Mountain Horse Eclipse Fashion Boot

As many of you may know, I moved to Montana to be closer to family.  Needless to say the weather is a bit different from the Washington area I formerly resided in.  I expected not only ice but a fair amount of snow.  Montana has not disappointed me in that expectation and the snow and ice has come in more than the usual abundance this year.  My  footwear inventory at the time of my move was not conducive to this type of weather.  So in October I purchased a pair of the Mountain Horse Eclipse Fashion boots from Dover Saddlery.  I am a huge Mountain Horse and Dover Fan but I am also determined to be fair about my review of these boots.  So here is my best effort 3 months down the road.

I wanted a pair of boots that not only looked good, held up to daily wear, and had good traction in the ice and snow.  The boots needed to look good with both breeches and jeans.  They needed to accommodate the bulkier fabric of the jeans but cinch up tight enough on the breeches.  Plus they needed a non-slip tread as well as being waterproof.  They had to keep my feet warm above all else.  The name “fashion boots” put me off a bit.  My first thought was that they were a pair of “frooh frooh” runway boots that looked good provided you didn’t actually wear them in the ice and snow.  I took a gamble.  First because I knew that Dover has a wonderful return policy and would take them back if I didn’t like how they fit and secondly because Mountain Horse has a great reputation.  I loved the red but in an effort to have something that I could wear with any color I ordered the black.  I normally wear a 7 to 7.5 but I ordered an 8 so I could wear heavy socks. 

It only took 2 days after receiving the boots from Dover to put them to good use.  We had our first substantial snow fall.  I donned heavy socks and laced up the boots.  I have now worn them daily since that date.  I am not disappointed.  Not only are the boots waterproof, warm, with soles that grip on ice and snow, they look pretty cool too.  No pun intended.  I wear them everywhere - feed store, shopping, and in the barn.

If you are worried about the faux fur catching and holding shavings, dirt, dust, or hay, don’t.   I have found the faux fur on the Mountain Horse boots easy to clean.  A simple shake of the boot after you take it off removes most of the loose particles.  I used a small equine face brush to remove mud particles that didn’t fall off on their own.  The tread on the soles grips the ground nicely and the snow is easily knocked off when you come inside.  No slippage on ice or climbing up on the tractor or truck.  I have high arches and suffer from occasional foot fatigue depending on the boot or shoe.  I don’t have this problem with Mountain  Horse products and this boot was no exception.  The boots went on for AM feeding and didn’t come off until evening walk through.  My feet never ached or complained. 

If I were to change anything about the boot, I would make it an inch or two taller in the calf.  Or maybe offer two different heights.  For the most part the present height was sufficient for our snow fall but for drifts and those that live in areas of deeper snow, a slightly higher boot might help keep the snow out of the boot.  This boot is not made for riding; although, I did try and found it a bit wide for the stirrup.  However, I have yet to find anything else the boot isn’t good for. 

My only other comment for now is that removing these nice warm boots to put on a pair of riding boots was shocking.  The riding boots were cold and I could not wear my heavier socks with them. Cold toes for sure!  So maybe my next purchase needs to be a pair of winter riding boots.  Never ending needs for equine apparel. 

Right now the cost of wearing these boots is .99 centers per day.  With each day the costs decrease.  Based on how the boot is wearing now I would expect to have them for a couple of years.  In my opinion they were a good purchase and I would buy the Mountain Horse Eclipse Fashion boot again.  I will provide you an update at the end of the winter.  Until then Happy Shopping!

I do not work for either company and my shopping comments are based on good value for my hard earned dollar.