Yeehaw!!

Well, I'm finally starting to get some barn calls rolling in, and I am massaging some fantastic equines! But my rubber boot got some big tears in them, and they just weren't keeping my feet clean or dry anymore. So I had a choice: do I replace them with more gum boots that will serve in the barn and still have to buy a pair of riding boots later on this summer when I start taking western lessons? Or should I just bite the bullet and buy the cowboy boots I've dreamed of and drooled over now?
Needless to say, pictured to the left are my new babies. Friday my brother and I went down to Herbert's Boots and Western Wear in Alliston and picked out my new horse boots. They are an ariat design, which means that unlike typical leather soled cowboy boots they've got rubber soles which will give me a little more traction. They also have built in arch support and gelly insoles. They're as comfortable as they are beautiful, which is important when you're standing, and chasing a horse around his stall for an hour or more at a time.
As a water proofer I decided to go with a traditional beeswax, vaseline and lanolin recipe rather than dubbins or some highly toxic aerosol spray. It just felt more right to me. I picked up the beeswax at the farmers market yesterday, it was made by bees right here in this sweet little town. I came home and used a double boiler method to melt it, and then mixed in a healthy scoop of bag balm (which, after all, is just lanolin, petroleum jelly and a little tiny smidge of  8-hydroxy quinoline, which should have no effect on the leather).  I used a soft flannel cloth to apply the yellow goo, and rubbed it in using tiny circles, then buffed off the excess with a second, clean cloth.
Here's to kickin' up your heels in style!