Zoom in on the inside of a Western boot and the construction starts to tell a different story.

This image shows the base of a pull strap where it meets the leather shaft. Instead of ending with a single straight seam, the leather extends into a shaped attachment area surrounded by multiple rows of stitching.
There is a practical reason for this.
Each time the wearer uses the pull straps to put on the boots, force travels through the straps and into these attachment points. The construction therefore needs to consider more than appearance. Strap width, leather shape, stitch placement and the size of the attachment area all become part of the design.
The shaped base creates a defined area where the strap joins the shaft, while the surrounding stitch lines secure the layers together. It is a small section of the boot, but one that participates in the same pulling motion again and again.
Most of this work disappears from sight once the boots are finished.
That is part of what makes bootmaking interesting. Decorative stitching may define what people see from the outside, while construction stitching quietly connects the components underneath.
Different stitches, different purposes—all within the same pair of boots.