What the title says. I rode a friend’s horse Saturday and on her saddle she has jointed irons. I don’t know if they were too big, or if it was the jointed part, but I couldn’t keep my ankles from rolling under and all of my weight going to the outside of the ball of my foot. I’ve never had this happen, and I’ve never ridden in jointed stirrups. Has anyone ever had experiences like this? I had to take my feet out of the stirrups about half way through the ride it was so painful.
I love my jointed stirrups and do not have this trouble with them.
I have learned that jointed stirrups are a love or hate thing. And there is no way to know if you are on the love side or the hate side with out trying them because one person with (for example) knee issues loves them and the next person with knee issues hates them because they aggravate their problems.
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My toes tend to go numb and I’ve had knee issues while riding. I love my jointed irons, but they don’t provide as much relief as I would like. I’m thinking of trying some free jumps soon, as I’ve heard those are great.
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I used to have jointed irons. I liked them well enough.
A few years ago I switched to MDC irons and I really love them!!
They have a wider base on which your foot rests so I feel it’s easier to “rest” your foot in your irons rather than have to “grip” them due to a narrower base. I also never have an issue losing my stirrups.
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My weak ankle (full of metal) makes my ankle roll, and after years of using jointed stirrups, I had to let them go. I’m in a wide bed stirrup now and it is working much better for my situation.
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Yes! This happens to me in the jointed stirrups and always wondered if others experienced this. I’m double jointed and have sprained my ankles a few times over the years and my ankles definitely roll worse in the MDC jointed stirrups. My peroneal tendon tends to slip, making a cracking noise, and will feel sore after using them so I stick to standard stirrups now. The jointed stirrups tend to encourage me to put my weight on the outside of my foot/stirrup rather than on the ball of my foot and in my heel as well. I rode in the jointed ones for years in the jumpers and didn’t realize how much it bothered my ankles until having to use the standard stirrups for the Eq more recently. Gave away my jointed ones to friends with less sensitive ankles 
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Yep. I bought a pair of jointed stirrups in the early days of jointed stirrups and rode in them for a month or so. I always felt like my leg was a bit less stabilized in the jointed stirrups, so I never loved them (and never felt that they helped my knees). And then when the fences hit 1.40m-ish, I sprained an ankle on the landing side of a jump. I have never used them since…except if I get in someone else’s saddle, where I then remember how much I hate them!
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I find that jointed stirrups encourage me to curl my toes. I do, however, have stiff ankles, so I find that a slanted footbed helps me remember to keep my heels down. I found a pair that only rotate backwards, and not forward, and only to a certain amount.
Even those, I try not to use them too often, or I catch myself curling my toes, which ultimately pitches me forward.
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Thank you all! It does seem to be a love or hate relationship :lol: I was worried this was only me. I do normally ride in MDC fixed-base (think they’re the hunter classics) with the wide footbed, so I’m used to quite a bit of stability.
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So interesting you brought this up! I have been borrowing a saddle with jointed stirrups and my knee hurts every time I get off! I guess I know why now :lol:
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For those of you with rolly ankles I have found a pair of side to side wedge pads, with the higher end on the outside, are game changing.
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