CowboyBootStories.Com

Here is the sad story, Can’t find a pair of good boots to save my life here in Michigan!! Darn it, what’s up with this poor selection in this state??

Congratulations  Matt Teagarden, of Kansas

Week four winner Mat Teagarden shares his horror story of a very expensive pair of missing boots. Matt’s story had an average rating of 4.86 and is good enough to win him $200 worth of free cowboy boots from Boot City - The Best Western Store in Texas (and by default, the country)

Matt’s story was titled The boot switcheroo and can be found here http://www.cowboybootstories.com/2009/04/18/the-boot-switcheroo/

 Congratulation Matt, you can claim your free cowboy boots today. (or anytime in the near future, just watch your email for details)

A few years ago I was in the market for a new pair of boots. After quite a bit of looking, I settled on a nice pair of ostrich boots I found in the Lucchese catalog. I was looking forward to my first pair of Luccheses. However, my patience would be tested, since the boots were not scheduled for production for several weeks.

In the meantime, I shared with several coworkers my excitement about my new boots. Our office is full of boot wearers, so the subject comes up quite often around the break room table. It turns out, I might have done a little too much talking about my new boots.

Months went by until finally one Friday evening I was checking email from home. I had been on the road that day and hadn’t seen any email all day. You might ask why this is important to the story. The answer is my inbox contained the email I had been waiting for all those months. The email was from the lady in our office mail room with the simple subject line, “You have a UPS package.”

I was so excited. The only UPS package I was expecting was my boots. I certainly couldn’t wait until Monday to get them and could barely wait until Saturday to make a special trip to the office to get them.

When I arrived at the office I grabbed the box and headed to my office to have my first look. My first disappointment came as I opened the box and saw the boots were brown, not black like I ordered. As I opened the box further, I saw the boots were not even the style I had ordered. When I pulled one of the boots out, I noticed some dried manure on the sole – they weren’t even new!

As I processed what was happening, several thoughts went through my mind. Maybe it was a simple mistake. Maybe someone at the factory liked my boots so much they switched their old ones for mine. Or – maybe my coworkers were playing a prank on me.

The boots looked a little familiar to me. But the box didn’t look like it had been tampered with. It even had the fancy official UPS plastic strap around it.

I decided the quickest action I could take was a search of the office. My first stop was my prime suspect’s office. Nothing. I checked a few other offices then decided to confront the prime suspect directly.

He picked up his cell phone right away. I tried to play it cool with some small talk before springing the trap on him. “What size boots do you wear?” The boots in the box are size 12. Empty trap – he said he wore 10s. Convinced (good liar) he didn’t know anything about it, I told him what had happened. Still nothing to tip me off he was a conspirator.

I called the retailer, called Lucchese, began forming a posse. I even tried contacting Walker and the other Texas Rangers. My boots were missing and had to be found! Being a Saturday, I didn’t get very far and decided the investigation would have to wait until Monday.

Monday morning, one of my coworkers stops by my office to ask a question. I was a little distracted and didn’t notice her new boots right away. When I did, I knew I had been had. Call off the posse, stand down Walker, Texas Ranger.

I learned several things from this experience. One – the Luccheses were well worth the wait. Two – I can’t trust my coworkers. And three, don’t ever have anything personal shipped to the office again!

We picked a winner this week, but we have issue with cheating. (not the Pastor)

It is sad to say, but we had to figure a way to disqualify some of the voting, it appears that some people want the free boot so bad they have found a way to vote multiple times. They vote a 5 for their story and a 1 for the other stories on the website. This is the 2nd week in row that we have had this problem so we have devised a way to strip out the bad votes on the back end. - This week, the winner of the $200 in free boots had 74 votes and an average score of 4.26.

Congratulation Pastor Wilson on your winning story Grandpas Boots,  just so you know, I still sport my pointy toe boots on a regular basis. Your Cowboy Boot Story was well written and touching.

We hope you enjoy your boots.

I was lucky enough to be in Lubbock Texas last month and I stopped by the Boot City Store. This was my first time in the store even though I do a lot of business with the good folks at Boot City online.
The first thing that struck me about the store was the volume of merchandise, from jeans to hats, and yes about 10 million pair of boots. The staff was excellent and just as nice as they are on the phone when I have a question.
When I stuck my head in the owners office I saw a plaque from NBC (local): Boot City, in a town full of western stores, had won the Best of The West award for western wear.
My point, after all the rambling, is that if you buy boots from Boot City, you know you are dealing with real people with a real western sensibility.

Please don’t vote for this story. I don’t want the free boots.

“What are you gonna do with those pointy toed boots?” they would say. “You gonna kill a spider in the corner?” The jokes would go on and on about my grandpas black pointy toed boots. I grew up just a mile down the road from Grandma and Grandpa in northeast Oklahoma. There was not a day went by that my feet did not enter some type of cowboy boots, but I never would have worn a pointed toed boot like grandpas. We rode and fed horses and cattle everyday in boots, you know regular boots like ropers and round toed boots. We left the pointy toes up to grandpa to wear. Every year I would go to the store before school started and would buy me a new pair of boots. I would always take them for grandpa to look at right out of the box. A year never went by that he did not ask me “when are you gonna get you some real boots with pointy toes?” I would laugh and tell him, “I aint gonna wear those things!”
That has been over 25 years ago now. Grandpas black pointy toed boots are in the garage stored away in a box for safe keeping. He has been suffering from prostate cancer now for over a year. It has been tough on a man of 82 who took care of close to 1500 acres for most of his adult life to not be able to do it anymore.
I spent Easter Sunday afternoon with grandma and grandpa this week. I got to show him my new pair of boots for possibly the last time. He told me “those are the best looking boots you have ever had, they look good on you,” as he looked at my new pair of Lucchese black pointy toed 1883’s. I guess we should never say never.

I am a horse trainer by trade. I am a dying breed. A living piece of American History. I am the girl you see walking the mall in Los Angeles wearing her Wranglers and Lucchese boots. My boots are a part of me, a statement of heritage and history. My boots take care of me, they are my partner.

Slick bottoms allow my feet to slip from a stirrup connected to a wild horse trying it’s best to get away. Thick leather protects my feet from 1000 pounds and steel shoes. Hiding under the leg of my jeans is the true me. Pretty colors, embroydered flowers or bucking horses whatever I choose! No one sees it but me. It’s a secret of my personality but protection from the leather of the saddle providing me with security that my leg will not get a rub spot from the many hours I spend atop a horse. My boots have a wonderful wear spot from my spurs that show they are true work boots. Functional beauty each boot is handmade,a true piece of western art.

I have boots for every occasion and they all have a story to tell. Some are for work, some for show and others are to wear out. Each boot has a story to tell of history we have made together. Some
have won buckles with me, some do not recieve any prizes but are with me each day I achieve a milestone with a unbroke colt. They are equal in their value. Each boot serves a purpose and even though some are not as pretty as others those are the ones that are most worn and fit best!

My boots are a piece of me and true statement of the American West. I am a American Mustang Trainer and my boots are my history.