Are Synthetic Riding Boots Any Good? Honest Pros and Cons

Yes, for lessons, schooling and everyday riding. A synthetic riding boot has the same heel and sole as a leather one, wipes clean, needs no feeding and costs a fraction of the price. Where it loses to leather is real: it breathes less, it cannot be fed or restored once the surface wears, it is water-resistant rather than waterproof, and at the formal end of showing leather is still the convention. We make both kinds, and this guide says which is which.

Two of our boots, the Gaia jodhpur boot and the Athena tall boot, have synthetic uppers. Two, the Hera country boot and the Atlas yard boot, are leather. So we have no reason to talk synthetic up or down, and we have written this guide to answer the question the way it is actually asked, which is usually with a raised eyebrow.

What "synthetic leather" means

Synthetic leather is a fabric with a flexible coating on one face, made to look and handle like leather. There is no animal material in it, which is why it is also sold as vegan leather. Under a microscope leather is a mat of collagen fibres that go all the way through the hide; synthetic leather is a backing cloth with a coloured skin on top. That one difference explains almost everything on the pros and cons list below.

The rest of the boot is the same. A synthetic riding boot has a rubber sole, a heel, a lining, an insole and, on the Athena and the Gaia Zipped, a zip. When people ask whether a synthetic boot is any good they are almost always asking about the upper, so that is what this guide is about. Anyone comparing the soles and heels across our range will find them on the materials page.

Synthetic and leather side by side

Synthetic and leather riding boot uppers compared, using our own boots as the examples

	Synthetic (Gaia, Athena)	Leather (Hera)
What the upper is	A coated fabric with no animal material	Full-grain buffalo leather
Looking after it	Wipe with a damp cloth	Wipe, then feed with conditioner or polish
Breathability	Less; warmer on long days	More; the hide is porous
Water	Water-resistant; Gaia to the elasticated ankle	100% waterproof construction with sealed seams
When the surface wears	Cannot be fed or restored	Can be fed, polished and re-dyed
Shape over time	Keeps the shape it was made in; padding does the work	Moulds to the foot with wear
Formal showing	Fine at local level; leather is the convention higher up	The convention
Warranty	90-day easy returns	90-day easy returns plus a 12-month fair-use warranty
Price from us	Gaia £26.95 child, £29.95 adult; Athena on its page	£89.95

Where synthetic genuinely loses to leather

This is the part most sellers skip. We would rather you read it here than found it out.

It breathes less

Leather is porous and lets moisture from the foot out through the upper. A coated fabric lets less through. On a hot day, or a long day, feet in a synthetic boot get warmer and damper than feet in a leather one. For an hour's lesson it makes no difference. For a full day at a show in July it does, and a rider who spends that kind of day in boots has a reason to prefer leather that has nothing to do with looks.

It cannot be fed, and a worn surface cannot be restored

Leather can be fed with conditioner, polished, re-dyed and, on a well-made boot, resoled by a cobbler. It ages and can be brought back. Synthetic leather takes none of those. The coloured face is the boot's surface, and once it wears through at a flex point, at the crease across the toe or where a stirrup leather rubs, there is no feeding it back. This is what people mean by cracking and peeling. It is a wear pattern, not a defect, and it is the price of an upper that costs a fraction of leather.

Two things make it happen sooner: drying a wet boot on a radiator or in direct sun, which stiffens the coating, and storing boots folded or crushed so the crease sets. Dry a soaked boot with paper inside, away from heat, and stand it up. We make no claim about how long our own boots last. We have no durability data for them yet, and we would rather say so than guess.

It is water-resistant, not waterproof

The two words are not the same and we use them carefully. Water-resistant means the upper sheds splashes, wet grass and light rain, and water will get in if you stand in it or if it rises above the protected part. The pull-on Gaia is water-resistant up to the elasticated ankle; the Gaia Zipped is water-resistant to the last stitch line; the Athena is water-resistant. None of them is waterproof and we never describe them that way. Waterproof means the construction keeps water out, with sealed seams so there is no path in through the stitching, and the boot in our range built that way is the leather Hera. A synthetic upper can be made waterproof by other makers; ours are not, and if you need to stand in water you need a different boot. The difference gets its own guide: waterproof or water-resistant, what each boot can take.

At the formal end of showing, leather is the convention

At riding school shows, riding club events and unaffiliated classes, a clean black synthetic boot is fine and common. At the formal end, county showing, affiliated dressage at the higher levels, leather tall boots are what most riders wear and what some judges expect to see. A synthetic tall boot is not against the rules in most of those classes, but the convention is real and it is fair to say so. Read the schedule for the class you are entering. Each Pony Club branch sets its own kit list, so check yours before buying for a rally.

It does not mould to the foot the way leather does

A leather boot worn for a year takes the shape of the foot inside it, which is part of why riders become attached to old boots. A synthetic boot keeps roughly the shape it was made in. Padding does some of the same work, which is why the Gaia has a padded ankle and insole and the Athena a padded interior and cushioned sole, but it is not the same thing, and a rider who has worn leather for twenty years will notice.

Where synthetic wins

Price

The upper costs less to make, and it needs less hand work. That is most of the difference, and the rest is how the boot reaches you. Our Gaia is £26.95 for children and £29.95 for adults. For scale, on 7 September 2026 Just Horse Riders had 64 adult jodhpur boots from other makers in stock, from £18.74 to £240.00 with a middle price of £41.59, and 22 adult tall riding boots, from £59.62 to £187.65 with a middle price of £102.91. Those are one retailer's shelves on one date, and they include synthetic boots from other makers as well as leather ones.

Nothing to look after

A synthetic boot is wiped down with a damp cloth and put away. No polish, no conditioner, no drying rack, no dubbin. For a child who rides on a Saturday morning and a parent who has to get the kit clean for the next one, this is the single biggest practical difference between the two materials.

No animal material

For some riders this is the whole question. Gaia and Athena uppers have no animal material in them. If the rest of the boot matters to you too, ask us about the lining and adhesives rather than assuming; we would rather answer than have you guess.

Consistent from pair to pair

Leather varies. Two pairs of the same leather boot can differ in stiffness, grain and how they take colour. A coated fabric is the same across the roll, so a synthetic boot in your size fits like the last one in your size. That matters most when a child is on their third pair in two years.

Nothing stiff to soften

A new leather boot, and a leather tall boot in particular, is stiff at the ankle for the first rides. A synthetic upper has no stiff leather to soften and the Gaia's side panels are elasticated, so there is less to break in. We have not tested how much wearing in our boots need, so we do not claim they need none. If a boot hurts on the first wear, treat it as a sizing question first and use the returns.

Synthetic boots and children

The case for synthetic is strongest for a child, and not only because of the price. A child's foot grows through two or three pairs of boots before the calf settles, and a leather boot that is fed, polished and moulded to a foot for a year is then outgrown, with all of that care spent on a boot that goes to the next child or the back of a cupboard. A synthetic boot asks for none of that care and costs less to replace when the foot moves on. The Gaia children's boot is £26.95 in child UK 10 to UK 3, and the children's Athena tall boot is there for the older child whose calf has stopped changing. Which of those a child needs, and when, is the subject of jodhpur boots or long boots, and when to move up.

One caution that applies to any material: a child's boot is outgrown before it is worn out, so check the fit at the toe every few months rather than waiting for a complaint. A boot that is too small does more harm in a stirrup than a boot that is slightly loose.

Why ours cost less than the leather boots beside them

This gets asked directly, often with a brand name attached, so here is the direct answer.

Englander Equestrian is the own brand of Just Horse Riders, which has sold other makers' riding boots since 2010. Aaron Englander, who founded the shop, sold those boots for over a decade and watched the same boots cost more year after year. The brand exists so that someone who cannot stretch to a £70 pair of boots might manage a £50 pair and does not give up riding over it. The point was never to be the lowest price on the shelf; it was to keep people riding.

Two things make the price. The Gaia and Athena uppers are synthetic, which costs less than leather to make. And the boots are sold direct, with nobody between the factory and you.

The comparison people usually have in mind is with a leather boot from an established maker, and we stock those boots ourselves. On 7 September 2026, Just Horse Riders had four Ariat adult jodhpur boots in stock, from £140.00 to £240.00. Those are leather boots that a great many riders love and that we are happy to sell. A Gaia at £29.95 is not the same boot and does not claim to be. It is a synthetic boot with a heel, a rubber sole and a padded ankle that does the job a lesson asks of it, and the difference in price is the difference in material and in route to market, not a difference in whether it is safe to ride in.

What to look for in a synthetic riding boot

If you are buying one, from us or from anyone, these are the things that separate a synthetic boot that works from one that does not.

• A defined heel. The step at the back of the sole that stops the foot sliding through the stirrup. Every riding boot must have it; a fashion ankle boot in the same shape usually does not.
• A sole without deep lugs. Enough tread to walk on a wet yard, nothing deep enough to catch on a stirrup bar.
• Padding at the ankle. The ankle bone takes the stirrup leather. Padding there is the difference between a comfortable first month and a rubbed one.
• A named zip. On a zipped boot the zip is the part that fails first. The Gaia Zipped and the Atlas use a genuine YKK zip with a storm flap behind it; ask what any other boot uses.
• An honest water claim. If a synthetic boot is called waterproof, ask how: sealed seams and a membrane, or just a coated upper. If the answer is vague, treat it as water-resistant.
• A real returns window. The likeliest problem with a boot bought online is the size. Every product of ours has 90-day easy returns, on top of your statutory rights.

Who a synthetic boot is right for, and who should buy leather

Synthetic is right for beginners, children, riding school lessons, weekly schooling, anyone who wants a boot they can wipe and forget, anyone who wants no animal material, and anyone for whom the price of a leather boot is the reason they have not started.

Leather is right for riders who spend whole days in their boots, riders who show at the formal end, anyone who needs a genuinely waterproof boot for yard work in winter, and riders who want a boot they can feed, polish and keep for years. In our range that boot is the Hera: full-grain buffalo leather, sealed seams for a 100% waterproof construction, and the only boot we make with a 12-month fair-use warranty.

Plenty of riders end up with both: a synthetic boot for lessons and the yard, a leather boot for the days that call for one. That is not a compromise. It is using each material for what it is good at.

Looking after a synthetic boot

Wipe it down with a damp cloth after riding. If it gets soaked through, take out the insole, stuff the boot with paper to draw out the moisture and hold the shape, and let it dry away from direct heat. Do not put it on a radiator or in front of a fire, and do not leave it in a hot car; heat is what stiffens the coating. Store it standing up rather than folded. That is the whole list, and it is the same advice as on our materials page.

Who wrote this

Englander Equestrian is the own brand of Just Horse Riders, a family-run Lancashire retailer that has sold riding kit since 2010. We make two synthetic boots and two leather ones, and we still stock the brands we are compared with, which is where the price figures on this page come from.

Related

• Materials and construction
• Gaia jodhpur boots
• Athena tall boots
• Hera country boots, the leather counterpoint
• Guide: Which riding boots should a beginner buy
• Guide: Waterproof or water-resistant, what each boot can take

All prices include VAT. Gaia prices checked on the store on 18 September 2026; other makers' prices read from the Just Horse Riders catalogue on 7 September 2026.