Ariat
Glacier Tall Winter Boot
English Chaps/Boots/Helmets
Manufacturer: Ariat
Model: Glacier Tall Winter Boot
Category: English Chaps/Boots/Helmets
Purchase: From Dover Saddlery, $245 or so plus shipping.
Likes: I have a size 5.5 foot and a proportionally HUGE calf muscle, so finding boots has been a drag for years. I was finally stuck wearing short kiddy (turquoise and blue) rubber boots with SealSkinz Chillblocker socks in them to ride and muck with, as it is FREEZING and WET here and regular cowboy boots or rubber boots were too cold, too wet and impossible to get on over my jeans (mud up to your ankles here) so my cuffs wouldn't soak through. The Glacier boots LACE up the sides with a very clever system that allows you to pull UP or down the laces with one hand - they actually do not UNLACE to adjust. Holy cow! They fit OVER my Arnold Schwarzenegger calf, OVER my jeans... and they look superb. Oh, and they are WARM, WARM, WARM and WATERPROOF!
Dislikes: OK, the price is horrendous. The leather is waterproof and the footbed is the most comfortable I have EVER felt, so the only thing that will freak me out is if they do not last for YEARS. For the price, I should be able to wear them for a LONG TIME. Also, Dover mixed up my address and the first pair of boots never arrived. After several long distance (I mean REALLY long distance) phone calls and several unanswered (!) emails to their Customer Service department, they sent a replacement pair that arrived 45 days AFTER my initial order. Hmmm... postage charged was something like $18, actual shipping was $7. But then, the review is about the boots, not the seller, so perhaps another sale venue may not have those issues.
Quality: EXCELLENT. Even several English riders here (Germany) at our boarding stable who call Western riding "an abomination" complimented me on the boots! I wore them downtown (over jeans) when I did not have time to go home and change, and I heard several girls and women (must be riders) say (in German) "Look at her boots!!! Where did she get them?" in a GOOD way. Now, compliments from Germans are to be treasured, as they are not tossed about like Carnival beads... Not having people here laugh at the boots (they LOVED laughing at my kiddie rubber boot ensemble) was a pretty cool experience! So, not only are the boots WARM and comfortable, easy to clean and get off and on, they seem to pass even the fussiest "International taste test" as far as look go.
Summary: The boots should work for Western or Classical riding, and any skirt outfit you'd wear boots with in Winter. Not sweaty hot - really and truly "just right", and I just can't get over the fact they have a HUGE range of calf size flexibility, AND look so cool.
Rating: 5
Author: Karen in Wiesbaden, Germany
Date: 0000-00-00
Usefulness Rating: 3.4625 out of 5.
80 reader(s) voted.
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