My Favorite Pair of Shoes

Tell us about your favorite pair of shoes, and where they’ve taken you.

My favorite pair of shoes is actually riding boots. I have horses and have ridden my entire life. I ride about 4-5 times a week, and I compete with my horses so my riding boots have taken me to quite a few interesting places.

My current riding boots are kind of cool because they have a leopard print. I like to have fun with the boots I wear so I pick boots that are as snazzy or as interesting as I am allowed to get away with in a show ring.

The riding boots pictured are newish so these particular boots have not taken me many places yet, but the boots they replaced took me all over. My old pair of boots took me to Scottsdale, Arizona a number of times where I competed in something called ranch rinding. I also went to various parts of San Diego and Temecula, as well as Las Vegas a few times for a few competitions. One of the horses I have I bought at the end of July. I bought Max from someone in Iowa, so my riding boots took me to Iowa so I could try Max out and decide if we were a good match, and we were. I didn’t wear my riding boots on the plane though because after they have been ridden in a lot they tend to smell like horses and most people don’t like the smell, so my boots travel with me in a sealed bag. LOL.

Often times after I have ridden my horses I stop at the grocery store to grab something to eat on my way home. I often wonder if my boots stink……no one has ever said anything, but they have actually admired my boots and asked me if I actually ride. And by the way…….I do not step in horse crap with my boots just in case anyone was going to comment about that. The only thing they would potentially smell like is horse, but perhaps not because I do wear chaps when I ride. So I suppose my chaps are what smell like horse because my boots are protected by the chaps, and yes, my chaps stay at the stable.

But yes, my boots take me all over the place. This year I have big horse shows to go to so my boots will be taking me to Arizona, Oklahoma, Northern California, Las Vegas and down south to San Diego and Temecula. They will take me to restaurants to eat at the end of the day, to get coffee and tea. And by the way, I do clean my boots every time I ride, so they are not left full of sweat and dirt. I actually clean them before I leave the stable.

I love my riding boots the best because of what I get to do in them, but I can’t wear them everywhere, and I can’t wear them to my office, so when I wear regular shoes, I like a cute, strappy shoe or a sparkly slip on, and my boots have to stay at home.