Seats of Empire title

Introduction

Ancient Saddles

Transitional Saddles

Medieval Saddles

Medieval / Renaissance saddles

Pack Saddles

Peytrals and Cruppers

Bridles

Complete panoplies

Clothing and Armour

Accessories, Diverse

Footwear

Examples of Riding

Markets and Events

Publications

Contact and Ordering

Footwear

My first forays into footwear manufacture decades ago was to make character costume boots for Classical Ballet use. Being a keen horseman over the decades, another area of particular interest has naturally been equestrian footwear. I have replicated pieces from Late Antiquity to the nineteenth century.

Late Antique riding boots

Late Antique riding boots based upon finds in Egypt. C5th—6th

Medieval boots

A style of boot ubiquitous in the Levant by the eleventh century.


Byzantine cavalry boots

Byzantine and Turkish cavalry boots, C11th—12th. Worn here with kamptotouva (padded leggings).

Fifteenth-century riding boots

Fifteenth-century European thigh boots.


Elizabethan riding boots

Late Elizabethan era riding boots based upon a surviving example in the Museum of London.

bucket-top boots

Bucket-top boots are simply thigh boots with the portion above the knee folded down. C17th—18th.


top boots

Gentleman’s top boots, C18th onward.

Hard cavalry boots.

Hard cavalry boots, C18th—19th.


Hessian boots

Military hessian boots were basic black, with the colour of the trim indicting rank. Late C18th—19th.

Hessian boots

Dress hessian boots could be in all manner of colours, Late C18th—19th.


gambado boots

Heavy cavalry boots of the C18th, sometimes called “gambados”. These are copied directly from a pair on the International Museum of Leather Craft (IMOLC).