Looking for options, what are some hunter ring friendly safety stirrups? Currently riding in a old pair of silver Jin stirrups but looking to upgrade to something safer, no incident, just the Adult Amateur brain making up possible scenarios. The only problem is a spend a lot of time in the hunter ring so I would like something classic and appropriate for the ring. I’m aware of a few options but thought I’d throw the question out to see what comes back, thank you!
Over the past little while my adult amateur brain has been thinking the same as yours, and I just recently changed my regular fillis irons for the Jin safety stirrups. I checked with my coach first to make sure that they would be appropriate in the hunter ring and she gave me the go ahead.
https://jinstirrupcanada.com/shop/ols/products/air-safety-stirrup
I just judged hunters at WEF. As long as they are not colored use whatever you like! I saw just about every type available 
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Thank you for this response. Would the JinAir stirrups with the black release arm be appropriate? They don’t offer a silver option and I’ve heard of some free-jump stirrups simply cracking in impact so looking for best appropriate option with safety as the priority.
It’s hard to veer away from traditional standards but after a rough crash last year I’m looking at best options.
Thank you for your expert opinion.
These are super expensive, but are great, Flex-on Safe-on irons. Dumb name, good product!
I don’t know the exact rules, but I show in the rated hunters with black composite stirrups and nobody has ever said anything to me about it.
We. Don’t. Care. I promise!
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What do you mean by “safer”? Keep in mind that in equestrian sports, many items are marketed as having a safety advantage, when that “advantage” is purely theoretical and the item may even present a safety hazard.
I break and train young horses as well as ride in the hunter ring and am very safety conscious. I often school in a traditional safety vest. FWIW, my go to (“most safe”) stirrups for breaking/riding young horses are the standard Jin stirrups. Something about the design seems to provide both a solid grip for the foot but also a quick release of the foot from the stirrup. (This is personal preference from having used many different types of stirrups.)
There is not any actual data I am aware of demonstrating that stirrups for adults with release bars are safer. I have heard of accidents where the release bars create a hook that catches on something and actually causes an accident. Adult riders specifically do not traditionally use peacock stirrups (the way little kids do) because of this trade off–peacock stirrups are essentially a big dangling hook if the rubber band should fail. It’s a trade off that is worthwhile for little kids, but not so much for adults.
For adult riders, accidents where a foot gets caught in the stirrup are very rare to begin with. (It’s a very different situation for children who have short, stubby feet.) The best way to avoid getting a foot caught is to ride using stirrups of an appropriate width and to use appropriate footwear (traditional/standard English riding boots that are always designed with relatively pointy toes for this reason).
If you just want a new pair of stirrups and have your heart set on this design, I would choose a pair with a flexible rubber type release branch that is unlikely to create a solid “hook”. No hunter judge is going to ding an adult amateur for wearing a safety vest or using a particular stirrup style as long as the items in question are conservatively colored (i.e.not hot pink and covered in rhinestones).
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