I’ve recently been in dire need of new boots. Melbourne has had more rain thiswinter than we’ve seen over the previous 15 winters and last year I gave away my gumbootsbecause I just never used them. Then came the two inches of mud.

As horse owners rain and mud should be our best friend.

Except when your comfiest-ever-well-loved-and-worn boots of the last four years are so wellloved they have sizable holes in them.

I should mention my previous boots were Fat Babies. Those really cool Roper style, roundtoed models. Cherry Red Patent Croc Skin pattern with sandy coloured suede up the calves.Heaven. I wore those boots day in and day out.

Time for replacements.

This time round I got a pair of Fat Baby Saddles in Mesa Brown with sweet blue-mauvestitching. It’s one of the things I like about Ariat, they change their designs around,produce multiple models to suit all tastes and styles. From the very practical to the veryrock (eg. Gem Babies).

I also got a second pair – BarnYard’s which are a much more stylish version of Redbacks orBlundstones. They are my kicking-around-the-paddock boots. Super waterproof, supercomfortable, totally suited to riding and did I also mention Stylish? You even get a choice of elastic sides (TwinGore), zippers or laces. I went the elastic ... got to love pull on boots.

I’ve already christened them in mud. That’s what I did, yanked them out of the box, pulledthem on straight away and went out to do the feeds and slosh through mud.

My feet are still nice and toasty!

Back to the Fat Babies ... I adore them. They have to be about the most comfortable bootsaround and nice enough to wear out and about too. They can be pretty and practical.

Ariat truly do have a range of boots to suit every taste. And they are probably the mostcomfortable boots you will ever wear. I’ve never met another person who saiddifferently!

Just a final note ... JustCountry.com.au, who are the Australian Distributors for Ariat,provide some of the best customer service I have ever encountered. Any other businessreading this, take note: Customer Service Is Everything!

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