I love boots. I know I’m a horse person, and I’m supposed to love boots, but I really do! I love boots. More specifically: tall boots. I’ve tried paddock boots and half chaps, but quickly discovered that while I love my Blundstones for kicking around in, for riding, I’m tall boot girl.
Because that’s all I wear, I try to have one pair for every day and one pair that I keep for showing. In a perfect world they are exactly the same make and model, and I rotate them from show to everyday as my “barn” boots begin to wear out beyond repair. My rotation system doesn’t always work out perfectly. Sometimes a boot company will discontinue my current favorite style (horrors!) and then I’m left searching for another boot I like well enough to put into my footwear investment cycle. As this very thing happened to me around Christmas time this past year (how convenient!) I went searching for my next new favorite tall boot.
I am happy to report that I have found my latest obsession and the perfect addition to my riding addiction: Mountain Horse’s Sovereign Field Boots.
I am a huge fan of Mountain Horse. Way back in the day (cough, cough) when I started riding again as an adult, I had a pair of the old Mountain Horse tall boots, WAY before they started making boots you could actually show in. Let’s be honest, they were pretty clunky with huge soles and square tops. But I loved them. In fact, after almost 15 years of wear and tear, the zipper on one literally just broke last week. That’s the kind of quality Mountain Horse has always been known for.
Fast forward several styles of boots later for both the company and for me. Mountain Horse has truly upped its game. The new Sovereign Field Boots are BEAUTIFUL! They look and feel like an expensive pair of custom made boots, but they come at a very less than custom price. The manufacturers suggested retail price is $389, so depending on taxes and shipping, for around $400 these boots are a steal! And if you’re perpetually on a budget (and aren’t we all!) this is very good news.
Available in black and trend-setting brown, the Sovereign Field Boot is truly stunning. I was very tempted to order a brown pair. They are just so, well, cool looking. However, everything I own is centered around the color black, so I stuck with tradition. The black pair has a subtle bit of patent leather making a swirl around the top of the calf which adds a bit of flash. With the Spanish top and tapered ankles, these boots add class to any rider’s show attire.
Let’s talk break-in time, which is always the bane of any new pair of boots. I have terrible feet: high arches, crooked toes, and they are wide. When purchasing a pair of any kind of shoes or boots, I am always most concerned with how they feel. If they are not going to be comfortable, I don’t care how pretty they are, I don’t want them! The foot bed of these boots are comfortable. Did they take a bit of time to break in? Well, yes. But all boots do. The key here is the leather, which is high quality and soft, an equation that makes breaking in time considerably less. I’m only 5’5″ so breaking in the height of the calf and allowing the boots to get that “fall” in the ankles always seems like more of a struggle for me than breaking in the foot of the boot, even with my bad feet. In that department these boots are no different. However, the overall breaking in situation was not bad. I usually start breaking in a new pair of boots by riding them on a long hack. These were no different. After two more serious flat rides, the Sovereigns were good to go!
I really can’t say enough about these boots! Once again, Mountain Horse did not disappoint. For an adult amateur who loves to look stylishly turned out and a little bit customized, but lives on a budget, they are the perfect addition to my show apparel. Really and truly they would be the perfect addition to anyone’s closet, amateur or professional. I, for one, can’t wait to wear them at my first show next month, and when my current every day pair of boots wears out, there is no question that I will invest in another pair of Mountain Horse Sovereign Field Boots. Maybe I’ll even venture out and order brown.
Check out the Mountain Horse Sovereign Boot here.
Go Eventing.