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Category: Farm Doings | Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2014 3:34 pm

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You can judge a man by his boots. Almost everyone around here wears boots and the boots tell a lot about the wearer.
If the boots are pointy-toed and rake heeled, either the wearer does a lot of line dancing or is just dressed for the part. Do not hire this person for any serious work.
If the boots are pointy-toed and have a heel, look at the side of the boot just above the instep. If the color is rubbed off, the wearer does a lot of riding. A stirrup will rub the boot at that point and remove any dye from the leather. Hire this person to move cattle from pasture to pasture, or to rope that nasty bull you're afraid to approach.
If the boot has a rounded toe and flat heel, it's a work boot. The wearer has bought a size bigger so thick socks will fit inside the boot in cold weather, and in hot weather, the foot can breathe. These are the boots favored by farmers. The flat heel doesn't catch on the steps up to their tractor (some of the tractors around here are really, really big and require three or four steps to get to the cab) and the round toe is comfortable. Some of the more cautious folks have steel-toed work boots. Those who are less cautious just hire someone who wears work boots and lets nature take its course.
Boots also come in a variety of leathers. Ostrich skin boots are the ones the box holders at football games wear to demonstrate they can not only afford the box, but really expensive boots, too.
Lizard skin boots are for show and are worn for effect. Of course, if you have a late lizard on your feet, the effect may not be what you wanted.
Calf skin boots are a bit more practical. Calfskin doesn't wear as well as cowhide, but it would be a shame to waste that hide.
And there are still a few elephant hide boots from the 60's in use. One man we know is on the third re-soling of his elephant hide boots that he received as a graduation gift (yes, he completed high school!) and the tops are just fine—he keeps wearing out the soles after 40 years of wear. Fortunately for the elephants, elephant skin has been banned for years. His boots are grandfathered in, however.
If the man from a nearby ranch, who goes past with his horse trailer containing two saddled horses, heading for the pasture across the road to move cattle, ever shows up wearing Nikes, you will know that the world has changed, and not for the better!



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mart wrote on Mon Aug 25, 2014 5:39 pm:

I am dead serious MG,,you need to get your blog entries in book form. How well you know Texans !!

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mart wrote on Mon Aug 25, 2014 5:45 pm:

Oh,,And did you know that the rake heel is also called a riding heel because it will not slip through a stirrup. But no self respecting cowboy would ever be caught on a horse wearing them. He would forever be called a sissy !!

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Frank wrote on Mon Aug 25, 2014 11:12 pm:

Well written and interesting MG! I used to own a pair of Doc Marten boots in my 'rebellious' years (I wasn't that much of a rebel really).

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Henry Johnson wrote on Tue Aug 26, 2014 3:32 am:

Good one, MG; reminds me of the joke about the kid who was traveling in the West and looking for cowboys.. The saw a man on a horse near the highway so he/she stopped to converse with him.. Noticing that the 'cowboy?' was wearing SNEAKERS, he/she asked why he wore sneakers instead of cowboy boots? The cowboy replied, 'I don't want to be mistaken for a TRUCK-DRIVER!'
I just love your wry sense of humour... Hank

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Sjoerd wrote on Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:43 am:

What a great posting, MG. A good insight to your culture there. Priceless.

You covered all the footwear...but what if a rider is not wearing Nike's or one boot or the other...suppose that he is wearing moccasins. What does that say about the wearer (other than he may be a native american)?

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