Compositi lightweight stirrups?

I’ve always ridden in basic stainless steel fillis Irons. I’m considering trying a pair of Compositi stirrups. Looking for any reviews…pros and cons? There’s a pair with a very wide footbed, and one pair with a typical width footbed…not sure about the wider footbed. My big concern would be trying to find a lightweight stirrup with my foot if I were to lose one.

My take - they work just as well as standard fillis stirrups, but as you mention, they are harder to find if you lose them. I felt they had no pros over standard fillis irons, and the difficulty finding them was a minor con. Beyond that, they didn’t offer much to write home about.

Is there a reason in particular you’re wanting to try them? or a particular issue you’re hoping to solve?

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I didn’t personally find them harder to find than a standard stirrup & much less likely to goose your horse and cause more problems. I did end up switching to a safety stirrup instead. Might be totally irrational but for some reason I felt like the lighter stirrup might be easier to get hung up in a fall but I have zero evidence of that. On that note, I have a pair I would be happy to get out of my closet if you would like them.

I nearly got hung up in them when I fell, they didn’t have enough weight for me to kick them off. I sold them immediately after that.

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I had the compositi reflex stirrups for a few years and I liked them, I would use again if I still had them. I only sold because I thought I was getting out of horses for a while (lol). With the wide tread I almost never lost them but they definitely were harder to find again if I did. Didn’t personally have any difficulties getting out of them during falls, don’t know how much luck factored into that of course!

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I love mine. I have the wide tread and they have entirely solved my foot and knee issues! I don’t like flexible branches, but the flexible footbed is a godsend.

I used to get severe ball of foot pain to the point of numbness in my fillis irons - I’d have to take my feet out of the stirrups between every jump round or lap around the pasture. I’d also get knee pain. This was across 5 different pairs from various brands with different features. Both issues are entirely gone with the composites.

Also, I do not find them hard to pick up at all, they’re hanging right there and I just catch them with a toe easy peasy. I do no-stirrup work here and there (and I don’t cross my irons, just pop my feet out), but I don’t lose them accidentally and they stay put - I used to need at least cheese grater pads to feel secure. Also, I didn’t get hung up the one time I fell with them but YMMV on that. I think any stirrup, safety or not, is a hang-up risk at a certain point.

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I bought them purely because they were orange and matched my mare’s tack (endurance people love to play matchy-matchy). Immediately I didn’t like how light they were, it felt like there was nothing there and I also found them hard to find if needed. I was surprised by how much that bothered me.

At the end of the day though, I realized I was more comfortable over long distances in a shaped stirrup. I have been happily using the Herm Sprenger offset stirrups for a few years now and am much more comfortable. The color choices aren’t as good though :wink:

I think like with a lot of things, you probably just have to try them to see how they feel to you-they probably will feel pretty different if you’re used to a more traditional iron. You might check on eBay to find a cheap used pair to try. I sold mine there, I think I let them go for $20 as there wasn’t much interest!

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I have them on my jump saddle but for some irrational reason, I prefer regular heavy fillis irons on my dressage saddle. I prefer the weight in my feet when I’m riding with a longer leg. Maybe because I’m not putting nearly as much weight in my stirrups? When I’m riding shorter, they do seem to help with knee/foot pain.

I’ve been riding in compositi stirrups for years and love them… And I also have arthritis in my knees and back.

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Thanks, everyone! So these Compositi stirrups are not mainly for jumping? I just ride on the flat…dressage and trail.

The compositi are for whatever you want to do!

I own both kinds. One of my horses is a smaller pony so I like a lightweight stirrup to keep overall weight down :rofl: every pound counts.

I prefer the wide ones over the narrow/regular ones. Reason being, the regular ones are a touch narrower than a standard stirrup and I felt like you could really feel the line of the stirrup through your foot. It didn’t feel as stable as the wide ones to me, especially with a shorter stirrup length.

However, a client of mine after some medical issues had a hard time with her legs feeling unstable/feet feeling numb when riding. Her biggest issue was not feeling like the stirrup was under her foot. She switched from the winderen stirrups to the regular compositi and it helped keep her leg stable and helped her feel where the stirrup was.

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I rode in Compositi stirrups for several years, I liked them and didn’t really have any notable problems with them. I really liked the wider footbed, I felt a lot more stable and stopped curling my toes in my boots like I was trying to grab onto the stirrup. I suppose they do flop around a bit more than a heavier stirrup when you lose one, but it wasn’t really a significant issue.

I did eventually switch to American Equus stirrups, which also have a wide footbed and replaceable traction spikes but they are significantly more expensive.

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I’ve used them for years with no issues. I like that they are so light .

I bought them for their lighter weight; I also bought synthetic Wintec Webbers to save my pony from carrying extra weight.

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I used them on all my saddles and most of my students use them. Wide track is so nice and soooo expensive in a metal stirrup. Also the lightweight plastic makes a difference in the weight of the saddle.

I only switched because I got nerve damage and needed a stirrup with an angle footbed. Now I use the stubben maxi grip stirrups which are $$$

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I love them. Would still be riding in them except that I wanted a safety stirrup with my young horse.

I like them - yes, they can be harder to pick up, but I hardly ever lose my stirrups in them so they’re worth it to me!

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I switched from Sprenger offset to Compositi when my ankle arthritis really ramped up and I did find them more comfortable initially, but my knee pain became increasingly noticeable and I had real trouble keeping my left stirrup (due to aforementioned arthritis I can’t weight my foot as well)
I have since moved on to Freejumps and I have the Air’S on my dressage saddle and the Soft Up Pro on my jump saddle.
They are night and day to the Compositi and only in a good way! More stable as they are heavier, even wider footbed with more cushioning, I never ever lose a stirrup now. They have improved my leg position and comfort no end.
The only downside is the price difference which is considerable, but it’s been worth every penny.
I had to ride in the Compositi again recently and oh boy did I feel it.

I have a pair (on every saddle), they are amazing. I used to ride in steel offsets for knee issues, but these are so much better.

My lost-a-stirrup has muchly reduced. After an incident with a steel where my foot slipped out and made the “ziiing” noise of something sliding over wet steel, resulting in my young horse bucking me right off in fright… I’ll never use steel again.

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I have Compositi wide tread stirrups. I gave up on standard & flexible irons because of knee & foot pain. I had a couple different pairs of $$$ wide tread irons, the compositi are slightly harder to find when dropped but for the same level of comfort the compositi fit the bill.