Looking for reasonable price point, I currently ride in old royal rider composite stirrups, the bottoms of my feet get sore sometimes. Tried the sprenger bow balance and liked the feeling but they didn’t seem very grippy. Is the free jump system worth the $$? Suggestions please 
I’m also shopping for stirrup irons. From my research, many people love freejump, but not able to run stirrups up will drive me crazy. For me, i want a wider foot bed, cheese grater so its grippy, and while i’m at it, i want to have a safety mechanism. Looks like Tech Venice or Acavallo fits the bill ,and Acavallo is alot cheaper. Both have really good reviews.
I’ve switched stirrups a few times over the years and never fell in love with a pair until I tried the FreeJump. I absolutely LOVE them! They have immensely helped with my knee and ankle pain, great grip and I love the fact that they are safety stirrups.
I won’t sit on any horse without them on the saddle now, both from a comfort perspective but also safety perspective. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy a second pair, highly recommend!
They’re pricey but I LOVE my Flex Ons. I have ankles that often get sore when riding (if I ride in the wrong stirrups I will get off and not be able to walk) but I find the Flex On foot bed keeps me very supported and allows my lower leg to be more secure - I can actually step down into my heels without any pain.
You can run the stirrups up on the Freejump Soft Up Classic stirrups. I have great stability in the stirrups and my leg position has improved. That being said, I am not impressed with Freejump quality overall. The stirrups feel plasticky. I like the wide leathers though. I have the half chaps that have literally disintegrated with light use.
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i like composite stirrups. I don’t want them to have a mind of their own. With lightweight stirrups i feel completely in control. I trust my feet.
I love the Acavallos, and the new Aluplus ones look like traditional stirrups from a distance.
I really like my Tech Venice Slope stirrups. There is not much of a slope, just enough so that my ankle does not feel like it is collapsing to the outside (I had multiple sprained ankles, my ankles tend to collapse to the outside just walking on my own feet.)
The best thing about them is that I can forget they are there, I put my feet in them, they stay in place and I no longer have to keep checking them to make sure they have not moved. The balls of my feet do not hurt like they did in the Fillis stirrups (horrible pain in the end until I gave up on Fillis stirrups.)
The fact that they are an excellent safety stirrup does not hurt either.
I feel safe and secure riding in these stirrups.
They are expensive, I had to save up for them. I think that they are worth every penny I spent on them, and if I get another saddle I will just have to get another pair because I like them so much more than any other stirrup I’ve tried.
@Jackie_Cochran Does your make a weird squeaky noise? I’m trying out a pair and the left side sometimes would make squeaky sound.
No, I have not heard any squeaky noises from the stirrups.
I always mount from a mounting block, I do not know if that makes any difference but it is the only thing I can think of that might affect squeakiness since it is your left stirrup.
I have had no problems from these stirrups. Like I said above I ended up with a huge foot pain problem from the Fillis stirrups. I sold my two pairs of the HS Bowflex stirrups because how they turned the stirrup leathers so that the edges rubbed against my shin bone. I stopped using the old-fashioned Peacock stirrups because the foot bed, unsupported on the outside, would gradually bend down and out making my weak ankles worse and robbing me of security in the saddle.
I positively adore my Tech Venice Slope irons. They are the most comfortable stirrups I’ve run into in 50 years of riding, and to me they are worth their high price.
I feel the opposite - I like a good weight to my stirrups. While granted, I’m not the rider I used to be, I’ve had my fair share of pins and rods in my leg and ankle and feel some semblance “security” knowing I’ve got something substantial there.
Still on the hunt for that unicorn set of stirrups - following for advice!
I also love my Tech Venice Sloped safety stirrups. I did a lot of research before I finally bought because it is such an investment and I’m SO glad that I did. I even found them in a store with a much lower price than others for some reason… I paid “full price” but it was nearly $100 less than other stores which really helped. I think it was a last pair that they were just looking to move out.
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