WTT

Thanks Bob! Sorry, I don't have a price list, or take orders or anything like that. I just wanted to build my own boots so I could say "Yea, I made those!" I enjoy making them a lot though, and boots are an area in leather work where there is just so much that goes into them that there is always lots of room to improve. It's certainly more fun than making headstalls and belts all the time! (no offense to anyone who enjoys making those!)

GrandpaJoel-yes I can tuck my pants in, (my calves are really small!) but here in ID we don't do that much.....unless I am country dancing! I couldn't agree more about the spur ledge, they just make spurs stay where they are supposed to. Wood- imagine how much these dang boots would weigh if they weren't underslung heels!

Yea, I have heard that higher heels help keep your foot from going through the stirrup, I have never had it happen, (knock on wood) so it must be true! Yes, they are double pegged along the shank, the only nails in the whole boots are in the heel bases, and the shanks are big "60 common" nails.

Thanks Aaron! Well, the beauty of custom boots is that you can order whatever you want! These are "riding heels" which basically means that you are right, they aren't that great to walk on, but you get used to them. I'm not too sure how the style was invented, but style is the reason I made them this way, I think they look cool, and when you are riding a horse you can't feel the difference. If you were going to do lots of walking it would be a lot better to put a larger diameter heel cap, which would make the heel more vertical vs. the "underslung" look these ones have. They don't call 'em "ankle breakers" for nothing!

I finished my new boots a couple of weeks ago, and I finally got around to posting them on here! They are 18" kidskin tops with 6 rows of stitching, buffalo vamps, and some REALLY underslung heels!

Finally something i can contribute to on here! Well this is really late, but i hope it still helps. I have never messed with mohair, only horsehair, but the process is the same. I use a drill in a vice with the trigger tied so it rotates the speed I want it to. You twist the first strings CLOCKWISE, then put 3-4 of them together and twist them COUNTER-CLOCKWISE I'll call this a strand.( I don't like to use one of those separator things for this step, just let them twist on their own. ) Depending on how many hooks your mult-twister has (mine has 4) you make that many strands of 3-4 strings each. Now the fun part! you hook all of the strands on the drill at one end, and each strand on an individual hook on the multi-twister. The drill spins CLOCKWISE again, and the person running the multi-twister spins those hooks COUNTER-CLOCKWISE (this keeps the strands twisted up nice and tight) the other person uses a separator of some kind to control how fast the rope twists up. That's it! So now that that is as clear as mud, check out "doug krause horsehair worker" on youtube, it will make more sense. one really important thing is to have the tension the same on all the strings/strands as you twist them or you will end up with a crappy looking mecate! my rope twister is an old sprocket off a baler, the small sprockets are the chain that i cut and welded together. it has a 6:1 ratio, so you don't have to crank so much! you can make some really simple multi-twisters that are only a 1:1 ratio, but they work really well.

Great job covering the swells on the end of the nose button, I have troubles with that. How did you tie off the nylon rope core underneath the heel knot? Great work!