Oh what a sad day!!!

I am going to confess a few sins along the way in this post...so if that sort of thing bores you - don't bother to read much further. *sigh*

Dusty. Dirty. But oh so reliable!

In the everyday hustle and bustle a sturdy, well fitting pair of boots can not be overlooked. I am very hard on my clothes in the course of a day. Well made, high end breeches are hard to get more than 18 months of use. Boots have historically lasted less than a year. Paddocks and half chaps - even less as the leather is of lesser quality. Gloves are lucky to last 2-3 months at most. I will confess to going through barn shoes at an alarming rate. Socks too for what it's worth.

Well, my tale of woe for today is about the saddest event so far for 2013. My everyday kickers (aka the Petrie Freerider Boot) have had "ventilation"holes in the foot all winter and one of the zipper pulls was replaced about a year ago by a couple of paperclips and some duct tape. A few weeks ago, the zipper cover flap wore through on both sides of both boots where my calf is on the saddle flap. Today one of the zipper teeth pulled out and had the dreaded roll of silver tape called into action to be able to work horses for the rest of the day. *sigh* The end is upon us Trusty Boots. I can not maintain my professional image with large stripes of silver tape on my boots...even though my frugal side sees nothing wrong with squeezing a few more months of hard riding out of you! *sniff sniff*

See the boots look fine!

You see, these boots were/are my "go-to" comfortable brace for my left ankle. They've seen me get back into the saddle and had just the right amount of support while still being roomy enough for the compromised bits to keep quiet! My higher end/better quality boots are murder on the tendon and crunchy bits. Seriously. I hobble to walk anything more than 1 step in them. But they're pretty. These fine Russian Cowhide (think the cow lived near Chernobyl by chance??) Boots might look very abused now but they've survived countless mud puddles, bathing horses, moving hay, doing morning and night chores...they've kept me sound (sort of) and able to ride!

It's a disaster I tell you. Just a disaster.

Oh I think I forgot to mention that these were an Ebay find for $195 in 2011. My heart (and wallet) are very, very sad. I think I'm going to go shop for some black duct tape. They hold a personal best record for longevity in my care. We just passed 18 months of hard ab/use together. *sigh* They've been the easiest to transition from schooling-show with the least amount of difference in the way things "feel". *another big sigh*

This is the light brown option. Looks like dust to me!!!

As a side note - how much would the dark brown color bother you all? Or should I stick with black?