I usually wait a little longer to review things to make sure I REALLY like them (and that they last), but the time is right to review the Devonshire Short Boot from Mountain Horse. I received these for Christmas this year as a gift and they have been absolutely awesome in our late and rather abbreviated rainy season here in Northern California this year. However, I know that for many of you…your rainy season starts now… so have a read on. These boots might be just what you’re looking for.
These boots replaced my old Dublin River Boots…which I’ve had for 5 years. Those held up REALLY well and were still pretty much waterproof (now…water now seeps in if standing in big puddles due to wear and tear), but they no longer fit due to me having a baby and my foot growing from that.
Now this is not my first pair of Mountain Horse boots. I have some tall boots from them I love (they no longer sell the model which is why I never reviewed them) and a beautiful pair of paddock boots. They have all been lovely. But THESE take the cake.
First off, can we just step back for a moment to appreciate how beautiful these are? The colors, contrasting leather details, the hardware details…OH so pretty. So pretty. And the overall styling are gorgeous. These ALMOST never made it to the barn because I thought “I will literally wear these every time I leave the house in the winter.” But then it occurred to me I don’t really leave the house other than to go to the barn these days (thanks COVID) so I might as well use them for what they’re made for.
So these are, most importantly, completely waterproof. I’ve tested them thoroughly by jumping in puddles, walking in mini-lakes instead of avoiding them, and tromping through mud. No worries there. Now they’ve only been through a few rainstorms, but I don’t see them having an issue for many years as the quality of these boots is really nice. The tred is super sturdy, great in slippery conditions and doesn’t actually grab on to too much dirt (so you don’t trail around huge clods of dirt in your car/house).
They clean up easily, though the color contrast between the nubuck and full grain is less obvious after some wear/cleaning…but that’s to be expected that they wouldn’t stay like they were out of the box forever.
They are super comfy as well (so important!). The foot bed is fairly wide and sturdy like most country style boots and they are 100% the most comfortable pair of boots that I own…and I own A LOT of boots from a lot of brands. The lining helps with warmth on colder days (I mean…I live in Nor Cal…so I’m not the best tester of super cold weather). At the same time, I don’t end up with hot, sweaty feet on days when the temps have reached up to 80. So it’s a great overall boot that I think can hold up all year long.
These are a mid-calf height (which I think are prettier for some reason), but they do have a tall boot version. If you have a need to have a taller boot for tromping around in deep water on a cross country course, you may want to go for the taller version, but for most people the shorter boot will do the trick.
I think the quality is great with the leather being fairly nice and sturdy and the stitching done well. It’s not the tip top of quality, but I wouldn’t expect that for the price. The value of these are excellent IMO and they look like a much more expensive boot than they are. They aren’t much more expensive than the Dublin boot, but they are significantly more attractive, just as high performance and even more comfortable.
I would absolutely not hesitate to purchase these again and I really hope that when these wear out in another 5 years they still carry the model (or an even nicer one) to purchase again. Heck…once these go on sale somewhere I might pick up another pair or two anyways. They are so pretty and so comfortable I don’t see myself wanting another boot for a long time.
