I was looking at the Alfa stirrups Voltaire sells, but I know there are several others out there. Anyone have any preferences, if so why, and I was also curious about straight vs. tilted for the sole plate - if anyone has noticed much of a difference? Do the tilted ones help and if so in what way? Thank you in advance for any input!
I’ve sprained my ankles a lot so I really need the wide bed stirrups that have a tiny bit of give. Too much give (as with the MDCs) and it’s very painful and not stable enough for my ankles, but no give and it hurts ankles, knees, etc.
Anyway, I used to ride in the Compositi wide bed and really liked them, but I got a pair of the Tech Athena Jumper Plus stirrups and WOW. Never will I give them up. Wide bed, just a bit of give, and they come in fun colors. 
1 Like
I also have a pair of the Tech Stirrup and love them - the original with no shock absorption, not the Plus. I think the plate is mildly tilted, I’m not sure that couple of degrees of tilt makes a big difference to most people. I’ve been riding in the super-fancy Equiline safety stirrups but they’re starting to feel like too much stirrup (they’re banging up my ankles during no stirrup work and I don’t want to just cross them in front of my saddle and transfer the banging to my horses’ withers!) so I think I’m going to switch back to the Tech this weekend.
Some brands I love are American Equus and Tech Stirrups! I hope you find a pair that works! 
I love my aluminum Flex Ons
Another vote for the Tech Venice Sloped irons.
In 50 years of riding these are my favorite stirrups as far as how they feel on my feet, plus I feel safe that I won’t get hung up if I fall off the horse.
I have the flex on green composite irons, which I know are not the same as them aluminum irons, but i love my flex on stirrups and wouldn’t hesitate to buy any of their other products.
I just got Acavallo’s AluPro safety style in brown and WOW. they are literally the bomb. They also have a composite component to them that flexes subtly through the stirrup to absorb shock. I was afraid they would be too light for my preference, but they are more than substantial. 10/10 recommend.
I really like my Jins, mostly because they still look kinda classic, but they are pretty light and with the wide footbed. Mine have a bit of an angle on the footbed, which is nice but not overbearing. I’d say that my leg is slightly more stable than in regular plastic stirrups or the compositi ones which I prefer over regular irons. I think Sprenger flexi ones makes my leg the most stable, but for some reason they really put a lot of stress on my ankles and are also heavier, so I sided with the Jins.
I really liked my Jins. I think Voltaire use to sell them at their booth a million years ago now. I don’t have experience with any lighter irons. The sprenger flexi ones hurt my knees. Stubben makes a nice pair of lighter irons that are angled.
Ive been meaning to buy a pair of those acavallo safety irons (husband is traumatized by watching someone be dragged soo we all have tapaderos now)
I have Equiwing wide track aluminums and like them very much! Stable, comfortable, light weight but still “traditional” in look. I’ve had flexible stirrups in the past and they actually made my knee pain worse, so prefer the non-flex models.
I love Jins! I’d be crippled without them. They have better weight than the plastic stirrups and look more traditional which I like. I use the anatomic footbed on my dressage saddle but the classic ones for jumping. I don’t think I’d like to jump on the more curved/angled ones but I do find them comfortable.
I’ve ridden in various other wide footbed stirrups but the Jins are my favorite.
I also have the Acavallo stirrups. It was a toss up between these and the tech Venice, but I felt it would be important for safety that the stirrups open down instead of up, so I went with the Acavallo in red. I also love them! Very comfortable stirrups. I also like that the grip pad is very grippy for riding in all weather.
there is a much cheaper safety stirrup brand that I always forget the name of… I’ve been meaning to buy a few pairs to switch all my lesson horses’ tack over to.
Not aluminum but Free Jumps work the best for me. I felt the aluminum ones were too light and would bounce around too much of a stirrup was lost/ dropped. I then had MDCs which were a bit too heavy and the twist too encouraged me to toe out more than I already do. The Free Jumps offset angle seems to be almost perfect for me: alleviated pressure without encouraging me to toe out. They are light weight but heavy enough to find easily if dropped. The safety aspect is a big plus, not something I ever cared about before but as I get older, ride alone, and start to evaluate how I can be safer it is now important to me to have safety stirrups. The grips are awesome as well. I can’t imagine using plain Fillis irons ever again.
