Every style of boot crafted by Rios of Mercedes has a last, or a form, around which the leather is stretched. Here you see Ismael Flores hand lasting a boot. Leather from different parts of the animal has different qualities and uses, Evans explains. “The leather we use for soles is out of the backbone and the sides of the animal where the leather has short, springy fi bers that you can pack down. Soles made of this leather don’t wear out as fast. If we use leather from the shoulder area for soles, it will wear through in a hurry. But, the long fi bers from the shoulder area work great for an insole because it’s soft under your foot.”
“No other factory in America is using leather for the toe box in their boots,” Evans says. Nor are they using leather for toe boxes in China, India or Europe, he adds. “I like leather because if a horse steps on your toe, you can reach in there and pop it back out. If a synthetic box toe is crushed, that’s it.”
Jesus Ramirez trims, whittles
and sands the leather in the toe box with great care. The goal
is for the wearer to not see the edge of the toe box once the vamp is laid back across it.
Also, Evans says, “The nice thing about a handmade toe box is
if the customer says they want something a little different, we can make it.”
Ricardo Rodriguez hammers in the dowels just like tightening up the lug nuts on a wheel, Evans says. “You don’t do all of them on one side. You work your way around the boot sole for an even fi nish.”
“We need cattle,” says
Evans. “We couldn’t have our business without them.”
Wood dowels are used in the soles of Rios of Mercedes boots instead of nails. “When you get sole leath- er wet, it swells like a sponge. It can pull the head of a nail out. We use wood dowels that will swell up with the sole and not come out.”
Attention to detail extends to the
polish on the stacked leather heels, which Evans says are made in-
house from scrap leather, and to the embellishments of the sole and instep.
tscra.org
Be sure to check out the City of Mer- cedes’ giant boot public art project, Botas de Mercedes, on page 119.
December 2015 The Cattleman 91
The business of Rios of Mercedes is certainly part of the beef indus- try – adding value to beef cattle by adding beauty and value to a cattle product. Rios of Mercedes/Ander- son Bean/Olathe Boots is a spon- sor of TSCRA and regularly pro- vides boots for association contest prizes and giveaways. Learn more about this company at www.riosof-
mercedes.com.
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