The Calgary Stampede is done for another year, and that means dudes
will be putting away their cowboy boots – with relief – until next
July.
Several Alberta boot sellers confirm that sales take a jump during
Stampede as people try to dress the part. Yet you can usually tell a
cowboy boot novice from someone who uses them for everyday footwear.
It’s all in the tilt of their gait.
Like all footwear, cowboy boots have come a long way since shoes and
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boots were made without attention to right and left.
Here’s one of the News release
newsthat crossed the desk this spring, in
which attributes of a modern cowboy boot are described:
“1) a unique, composite, precision moulded carbon-fibre forked shank to
stabilize and support the foot … 2) an orthotic footbed combines heat
sensitive sorbathane gel, thermal plastic arch and heel cups, and EVA
foam to provide extraordinary cushioning with a customized feel 3) a
moisture wicking sockliner to keep the foot dry and cool … and, 4)
the Duratread outsole, a highly flexible, long lasting outsole with
absorbs energy at impact to reduce fatigue and to provide superior oil
and slip resistant traction.”
Nope, they’re not just strips of cowhide stitched together and slapped
on a sole. Far from it. In fact, the term “well-heeled” is said to have
come from the historical preference by horsemen and nobility for higher
heeled boots.
Some people would rather hug a barbed wire fence in a southern Alberta
windstorm than break in a new pair of cowboy boots.
They say once a good boot moulds to your foot, stretching around every
bone, bulge, bunion and corn, you’re spoiled for all other footwear.
Of course, this fondness usually means the owner rarely takes off said
boots, and when he does the consequences can be dire. Maybe that’s
among the reasons so many cowboys want to die with their boots on.
Kansas cowboy poet Dwight Burgess describes the feeling thus:
Some people might not understand it,
But there is one thing that I crave.
When I go home to be with my Lord,
I’ll wear my boots to the grave.
I hope it won’t be right away,
Cause there’s so much left here to do.
But when I do go I won’t be surprised,
If Saint Peter is wearin’ ’em too.
Wyoming cowboy poet Paul Harwitz takes a practical approach:
I want to die with my boots on,
So I won’t hurt my toe when I kick the bucket.
