New Long Leather Boots.......PAIN!!!

[michelleyork]

Just wondering if any you you lovely people have any tips for breaking in new boots???

I have just had a pair of made to measure boots - de niro - and whilst they do fit, and I appreciate the leather will give over time so they need to be tight to start off with - my legs throb within moments of putting them on.

Should they actually be this tight to start off with?

Half a tin of biscuits on offer

xx

 

[ironhorse]

Wear them at home before you attempt to ride in them - perhaps for something like doing the ironing so that you are mainly standing, but can flex your knees and ankles from time to time.
always put trees in them when you are not wearing them, and it may be worth packing out the feet/ankles with newspaper as well to encourage them to give a bit.
When you are ready to ride in them, try hacking out in them first, and drop your stirrups a hold if that is more comfortable.
If they are a bit long you can get heel lifters to stop them cutting into the back of your knee until they drop.
I feel your pain - I have a gorgoeous pair of Mountain Horse supremes that are fine to ride in but agony to walk even a few yards!

 

[dottieh]

Wear them around the house and the first few times you ride in them, ride with the zip only done up part way(as far as is comfortable) and slowly pull the zip further up during your ride if you can. Do this for a couple of weeks and they should begin to feel more comfortable!! You have to deal with the leg throbbing for a bit!!!

 

[michelleyork]

Thanks for the advice!!

I can get the zips done up to the top and the strap clips on (hope that makes sense!!) - so I supose I am part way there!!

Boots are now in the car ready to be taken home and worn each night - just hope no one comes to the front door

Glad that the leg throbbing is a normal occurrence, was worried I was going to have wasted a large chunk of money on boots that dont fit!

xx

 

[dottieh]

If your legs are still throbbing badly after a couple of weeks of wearing them as much as possible, then if you send them back then they should stretch them for you.

 

[ZoeCharlotte]

They'll fit perfectly soon! My friends and I pretty much have competitions when it comes to how long we can wear our new booties doing weird stuff other than riding! When I got my new gaiters and boots from tredstep they were a little, how do you say, restrictive? I could barely move in them! Did a lot of driving and wandering around the house in them, and put on some really thick socks to watch tv in them so I could ignore the throbbing of my poor legs and feet. Within no time at all, they fit really well, so I'd just say wear as often as you can doing a little bending and stretching, nothing too strenuous. Lots of cooking and ironing in them definitely made me feel a bit odd but they were a lot more comfortable for it!

 

[Goldenstar]

Defiantly wear them round the house and stand on the edge of a step and push your heels down .
Finally I broke in boots for a slightly bigger friend once I could wear them without discomfort as I was just a bit smaller it was nerve wracking though I was terrified of scratching them , they had her in tears but they softened up well so there's that as a route too.

 

[TarrSteps]

You could try wearing nylon knee highs rather than socks (or nylons and short socks if the ankle isn't too tight. Before the days of zips many people could only ever wear nylons or risk having to wear their boots to bed! (Don't laugh. . .)

Or you could go super old skool and wear them in the bath!

(That's a joke. It is bad bad bad for your boots but again, back in the days before calf leather it did get done!)

 

[TarrSteps]

And if you get blisters/rubs use the hydrocolloid blister plasters. Don't even mess around with ordinary band-aids.

 

[nikkimariet]

Use the gel pads for high heels at the front of your ankles, piece of sponge at the backs of the knees!

Just do hacking and light work in them at first

 

[Matafleur]

If it's any consolation my De Niro's broke in really quickly and are the most comfortable boots I've ever worn.

If you're really desperate then any old fashioned cobbler will be able to stretch them for you, I send almost all of my new boots straight to the cobbler for a week!

I find breaking new boots more painful than breaking in horses, and often takes a lot longer too!

 

[Prince33Sp4rkle]

As NMT says, the little gel feet cushions can be cut and used over front of ankle or backs of knees to stop blisters.

Sigh, I've just literally ordered the De Niro Raffaello, so I've all this joy to come in 6 weeks!!!!!

 

[michelleyork]

Around the ankle and foot is absolutely fine - it's the tops of my legs where they are really tight, hence the throbbing feeling! I tried to ride in them yesterday which lasted for 10mins before I changed boots!!

Have warned the OH so when he comes home and I have my boots on he doesn't get a shock!!!

I hope these boots last for decades as I can't be doing with going through this again!!!

 

[Dunlin]

Get some boot tree's. Leather softens a LOT in warm weather so if it's sunny outside whack them on and you'll feel the leather begin to soften which is the best time for bedding them in.

http://www.countryhouseoutdoor.co.u...d=1928448900&gclid=CIqXxYX9zLcCFdHMtAodky0Afg

My Regent's took several months of daily wear to become comfortable and in the end the tops were still killing me, just too tight so I had them altered by a local saddler, amazingly it only cost £25!

 

[michelleyork]

thank you to everyone for your advice!

Day one of breaking in boots - thick leggings and long socks on I put the boots on at 6pm this evening, over the course of 30 mins worked the zips up to the very top.
I then cooked dinner, ate dinner, cleared that away, swapped the washing over, done the ironing and now sat down watching some TV! My legs have now stopped throbbing and boots are feeling better already :

A couple of weeks of this every evening I think I will be ready to ride in them