High End Stirrups

[ApresEquestrian]

I have seen so many new stirrups in the show ring, that I am curious about your experiences!

I am looking into JIN, Lorenzini and MDC Sport (not jointed) at the moment but am not looking to make an educated call, especially at those price points lol

I am an hunter and eq rider so I can’t be too flashy, and I’m not a fan of jointed stirrups. Reason I’m looking is because my knees and ankles are giving me trouble recently.

Have you tried any higher-end stirrups? Did you notice any improvement?

Thanks!

[Allusion]

I tried the Lorenzini irons this past summer and LOVED them. They offered a stable base and had a nice weight to them. Couldn’t find them in silver, so decided to try a few others, including the BR Alutechs and the Tech Athena irons. I was super excited to try them, but ended up hating the feel of both, I felt they were too light. The Athenas kept slipping back towards my heel, a problem I’ve never ever had before.
I now have a pair of Jins which I absolutely love. They have a bit more weight to them and have the wide footbed for a secure feel. I highly recommend them.

[ApresEquestrian]

@Allusion

I tried the Lorenzini irons this past summer and LOVED them. They offered a stable base and had a nice weight to them. Couldn’t find them in silver, so decided to try a few others, including the BR Alutechs and the Tech Athena irons. I was super excited to try them, but ended up hating the feel of both, I felt they were too light. The Athenas kept slipping back towards my heel, a problem I’ve never ever had before.
I now have a pair of Jins which I absolutely love. They have a bit more weight to them and have the wide footbed for a secure feel. I highly recommend them.

@Allusion if you had to pick between the JIN and the lorenziLo which one’s would you pick?

[findeight]

Sometimes knee and ankle discomfort is related to the way your saddle positions you and allows your weight to drop into your heel. You read all this stuff about saddle filters checking the fit on your horse and how the horse can change shape …what about you?

You grow, gain a little, spread out a bit, lose weight, shrink, get stronger and really master getting that weight into your heel? It tweeks your position and you might be fighting the position your saddle puts you in stressing those joints. This can happen with any saddle regardless of price, brand, custom or off the rack just like if the horse gains, loses or changes topline shape.

Some lower end saddles really never put the rider in a correct position. They are OK to start with but prevent a rider from correctly distributing their weight. Even with expensive saddles. We can grow out of them in either size or our positional strength. It happens, fancy irons won’t help.

[osgoka01]

I rode in the Lorenzini stirrups and really liked them from a support/grip perspective but I would not show in them in the Hunters or Equitation. I show in the MDC S stirrups and really like them. They look like a traditional fillis iron but offer a wider footbed. That said, the wide footbed does limit the depth of my heels. I ride primarily in the hunters, so this is fine for me, but If I were trying to be hyper-competitive in the junior equitation/medals, I would probably stick to a good old fashion fillis iron.

[eclipse]

I show in hunters and adult equitation (rated shows) in Jin stirrups, and have been using them for the past 4 to 5 years. Love them…the wider foot bed I find much more stable, and while they aren’t quite as heavy as traditional fillis irons, they are still heavier than the previous carbon type stirrups that were popular a few years ago (thus they hang nicely and are easy to pick up).

[Jealoushe]

I have tried them all. I have Jins and Lorenzinis.

MDC killed my knees. I don’t have knee problems but they gave me some.

Jins would be my #2, because the Lorenzinis are by far my favourite. I broke my leg in 4 places almost 2 years ago, and they give me so much stability and support. They helped me get back eventing sooner than I could have with other stirrups.

[ParadoxFarm]

Funny how different stirrups work for different people. I have the MDC Ultimates. I have had surgery on a knee and an ankle and the stirrups help me tremendously. The ankle issue is really alleviated by the stirrups. I rotate my stirrups out 45º and that relieves a lot of pressure on my ankle.

Good luck! See if you can borrow some to test ride in.

[00Seven]

I ride in the MDC ‘S’ Classic - http://mdcstirrups.com/s_classic.html

I have ankle and knee problems from years of overextending in flexible stirrups. I like that the wide footbed really stabilizes my entire leg (and therefore position) and keeps my them from turning into overextended, weak mush. I also prefer a heavy stirrup to a lightweight stirrup so that they’re easier to get back should I lose them. The swivelled top is also a neat feature - I find that I never noticed the stirrup leather before, but now when I borrow a saddle I can’t ignore them there, and it also makes it easier to get the stirrup back.

I catch ride in all three rings, and I love that they are are super traditional looking, while actually feeling very different than a traditional iron. I see very few younger hunter/eq riders in traditional stirrups now on the As.

We also have some Royal Riders, JINs, Lorenzinis etc in our barn that are well-loved by their riders. When I was picking out new stirrups, the other riders allowed me to borrow theirs and figure out what worked best for me. I found that the JINs are a less traditional look, but very similar feel to the MDC (minus the swivel top). The Lorenzinis were no good for me because I need something hunter/eq approved, and I thought that the silver RR were pretty ugly and also caused my knee pain. Hands down, the MDCs rode the best and also looked the best (to me).

[Allusion]

@ApresEquestrian

@Allusion if you had to pick between the JIN and the lorenziLo which one’s would you pick?

I looooove my Jins. Would buy them again in a heartbeat. I only got to try the Lorenzinis for a few rides, so it’s a bit tough to say which ones I’d prefer long term. However, I wouldn’t use the Lorenzinis in the hunter ring, just my two cents.

[DFL]

Stubben Maxi Grip irons come in silver and look fairly traditional for showing. More so than Jins and Lorenzinis, in my opinion. I’m really happy with mine–I got them when I was riding several horses a day and had trouble with my feet going numb when riding so much in a jumping saddle with shorter stirrups. I probably wouldn’t have dropped that kind of money on stirrups but my tack shop offered to let me try them first to see if I liked them.

[horsepoor]

I love my Lorenzinis, and like my Jins. Wouldn’t show hunters in the former, might in the latter. I had the MDC classic hunter ones and they were ok - not as comfortable to me as the others, but would be the most “normal” looking for showing. The MDC tread wasn’t as grippy in wet boots as I recall. If you can, best to borrow and try some out as everyone has such a different experience and preference.

[Hunter_Happy1]

I show in the hunters and have the AlfaJump stirrups with slope and spikes for grip. They are great.

http://en.alfa-jump.com/

[ammyforlife]

I have the Jins and I love them! I have ridden in few other people’s saddles with other types of wide-tread irons and regular fills irons and I by far prefer my Jins.

[Sueby]

I have the Lorenzi’s and Jins. I prefer the Lorenzi’s to the Jins, but I find both comfortable due to their wide footbeds. The foot bed on my Lorenzi’s seems to work better with my field boot tread than the Jins, which is why I prefer them.

[Cabaret_SK]

Huge fan of the MDC S Classics! Fixed my knee problems, and I feel much more secure in the saddle with them.

[kaya842]

I say try as many as you can. Maybe see if a local (or even online) tackstore has a good return policy that may allow you to try them and clean and return if needed. I had an off brand Jin and hated that they were so light, but liked the tread and wide foot bed. I now have the MDC Super Sport (jointed, twist top, wide foot bed, cheese grater type footbed) which I like a lot. I might be tempted to try them without the jointed sides someday, but for now they work well. I will say I would have knee pain occasionally with them in my CWD and my leg would move a bit at the canter but now I have a Butet and don’t experience either of those and my position is completely changed. Just wanted to throw in that it could be saddle dependent and that the saddle can cause problems too even if it is super comfy!

[BC95]

I have had my MDC stirrups for several years and I really love them. I show in the hunters so I just had the plain silver with the wide foot bed for stability. Definitely not too flashy! But on a side note… I wouldn’t plan on dropping your stirrups while riding with them because your ankles will be black and blue by the end of the ride! These are very heavy stirrups.