Dressage stirrup leathers - single thickness/bottom adjust

[Xanthoria]

I have the Stubben NT MONO stirrup leathers that are single thickness at the bar/under the leg, adjust at the bottom with a conway buckle.

Love the feel, and they have been very hard wearing over the years but they are a PAIN to adjust and don’t go short enough for my trainer (making extra holes in them is something I’d like to avoid as they have a web core and punching through will probably make a mess…)

They are also not possible to run up, so I cross them over the seat resulting in bumps and scratches from the stirrups.

I like the Bates webbers - are there any other innovations in the field that people like?

[SendenHorse]

I just use bates webbers now on both my HJ and dressage saddles.

[magienoire]

Following this as I have the same Stubben leathers. I agree, they are lovely, and I have had them for a darn long time, but they are finally starting to wear out and I’d like something I can run up as well. Agree, they are a pain to adjust also…

[Scarlet_Gilia]

I have the Prestige Ideal Leathers and really like them. But I believe they have a nylon core, and you’d have the same issue with running them up. They are fairly easy to adjust, having a tee rather than a Conway buckle.

[Lusoluv]

I had the Prestige Leathers that came on my last dressage saddle. Put up with them for a year and got rid of them. Pain in the neck in all aspects except while riding. Didn’t feel it was worth it…

[caper]

I use the synthetic Webbers on all my saddles. The Bates Webber I believe are leather.

You can get a short size in the Webbers…ask me how I know…

[Xanthoria]

I’ve had the synthetic webbers and the edges started fraying after a while. I also had the Bates webbers and the thin leather covering over the web core was too flimsy and started cracking off. I would love some solid leather ones!

[Scribbler]

I have regular stirrup leathers on my dressage saddle, but I put them on with the buckles near the ankle, and then have a $5 leather sleeve that slips over the buckle. I bought it locally but it’s like this:

https://www.padd-horsetack.com/stirrup-strap/4798-riding-world-stirrup-leathers-sleeves.html

I also run the leathers between the two flaps, so there is no strap biting into my leg. Makes it easier to rider without boots or halfchaps!

I slip the sleeve up, and I can run up the stirrup as normal.

I used to have something like the Conway leathers, but I disliked that I couldn’t run them up.

[Anonymoose]

I have a friend who used to do that! (between the flaps). I’ve never heard of anyone else doing that until today. I will tell her there are other people who do this.

[Anonymoose]

I have a friend who used to do that! (between the flaps). I’ve never heard of anyone else doing that until today. I will tell her there are other people who do this.

Back to the OT, I used to know a couple of people who used the bottom-buckle dressage leathers but I haven’t seen anyone in years who used them. (Not that my friends are GP competitors. )

[Hayburner]

I have the frank baines monostrap leathers. I like them, but I do wish they had a regular buckle rather than a t. You can’t really mak extra holes with the t type.

[TC3200]

Gary Mundy makes single thickness monostraps, leather, nor nylon core or calfskin. There are pics at myhorseforum.com

[meupatdoes]

I have the el cheapo wintec symthetic ones and I lurrrve them.

[SarahandSam]

I have the Bates webbers and I really like them, though I do wish I could roll them up instead of having to cross them over the saddle. They make “stirrup sock” cover things though to protect saddles from scuffs; I imagine you could probably make your own easily and just throw those on after you ride if scratching is an issue.

I do dislike the lack of half holes also, and was going to suggest Gary Mundy for making custom ones with half holes, but sounds like he already has a line of them, which is great to know! I love my GM leathers on my other saddle and will totally order from him when my Bates ones get too worn out.

[Can_tFindMyWhip]

I have the Bates ones, and I am really happy with them.

I do feel like an idiot for not buying the cheapo Wintec ones however. Both the Bates and the Wintec have the same synthetic core. The difference is one is lined with leather and one is lined with pleather. Not worth the extra $40 IMO.

I also put them on backwards, so that the holes are facing out when you’re standing on the ground, looking at the saddle. It keeps them more secure when you run them up, and then when you’re riding, they look like regular leathers from the front.

[MelanieC]

I have Gary Mundy dressage leathers and love them. You can order custom lengths/holes, so I ensured that mine would fit both me (short legs) and my trainer (long legs). The Conway buckles are sort of a pain, but once the leather had broken in adjustment became much easier. They’re extremely reasonably priced. Mine don’t have nylon cores because I don’t like how thick nylon makes leathers, and I think they are less durable because the thinner leather is more likely to peel or tear.

[Draftmare]

[QUOTE=Xanthoria;8807284]
I’ve had the synthetic webbers and the edges started fraying after a while. I also had the Bates webbers and the thin leather covering over the web core was too flimsy and started cracking off. I would love some solid leather ones![/QUOTE]

This was my experience with the Bates webbers. The leather started to tear on my most used holes, and I started to become leary of using them. Stinks because they weren’t cheap. I would suggest contacting Gary Mundy. He can custom make bottom adjust leathers to any length and color that you want, and he is fairly reasonably priced.

[shubadi]

I have had my Prestige “leathers” for years and years… a friend showed me how to run them up by hooking the “buckle” on the highest (by itself) hole so the stirrup hangs on a large loop like regular leathers and then run that large loop through the stirrup as traditionally done… not sure if I am explaining that correctly.