced by the Tredsteps down at the end.
Heritage:

Got these on sale from Mary's Tack awhile ago. They're kinda small at the moment...

Caldene: Off the Shelf

These are kinda snug these days too... But I absolutely love them, so hopefully they'll fit well again soon.

Cavallo: Semi-Custom
Linus

These fit great. I've only ridden in them once or twice but they were pretty comfy despite not yet being broken in. The glitter top is fab!

Celeris: Full Custom

Black with Rose Gold

The rose gold on here doesn't photograph well, it's actually pinker and more beautiful than it looks in photos. This was my first pair from Celeris.

Gray with teal

This was my second pair. Clearly getting more adventurous as I went...

Pink with purple

I got these to wear on Shiny. Seriously. They look terrible on the chestnuts... But AMAZING on the palomino. I ordered these and the next pair together.

Moo Cow Print with green

Only the best boots ever imagined. Until my next pair probably... And maybe equal to that one pair of Fama's coming up soon...

De Niro Salentino: Semi Custom
Black

These are SO COMFY! Highly recommend or comfort. They do however have a broken zipper that I'm on hold with getting fixed.

Navy:

Yeah... I photoshopped a stock photo. These are at the barn currently. But I love them, they're the most comfortable boots, and they are beautiful too! Wish they came in hunter green.

Fama-4-All: Full custom

I actually sold my first pair of these because they made the foot way too big and they didn't fit at all. But they gave me a replacement pair at half price, so it all worked out for me in the end.

Green with tan crocodile

This was my replacement pair, and I love them. They don't fit as tall as the Celeris since the spanish top is less exaggerated. But they aren't too short thankfully.

Black with green croc accents

I think these are fun, but not too crazy. I like that the green is fairly subtle on the accents.

Green with gold accents

I LOVE these!!! They are up there with the cow boots. Definitely. I still can't believe these came out as well as they did.

Horka: Off the Shelf

It's possible these are HKM... but I THINK they are Horka. Either way, they're a great pair of boots for the price. They are a little slippery, so I usually use some Guter Sitz when I ride in them.

Imperial Riding: Off the Shelf

No really though. Look at them! They're actually quite comfortable. And also ridiculous. If they made them in gold (or rose gold) I'd totally buy those too.

JPC Brands: Off the Shelf
The Baker Boot

Also kinda tight... I haven't ever ridden in these. I really ought to. I kind of wish they were brown.

La Mundial: Full custom

I know L has had good luck with this brand, but I can't recommend them. Yes the boots are beautiful and the leather is lovely. But it's a small miracle if they fit. And the snaps don't seem to ever work.

Green with gold

These boots really are beautiful and after having them stretched twice they fit quite perfectly. But I find it super annoying that snaps don't stay closed on the zipper tab by the ankle. SUPER ANNOYING!

Black with navy

The color is weird in this photo, I promise the boots are normal black color. The top has a patent blue stripe which is quite pretty. These were actually orphan boots, so were not made to my measurements but they fit well.

Mountain Horse:
Serengeti

Another pair I haven't ridden in. These are also pretty snug, but probably if I wore them a few times they would stretch nicely. I think they're really pretty.

Pioneer: Semi Custom

I kind of forgot I had these. They are both patent which I don't hate, but the side that goes against your horse is also patent which is pretty awful. SO slippery! The Guter Sitz helps, but I don't really like riding in them. I will probably sell them at some point. Or maybe see about getting smooth leather patches added to the insides.

Black with Gold

I mean... what's more fun than gold glitter?

Blue Patent

What's confusing about this boot, is that the center panel on the OUTSIDE is not patent. But it is on the inner panel. WHY THOUGH?

Secchiari: Full Custom

This was the first pair of customs I ever measured for myself. It didn't go all that well... While they are gorgeous and fit my calf well, they are WAY too short. So I only ride in them here at home. The boots are gorgeous though, and the leather is super soft and lovely.

Tredstep: Off the Shelf
Legacy

These are at the barn too, so enjoy this terrible photo shop version of them. These are the best winter boots I've ever owned and think anything who rides were the air hurts your face would love them.

So that's it my friends. All of my boots in one blog post. Any questions? Comments? Don't judge my addiction. It's better than drugs!


Addendum: I FORGOT A PAIR! I have 24 pairs of boots guys. I forgot all about my Parlantis. They live in the house in my show boot bag and thus, I forgot all about them. No photos, cause you all know what Parlantis look like. They are fine. Probably wouldn't buy again. They're not worth the money when you can get full custom from Celeris for less and get a higher quality boot.

Truthful Tuesday

I alluded to today's confession a few times... It's that I had put a deposit on ONE MORE pair of Celeris boots back at holiday time. They had a chance to win a free pair, and I just couldn't pass that up! I didn't win the free boots, but I did win a nice discount. But here's part two of my confession: I haven't actually ordered them yet. I seem to have what I can only refer to as Boot Block. It's like writers block, but for boot design. I think I've got all the colors covered at this point.

Green

Blue

rose gold

more green

purple

teal

brown

pink glitter

silver

more pink and purple

Moooo cow and more green

You get the idea. Yes there are others. One of these weekends I'll get all the boots together for a photo shoot and you'll get that post you've all been waiting for. But we're not here for that today. Today we're here to discuss my Boot Block.

I got really excited yesterday when they posted some ridiculous hologram spur straps and was like YES! (Not for full boots, I'm not quite that tacky, just the accents!) But alas. That was a special order they had done and they can't get more of that leather. Boo. So I'm stuck. What I probably should do is just get plain black boots for my next show pair. But my Parlantis are still fine for showing. And let's be real, the chances of me showing this year are once again quite slim. So fun boots would make me much happier I think.

So what would you do if you were me? Any color(s) you think I'm missing? I'm not a red/burgundy/orange person so not those please.

Truthful Tuesday: The one that should surprise no one.

Alternate titles:
Someone stage an intervention
Houston, we have an addiction
My boot closet is better than your boot closet
Shut up, these are emotional support boots.

I've posted all over the social to share the fun news that Fama 4 All is having a great deal on their custom boots right now, so you should already know that. I get no kick backs or anything for this, I just love my boots and wanted to share the awesome price.

They are marked down to 300 Euro which is currently $355 US dollars. Shipping is around $70 which is high, but they come from Portugal. Still a great deal for custom boots!
Thus it should come as no surprise that I MIGHT (definitely did) have ordered another pair. Yep. Right after I said I didn't need any more boots. (I mean, if I'm lucky I ride once or twice a week right now... Whatever. These boots are for my emotions.)
I'm not 100% sure what I'm getting yet as far as actual colors. Rebecca is hunting down some leather swatches for me and then I'll pick. But generally, they are going to be some version of brown or tan boots and the accents will be an exotic leather of some kind in green. I'm hoping for an awesome snakeskin. But we'll see what she can find. Whatever she finds will determine what color the actual boot is. I may even switch to black. We'll just have to wait and see! I also asked to have a strip of elastic put in to accommodate my swollen legs. Some days my boots fit perfectly, and some days I can't zip them. So that will help alleviate that issue.
But while I'm confessing my boot purchases to you all... I should also admit that I absolutely ordered both of the these last week too:

So yeah. Maybe I need help. But probably I just really need a horse. I could probably get one if I stopped buying boots.

La Mundial: The good and the bad

Back in November I stopped by Equine Affair and made a really irresponsible decision to order some green tall boots. Against my better judgement, I chose to get them through La Mundial. I wanted to give them another chance since I had heard great things about how they had turned the company around. I'm all about second chances. And third sometimes... I'm slow to learn a lesson apparently.
My boots took a little longer than expected because the first pair they made had a defect in the leather and they didn't want to send them to me. Instead, they made a brand new pair and they were almost perfect! To make up for the long time waiting, they sent me both pairs of boots. I thought that was so awesome and they really didn't have to do that. They do sell unwanted boots in their store in Wellington, so they could easily have made some money back on the defective pair.

Since the boots came during my non riding season, I wore them around the house some to try and get started with breaking them in. But they really were a bit snug. The bonus pair so much so I couldn't actually get them zipped. The good pair fit pretty well, but the snap on the right boot came undone as soon as I took a step. While they were a little tight back then, I lost some weight and they're perfect now.
I figured I would bring the boots down on my next trip to Florida and have them fixed up. So on April 26th I dropped them off at La Mundial. They said they would be ready on April 29th. Perfect. April 29th I went in, and the bonus pair still didn't fit. They re-took my measurements and realized that the actual measurements around the OUTSIDE of the boots were my leg measurements. Obviously, that's not quite right. So they said to leave them and they will stretch them more. I paid to have them shipped back. They also kept the good pair, both to use as a guide and because they had replaced the wrong snap so that still needed to be fixed. (They replaced the one on the bonus pair by mistake instead of the good pair.)

I was told I would have the boots back in two weeks or less. Awesome! I offered to pay for the snaps and/or the stretching but was told just to pay the shipping. Also awesome! Thanks La Mundial! Now fast forward... I contacted them after three weeks when I still hadn't seen my boots. I was told they weren't ready yet, but they would be in another two weeks. Ok. Two more weeks go by. I get told they will ship that Friday and was even give tracking. Yay! Only, the tracking never activated. So I contacted them again. I had been conversing via text initially, but then my texts went unanswered. For several days and multiple attempts on my part. I tried the contact form on their website, also unanswered. So finally I called, and got a live person. They said the boots were not quite ready yet, but would be soon. She said she would call me in a day or two once they've shipped. This part went smoothly finally. The boots shipped and arrived yesterday. But nothing actually got done. NOTHING. My right boot still doesn't stay snapped:

The spurs kind of keep it closed, but not really. Other than that though, the good pair is actually great and fits well. I can ride in them and they're definitely useful.

The bonus pair wasn't stretched at all:

I can't even zip them. And the snap is actually missing on the right boot:

So obviously, that one doesn't stay snapped either ;)

But here's where I don't know how to proceed. I'm not comfortable returning the good boots again, because who knows if I'll get them back. Maybe I can just have a shoemaker or someone at Beval replace the snap. But the bonus pair? I mean I didn't actually pay for them, so I don't want to make a big deal/fight about them. But on the other hand, they're of no use to me. I guess I can just give them back to La Mundial when I'm in Florida and say thanks but no thanks? Or just let them sit around my house in case I lypo my legs? I just don't really know what to do.
What do you guys think? Should I try again to get them to fit me and have a snap installed? Should I just let them collect dust? Do I even bother contacting La Mundial about any of this? I don't want to be an ass. And as far as the free boots, they were free, so I don't really have much right to keep working on them. But what about the good pair with the bad snap? Ugh. I just am not sure how to proceed. What are your thoughts?