With boots, it is all about the fit. Comfort is key to me. I\u00a0didn’t start out thinking about these factors. Before, it was all about the look! Now,\u00a0I am older and wiser, and I say to you young wipper snappers,’Take care of your feet’. Years ago\u00a0when\u00a0I first went shopping for a new pair of boots at a large western store in Oklahoma City, I couldn’t help but notice, as only\u00a0a young budget conscious rancher’s wife\u00a0would notice, that\u00a0the shop\u00a0had many\u00a0average-priced\u00a0boots. The problem was the boots that fit me best were from\u00a0a much more expensive boot line. My husband, Jim, was with me. He taught me\u00a0some\u00a0common sense that day. Pointing out that for the money I was about to spend, I could have a pair of custom, handmade\u00a0boots made in Amarillo, Texas by Harry Beck. Jim had been considering\u00a0custom boots for himself due to his many previous boots\u00a0that fit him poorly.\u00a0I was intrigued with\u00a0his idea and thought it would be worth checking out. So, I went to see Harry Beck, the famous boot maker that advertises in the Livestock Weekly out of San Angelo, Texas. After talking price, I found Jim\u00a0to be\u00a0right! I could get custom handmade boots made to fit my feet and my legs for the price of the boots I had\u00a0wanted in Oklahoma City. I was measured that day for my first pair of custom handmade boots. Mind you, these boots\u00a0were to be\u00a0working boots, well made and ready in two months. I picked out a beautiful burgundy leather for the\u00a0upper shaft\u00a0and black for the\u00a0vamp foot\u00a0part. I then\u00a0selected the style\u00a0for the upper boot, the stitching pattern, toe shape and finally, the\u00a0heel height.\u00a0Selecting a French square toe and a slightly tapered heel, my\u00a0boots would also have\u00a0a 40 penny nail used to support\u00a0my arch while riding in the saddle all day. When my boots were ready, I went to Amarillo to pick them up. They fit me perfectly in every way! I am a believer in custom boots. I now\u00a0own three pair of Beck’s Boots, and my favorite pair is still that very, first pair.\u00a0Now, this brings me back to my original question, why wear custom boots? Well, first of all, it is all about the fit and the comfort. Getting your heels set right will save your knees and back down the road. You will be better off in the long run to paying extra for custom made boots in order\u00a0to save going to the doctor later for your\u00a0worn out knees and nagging\u00a0back pain. My entire family is sold on custom boots for the health of our feet and our backs.
\nMy artist friend, Barbara Dawkins, knows all about custom boots, because her husband, Sunny,\u00a0is a bootmaker in Dalhart, Texas. She told me that one pair of custom made boots could be resoled ten times before the vamps wear out. I find that fascinating! She also shared this wisdom, when your heel caps show wear, replace them. Do not wait until the\u00a0heel caps\u00a0are worn down, because your\u00a0back is taking the hit. I wear my boots all of the time, most days for ten hours at a time, sometimes longer. I\u00a0never get blisters, I can walk through cactus and tall grass, and\u00a0my boots are snake proof. When I get a new pair of boots, I like to oil the leather soles with neatsfoot oil. It also helps to wear them when wet\u00a0in order to\u00a0let them dry to the shape of your feet. That is probably just one\u00a0of the reasons\u00a0why cowboys of old would sleep with their boots on. It’s almost impossible to pull on a pair of wet boots the next morning. I wear my boots with everything. If you like boots, go custom handmade, enjoy them, and wear the heck out of them!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With boots, it is all about the fit. Comfort is key to me. I\u00a0didn’t start out thinking about these factors. Before, it was all about the look! Now,\u00a0I am older and wiser, and I say to you young wipper snappers,’Take care of your feet’. Years ago\u00a0when\u00a0I first went shopping for a new pair of boots at a large western store in Oklahoma City, I couldn’t help but notice, as only\u00a0a young budget conscious rancher’s wife\u00a0would notice, that\u00a0the shop\u00a0had many\u00a0average-priced\u00a0boots. The problem was the boots that fit me best were from\u00a0a much more expensive boot line. My husband, Jim, was with me. He taught me\u00a0some\u00a0common sense that day. Pointing out that for the money I was about to spend, I could have a pair of custom, handmade\u00a0boots made in Amarillo, Texas by Harry Beck. Jim had been considering\u00a0custom boots for himself due to his many previous boots\u00a0that fit him poorly.\u00a0I was [ …<\/a> ]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-living-the-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ranchpaintings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ranchpaintings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ranchpaintings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ranchpaintings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ranchpaintings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/ranchpaintings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":258,"href":"https:\/\/ranchpaintings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246\/revisions\/258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ranchpaintings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ranchpaintings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ranchpaintings.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}