To Zip or Not to Zip? Are Zippers in Tall Boots a Good Idea?

I vowed to never buy another pair of boots without zippers after I was stuck in my brand new Konig dressage boots for more than an hour. Actually, I was stuck in just one.

I had just gotten the boots and was wearing them around the house to break them in. My husband was out of town. After about an hour, I decided that the backs of my knees had suffered long enough and I decided to take them off.

The right boot came off without a hitch. The left boot was another story. It moved down my leg a few inches and then . . . my boot jack broke. There it sat: not on, not off, and not moving. As I recall, this happened about 8 p.m. so I was not in a position to go buy another boot jack. The boot was on too tight to get my boot hooks back in (to pull it on) and it was off just enough to make walking difficult. To make matters worse, my left leg now throbbed as the boot was cutting off the circulation in my calf.

I spent some time contemplating why I had thought semi-custom boots were a good idea. I wondered whether I would sleep that night given the state of my leg. I contemplated the look that would appear on my client's face the next morning when I showed up for my scheduled meeting. It might be amusing . . . for them!

Finally, the solution presented itself. I lay on my back and put my leg up against the wall. After about 15 minutes my leg no longer hurt as the blood had now almost completely left my limb. Carefully I stood up and using the back of a stair in place of the jack, managed to get the boot very slightly further down my leg. Repeating this procedure several times finally got the boot off. While the whole event probably lasted less than an hour, it seemed to have gone on for an eternity.

Needless to say, I got the boot stretched before attempting to put it on again.

I know that I'm not the only person who has gotten stuck in their boots. YouTube has several videos that document their struggles. This lucky person had help; I didn't know my neighbors well enough to knock on any doors and ask for help removing my boot!

I understand why some people don't like boots with zippers. To begin with, zippers break. That's happened to me too. In fact, out in the hunt field you are only supposed to wear boots without zippers precisely for that reason. Having ridden most of one hunt with my boot flapping around my leg because of a broken zipper, I completely understand that.

I also agree with those people who feel that boots with zippers don't have the same clean lines as those without. Boots without zippers look great before you get them on and while you're wearing them. It's the in between parts that are so awkward.

However, on balance, the memory of being stuck in my boots makes riding with a broken zipper pale in comparison. Give me zippers (and gullets) any day!