I have the Compositis on my jumping saddle, and quite like them. Really helps with knee/ankle aches and pains when jumping. They’re very light but I have not felt like I had any issues losing my stirrups with them. I have not tried them with my dressage saddle, so can’t speak to the feel with that. But at ~$35 they’re not going to break the bank if you don’t like them.
I’ve got Lorenzinis and my husband uses Free Jump. So when I ride his horse I end up using them. Mine have chipped but they’re 5 years old and you can’t notice it at all unless you’re really looking closely.
I can’t fault either of them. The Free Jumps do feel a bit more secure on a horse that’s being naughty.
I don’t feel a difference in pain levels between them though. I have wonky knees which hurt in traditional stirrups. But my knees are fine for both of these stirrups.
I ride in the Acavallo safety stirrups. I rode in Quik Outs for years but they stopped making them. I also have Free Jumps but they are too light. The Acavallos are a good weight with a grippy footbed and safe. (I come from eventer land so I ONLY ride in safety stirrups)
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Ouch, the Free Jumps are SPENDY!
Just an aside, many of these non-traditional stirrups are lightweight, but the Acavella Opera stirrups’ offset design is what set them apart; the stirrup attachment is designed so that the leather hangs straight down, and it positions the iron so that your foot faces forward, effortlessly.
I find that this REALLY helps my arthritic knees and messed up feet, as well as facilitating a more correct leg position.
I love the innovation! Highly, highly recommend it (and I was previously a purist, pretty much - Fillis irons or bust!)
I have ridden in MDC ultimate stirrups for ages and really like them - partially due to the ability to adjust the angle so the leather hangs straight down!
But I just fell in love with the new Tech Stirrups Aphrodite model and decided to give them a whirl. Fingers crossed that they aren’t just pretty…
If you don’t need composite or flex but want the offset eye that rotates the stirrup leathers, Herm Sprenger makes them, and I found some by JMI on eBay that were a lot cheaper. The offset/rotated eye is a lifesaver for my knees, especially in the winter when they get stiff.
I have the Acavallo AluPro safety stirrups. I love the wide, cheese grater (super grippy) foot bed.
These are what I use and love them. I have heard people say they do not care for them but I thjnk they are great. I feel like some people look at the price and dismiss them. Honestly, I just see no reason to pay $300 for stirrups. I just do not find them to be any better than my cheapies.
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Another vote for the Royal Rider stirrups. I didn’t think stirrups made much difference until I rode in a pair of Royal Riders. Nice wide support under your food and they’re not ridiculously heavy. Those Acavello Operas do look pretty interesting though and about the same price point …
I’ve been riding in the flexible Royal Riders for about 10 years now and I love them. The lightweight stirrups just don’t bounce around when you’re sitting the trot and the eliminate the “tail wagging the dog” feeling I get with heavier stirrups. And I LOVE the cheese grater, wide footbeds. The Acavellas look pretty interesting though!Schedule
Ok, for anyone who is interested I thought I would report back on the Aphrodite stirrups. I absolutely love them. They feel very secure and “connected” and they are the perfect combination of reasonable weight and good balance. The diamond pattern footbed is wide enough and quite comfortable without feeling “stuck” on my foot. Highly recommend.
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I love multi-jointed stirrups. There are so many on the market and I find that my leg and knees are much happier in them compared to when I ride in regular stirrups. You know you can choose your own stirrup pads, right? Pick one you want.
I am not sure that lightweight stirrups do what you say, OP. I prefer a stirrup that will hang in a position I KNOW it will be at if I lose a stirrup. Stirrup weight is inconsequential compared to saddle and rider weight.
UPDATE: I couldn’t decide on a set of stirrups and decided to do some product testing. Unfortunately the Acavallo Operas are not in stock anywhere and nobody can get more anytime soon because Acavallo is in Italy, so I did not get to try those. I’m not sure I would have liked them though–I had the MDCs where you can turn the top, and never turned them because it felt weird. I also could not find Compositis with a wide footbed for the same reason.
So, I tried: FreeJump Soft’Up Pro stirrups, RoyalRider Flexible stirrups, Acavallo Arco Allupro stirrups, and Jin Anatomic Stirrups.
Free Jump: These made me feel like I needed to jam my heel down to be stable. This is probably why H/J people like them, as it’s easy to get your heel down, but I didn’t like that feeling. I would probably get used to it, but for $400 I have to LOVE them.
RoyalRider: It may have been a defect in one of the ones I got, but these clicked every stride when posting the trot in a really loud, annoying way. Aside from that, I felt like the cheese grater footbed was a little TOO intense for me, and it scratched my stirrup leather when I rolled up my stirrups. You can change the cheese graters out for the included rubber foot pads, but I was specifically trying to avoid rubber because I have a long walk to the arena on dirt and I’ve found rubber doesn’t grip the bottom of dirty boots as well.
Jin Anatomic: I liked these ones a lot! They have a slight angle to them so you can get your heel down, but didn’t make me feel like I HAD to jam my heel down like the Free Jump stirrups. The “anatomic” piece is that the footbed is curved. To be honest, I didn’t notice it when I was riding. The wide footbed provided good support and they were grippy but not too grippy. They were not particularly lightweight, and weighed almost the same as the MDCs.
Acavallo Arco Allupro: These are the ones I ended up keeping. They’re lightweight, which is something I was looking for (I can lunge my horse and they don’t bang around on his sides and will stay rolled up). The wide footbed feels very supportive, and my foot doesn’t move unless I want it to but also doesn’t feel stuck. My trainer rode another horse who had the Jin Anatomic stirrups on his saddle and then my horse right after with these stirrups, and said she liked these better. Personally, I could have gone either way between these and the Jin stirrups, but these were $70 cheaper so I went with these. I’ve ridden in them a number of times now, and have no ankle/knee/hip pain (and I have bad knees and had hip surgery a little over 6 months ago). My ankle would occasionally roll a little bit with my old MDC stirrups (no wide foot bed), but I haven’t had that issue with these ones.
That is true, that a heavier stirrup will likely hang down more when you drop it. But, when lunging, they’re less likely to stay rolled up and will bounce heavier against the horse’s sides, which some horses don’t love. Jury is out for me personally as to whether there’s less strain on knees and ankles, but that was something I’d heard anecdotally. Re: saddle being lighter, it is indeed inconsequential for the horse, but lighter is lighter (and I do notice the difference a bit when tacking up my tall boy).
I am a fan of just plain fillis irons in my size. But for this new greenie I got a pair of footsaver safety irons with the coil spring mechanism. I wanted a heavy stirrup and these fit the bill.
@FEI_JR2004 How are you liking the Acavallo Arco Allupro after all this time? The tread is so interesting and I’m wondering if they stay well! I have my eye on them too because of the wide foot bed.
The lighter weight and more freedom any tack or apparel allows is what appeals to me. I use those black composite Smartpack stirrups too. Another plus is that the black doesn’t highlight any foot movements you may do, making your aids less noticable.
I have used the MDCs for many years and really like them. I had no idea there were alternatives to the old nickel plated standard “english” stirrups until I got those 
Take a look at the Winderen stirrups, they are designed for knee and hip pain. They have a wider foot base and shock absorbers at the top and bottom. I have a pair and you can tell the difference. They are a bit pricey but the company is wonderful to order from, they ship very quickly even though they are coming from Europe. They come in a variety of colors if you like that, I got the Violet.
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Dang it, I went and looked those up, and now I want a pair of the Tech Stirrups Venice in black and titanium to match my new saddle (it has a couple blue-ish patent accents). Only $318! Luckily they don’t have a rotated eye, so I think I am safe from buying them.
For my young horse I use SafeStyle irons, and for my other the MDCs with the rotating eye, but not the joints. I have MDCs with joints on my jump saddle because my knees appreciate the flexibility with the shorter stirrup.
