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Re: [RC] Ariat Terrains/Mountain Horse boots - Lysane Cree

"...I have also learned that the cavalry model for long-distance riding included weight-bearing on the arches rather than just on the balls of the feet, and it was suggested that prudent shifting of weight back and forth is a good long-term idea. Am interested in hearing some discussion on that.
Thanks,
Beth
Texas"

This is interesting. I use the Cloud stirrups and they are quite wide. When my feet started hurting though I was moving my foot back out of the stirrup and putting less of my foot on the stirrup. Of course, it did nothing and my toes started tingling and burning. The comfortable spot is usually with the whole ball of my foot plus some of my arch on the stirrup.
Had another thought too - Aside from my hiking shoes being too stiff, I recently shortened the stirrup leathers one notch since it goes better to post and I am doing longer periods of trotting with my young mare. Does it usually take some time to get used to, if you always rode in a longer stirrup? I also feel like I should be putting it longer on one side than other which to me sounds like a big "no-no", although it only helped for about 10 minutes and then my feet started hurting again.  
 
Now I can't wait to get my Terrains next week. If they stand up to two years of hard use and are as comfortable as most people have said, that will be great. Of course I'd love it too if they lasted longer, but two years seems to be the average for alot of shoes - if they are being used alot and under all sorts of conditions.

"I have looked at the Mountain horse boots but I am afraid I will end up with the same problem.  I have also considered the new low top Terrains but I really have gotten used to having the ankle support.
Does anyone know if the new low top Terrains that look like running =
shoes are narrower than the regular Terrains? Does anyone know if the Mountain Horse boots run narrower? Any other Terrain style boot that runs narrower?"
The Mountain Horse boots I would say are "true to size" I took the same size I normally due (8). I did try on the Ariat Dumas (which are sort of like a sneaker, have a mesh top but with a small heel), they were true to size as well (an 8 fit me). I believe when I had tried on the paddocks at one point, it was an 8 that fit me as well. It seems it is the Terrains that run wide, so maybe the low top Terrains are the same, but I'm not really sure.
 
As for quality from Mountain Horse, I have become pretty wary of the brand because the cost does not seem to match the quality.
A friend of mine bought the Mountain Horse winter paddocks - they started falling apart after only two months. Another woman at the barn bought the Tall Winter boots ("Rimfrost", I think) and they also started falling apart after a few months. Interestingly, this is the only item from Mountain Horse that I have been able to put to hard use for at least two winters. For warmth, the Rimfrost are excellent - I have never had cold feet even when I wore them to go snowmobiling one winter all day long in -35 C temps. The only annoying thing was that the back of the boot, near the ankle got some bends in it, and because the synthetic material is stiff, it sometimes rubbed the back of my ankle/tendon if I wore a thin sock. Now after two years, the waterproof material on the boot is cracking, the small velcro tab on the back of the boot that passes over the top of the zipper has ripped off and the zipper itself is getting pretty worn and looks llike it won't last much longer.
My experience with the jackets has not been great - they look good, but for the price, they seem to have a problem with their zippers breaking or the jacket liner ripping after very little use. Happened on my own jacket and two others, and I don't feel I'm particularly rough with zippers - I have barn jackets that have worn out before their zippers ever did and that was after many years. On the upside, when I took my jacket to a seamstress to try to put a new zipper on it, she said that the stitching was very well done and would take long to undo.
 
Given the choice, and from what I have heard here on ridecamp, I would pick Ariat over Mountain Horse.
 
Lysane

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