New brand of safety stirrup

[arabiansrock]

Has anyone heard of Horsena brand products? Dover is now carrying a new safety stirrup made by Horsena. I cannot find a webpage for them or any reviews of their products. However the stirrup seems to have good features and is priced lower than most competitors (maybe because it is a poly material instead of metal?). One attractive feature is you can swap out the side arm colors to jazz up your ride if you feel like a change.

Horsena Swap Stirrups with Double Side Cover | Dover Saddlery

I would love to hear thoughts on this product. Thanks

[outerbanks77]

Interesting, but it seems like it’s better if the branch opens at the bottom, it seems like that could open and skewer or catch on something more easily since it’s pointed up.

[Lusoluv]

I have had a couple sets of safety stirrups and I want them to open at the top like the Freejump, SafeStyle and B Vertigo safety stirrups. Back in the 90s, I got hung up briefly as the top of my foot got caught at the top of the Fillis stirrup. Broke my ankle. As long as the stirrup opens easily maybe it really doesn’t matter where, but my personal experience led me to get ones that open at the top.

[arabiansrock]

Hopefully the ones that rotate at the bottom will stick out sideways not up, but no guarantees for sure. I can picture the stirrup potentially getting hooked on something either way that it could open.

Freak thing happened (just to show you are never safe), I was tightening up girth on a lesson horse, getting ready to put rider up, and horse suddenly started falling over on me, wth!? Horse hit the ground and I saw what happened. He had reached his head around to itch his side, and gotten the stirrup hooked over his lower jaw and it was stuck on a wolf tooth (or are the bottom ones canines?). I sent kid running for help and tried to keep horse calm, he did finally try to get up and somehow managed to get stirrup off his mouth. He was fine thank goodness. but we got a different horse for kiddo to ride. I wonder if he would have got out faster with a safety stirrup, not that they were designed to release a horses mouth but… 55 years doing horses, that was a new one for me,.

[outerbanks77]

Just be aware that models with a gap at the top are not dressage legal. That is why I recently replaced my Safe Style irons. The branch on those is very flexible, so I didn’t see it posing the same kind of hazard.

[Lusoluv]

Thanks @outerbanks77, good to know! I was a dressage-only rider now eventer. The Safe Styles were on my jump saddle. While cleaning my leathers a few months ago, I noticed one stirrup had a crack on the inside of the hard branch! They were about 7 yrs old? I immediately replaced them with the B Vertigo aluminum magnetic safety stirrups. They will open at the top, but no gap.

[Peggy]

I had a pair of aluminum (?) Acavallo stirrups that opened at the bottom, but with a mechanism similar to what the OP posted. After a bit more than a year of use, one of them no longer caught correctly and thus the branch kind of pops out. I replaced them with FreeJumps, but I don’t ride dressage. I do use the Acavallo stirrups on a second saddle that I don’t use as much, don’t jump over 2’3", and don’t show in.

When a horse recently slipped and fell on the road with me and, not being SuperWoman, I also went down, both feet came out of the FreeJump stirrups just fine. They’re a bit scuffed up, but otherwise fine.

Details irrelevant to discussion

Dogs came out of nowhere and the horse is not at all to blame for spooking. My air vest deployed and protected my torso and probably kept my neck somewhat in place as opposed to slamming sideways into the asphalt. The outside of one leg is still a bit sore b/c it got crushed a bit between the horse and the pavement but, all in all, it could have been way worse.

[outerbanks77]

@Lusoluv

While cleaning my leathers a few months ago, I noticed one stirrup had a crack on the inside of the hard branch!

Oh wow. Mine are older than that (they actually pre-dated the rubber branch, which I added later). I bought another pair later and they were not the same quality.

I switched to Acavallos for my jumping saddle, and liked them enough that I put them on my dressage saddle too. Hopefully they will hold up. Someone did get in a wreck (horse fell, rider ejected over shoulder) in the jump saddle and the stirrup branch was a little ajar, but popped right back in place, so it did its job but did not incur any apparent damage in the incident.

[Bristol_Bay]

response irrelevant to discussion

Glad you’re okay!

[clanter]

6 Available - Order Soon!
Ships directly from the manufacturer.

only 6 available AT the manufacturer speaks volumes on what they think of the product

[arabiansrock]

are the Lorenzini stirrups considered safety stirrups? their description says the unique shaping facilitates release of the foot in a fall. I have knock off lorenzini’s that I actually like (except the paint is chipping off badly). Not sure they are really a safety stirrup and as I age I want the most safety possible.

clanter I get what you are saying. OTH, could also mean they are selling quickly and can’t keep them in stock???

[endlessclimb]

TOTALLY unrelated to the discussion, but how did you do you little hide-the-story thing?

[Xanthoria]

I’d like to know too!

[Bristol_Bay]

Hit reply, then tap on the settings icon in upper right. (I’m posting on my phone—but probably looks similar on a desktop). Tap “Hide Details.”

You’ll then be able to type the text you want to be hidden. Note “Summary” in quotes—that’s what appears to everyone and you can delete and insert whatever text you want.

[outerbanks77]

Ooh, it’s like the Secret Menu and In N’ Out!

[BlueDrifter]

How so? That they sell so fast they can’t keep them in stock, or that they don’t sell so fast and the mfg doesn’t keep enough stock?

[Bluey]

Why not use stirrup toe cages?
That seems safest.

https://www.ridingwarehouse.com/Korsteel_Polymer_Stirrup_Toe_Cages_Pair/descpage-KPSTC.html

[blue_heron]

They’re not competition legal.

[arabiansrock]

I read somewhere that the tech venice stirrups are taller than most stirrups and you have to shorten your stirrups to use them. I am already short (5ft 1 in) and usually use holes right at the top of my leathers. I want to get a pair of the TSF stability leathers. So the tricky part is figuring out what size to get. My trainer rides 3 to 4 holes lower than me. So I measured my current stirrup length and it was 20 in stirrup bar to end of leather loop. Trainer wouold probably be about 23 in. maybe 24. But it the venice are taller, my question is, how much taller? Because I would have to adjust my estimated stirrup length down. I really want the stability leathers, at 62 I need all the help I can get,. But I a m not sure these are the best choice when sharing a saddle with someone who is more than and in or two different from you in height.

Any thoughts about what size to get and how much taller the tech venice actually are?

Thank you

[arabiansrock]

Oh, and last question, since no one appears to have heard of the Horsena quick release stirrups I will skip them. Have it down to either the Lemieux vectors or Tech Venice Dressage… Any thoughts on these two? Charlotte DuJardin rides in and supports Tech stirrups. I zoomed in a photo and it looked like she was using the Venice at least for schooling. Would love to know if she has adopted the safety stirrups for showing also. Having a major name use stafy sturrops when showing would go along way to making them more acceptable to the average person.