I’m looking to get a couple pairs of Gary Mundy’s dressage leathers, the mono-strap/webber style/single strap style, whatever you want to call it, with the conway buckle. I have 2 pair of regular leathers from him from a few years back that I adore and I was super excited about reducing the bulk under my thigh. I filled out the order form but must be confused about how he measures/makes the holes… I’ve seen where people tell him the length they ride in, and that ends up being the longest setting possible on the strap… I want to be able to adjust down a hole or two at least, but when I tried to explain what lengths I was looking for, he ran out of time to email back and forth and asked that I just fill out the form without any additional information and he would make it work… If you’ve got these leathers, two questions: 1. Did you ask for your standard length stirrup leather as you always ride in, and were you given any longer holes or was that the longest setting possible? 2. What do you do for running up your stirrups? I’ve got a pair of webber type leathers with the t buckle and hole high up that serves the same purpose but understand that the conway buckle is not as user friendly for adjustments on a regular basis and this is not an option. What do you do to keep your stirrups from banging around or scratching your seat!!! Thanks for any words of wisdom!!
I gave him the length of my current leathers that I ride in and he gave me adjustability either way so taller and shorter riders can use my saddle.
The conways are def not as fast as the t-bars to change but I don’t run up my stirrups on either dressage saddle so it doesn’t matter. I leave my stirrups hanging and my saddle cover protects it from the saddle hanging above it.
Ponycatraz, thanks for the info on your leathers!
I know I am totally overthinking this, but I’m trying to maximize my options, between my two personal saddles that are about an inch off from each other in positioning of the stirrup bar, and whether I’m going to use a pair or if one of my daughters takes it over, knowing that the buckle would be higher up than really ideal… I don’t know that many other people are going to ride our horses/in our saddles and need a longer stirrup length, but I’d hate to need an extra hole or two and not have them! Do you recall how many extra holes he made in the longer direction?? I have a tendency to sweat the small stuff and obsess over the details… I know he’s super busy, but I am a bit frustrated that I can’t really get clarification I need to make sure I’m going to get what I need… sigh…
I thought he retired.
I believe he said he will be retiring at the end of this year. Better get your orders in! :sadsmile:
Oh my. He can’t retire…who will take his place!!! Glad I thought to inquire when I did!! I would have been so sad to miss the Gary Mundy boat… 
I was just checking his page and he actually says he’ll be retiring 12/31/21 so next year, not this year - but still don’t procrastinate!
I’ll check tomorrow to see how many holes I have either way.
That would be awesome, thanks!
So he made my length about 3/4 of the way down. So about 6 holes shorter and 4 holes longer
@HokieHorseVet I ordered a new pair of dressage leathers from him earlier this year to replace a pair that had cracked because I’m not the best at taking care of my tack. Anyway, the pair I was replacing had only 1 hole shorter, so I measured my leathers as set on my normal hole and asked Gary to make that hole 5 on the new pair. He said it was absolutely no problem! That way, I had 5 holes shorter and 4 holes longer.
I’m about to order another pair for my new horse and his new saddle. Two saddles means two pairs of leathers!
Thanks so much for sharing!! Sounds reasonable… although I still feel like I might only want one or two longer holes… my legs aren’t getting any longer! lol
Thanks for the information! I had seen CobJockey post about these leathers from a few years back and it sounded like he made her requested length the longest hole, with nowhere to go longer… I emailed him with the lengths/hole settings I was looking for, to have ultimate options for myself and/or my daughters to use, also depending on what saddle they’re on since the stirrup bars are positioned differently… and I think it was information overload for him… plus I don’t think I was doing the settings right, and when I asked for his recommendations he pretty much said fill out the form with no extra information and that was that. sigh. I went ahead and submitted the order last night and feel like I should have been able to specify that I wanted my length to be hole 8, with 2 longer and 7 shorter, but I’m afraid I would have put him over the edge… 
He’s been great to deal with in the past and I love the leathers I’ve gotten in the past, but I was honestly frustrated this go round. Fingers crossed it will all work out in the end… 
I just got a second pair of regular dressage stirrup leathers from him and he said he’s really busy right now (probably because he announced his retirement).
I’d get stirrups that can be adjusted longer and shorter - so your preferred length should be one of the middle holes. If you ever have someone taller than you hop on your horse, how will they get the stirrups long enough if there aren’t any more holes?
Hello from a fellow Hokie 😉
I measured the length of my current stirrups at the longest hole, and also the length where my trainer sometimes rides (several inches longer) and sent that to Gary. He made max length my trainer’s length, and I think put about two holes shorter than my length as the minimum. Keep in mind that they will stretch a bit with use.
As far as running them up, it’s possible. I can’t actually explain how I do it, but there is a way to loop the single strap around the stirrup to keep it securely up. Just sort of pull through the middle like you would a normal leather, then wrap the loop around the footbed.
My husband is 6’ and I’m 5’3” so I need some adjustability. Though honestly it’s just easier to pull his leathers off his saddle and throw them on mine 
Go Hokies!! Whoop Whoop!! 
I do have a trainer friend who has schooled one of my horses before… and she’s an inch or two taller than me, but she tends to ride with a shorter leg than I do! lol I remember getting on after she schooled my OTTB and thinking “WHOA! These stirrups are so short!” lol I have a couple pairs of Gary’s regular leathers (swoon) and I think I’d sooner pop the dressage leathers off and stick my fully adjustable regular leathers on if anyone needed longer stirrups… I’m sure he has enough experience and feedback from the last decade or so of making this style and I just need to put my faith in his skills… I just have a hard time not sweating the small stuff! Ha. Thanks for your input though!! And I LOOOOVE your suggestion about “running up” these leathers!! Fantastic!!!
Ya, I think swapping leathers is likely the way to go! Or I’ll throw on one of my regular lovely Gary Mundy leathers and have all the options in the world… Thanks for the comment!!
