Think about the costs involved in being laid up with a bad injury.
Honestly, it’s only when you compare the price of safety stirrups to regular stirrups that the price seems so high. The price of safety stirrups as compared to many of the most popular, slightly higher-end helmets is pretty comparable. And most safety stirrups don’t have to be replaced every 4 to 5 years or after every fall!
I know this sounds like an urban legend, but a friend of a friend tore her labia on the hook part of a peacock stirrup while dismounting. Super painful and also very embarrassing for a teenage girl clinicking with a male BNT… I have been wary of them myself ever since.
My only bad experience with them (not nearly that bad thankfully) is when I was a kid and someone let me take their rank horse XC schooling when mine was laid up. He ran out at a jump and through some tree branches. The rubber band snagged in the trees and no one could find it, so my right stirrup was pretty useless for the rest of the day. (Moral of the story: carry extra bands, or better yet don’t ride other people’s a-hole horses!)
I know this sounds like an urban legend, but a friend of a friend tore her labia on the hook part of a peacock stirrup while dismounting.
I met a woman about ten years ago who had it happen to her. She had been taking beginner lessons as an adult. Dismounting, she kicked her feet out and slid down the side of her horse. The peacock stirrup caught her at the top of her labia and ripped her almost to her navel. She said she truly believes she would have bled out if there had not been a parent there who was a doctor. Until this thread, I had not heard of it happening to anyone else.
In the olden days, grooms would pony horses to the manor for the gentlefolk to foxhunt. The bars were shut to keep the leathers from sliding off.
Cowboy boots were designed to slide off the foot if the rider got hung up. Proved effective when a farrier friend got hung up on a bronc, spurs and all.
I do because otherwise my stirrups slide off mid-ride. I would prefer not to for sure! This is on my Custom Icon Coda FWIW. The first time it happened was in warm-up at a show a few weeks after I got the saddle and it was quite the surprise. Thankfully it didn’t seem to hit my super spooky guy on the way down. Put it back on and after it almost happened again a few minutes later I had to close the bars.
These stirrups are more dangerous. If you turn the stirrup sideways the whole foot can go through the stirrup, the ankle breaks and you can still be dragged. You don’t know what will happen to the stirrups in a fall.
I use the toe cages.
They fit onto normal stirrups. You cannot put a foot through them. I cross the stirrups over the saddle instead of putting my stirrups up.
One of the riders on the rerider thread had been riding for 70 years. They do not know if, on a trail ride, she had a heart attack and her foot went through the stirrup and she was dragged or she fell and she had a heart attack while being dragged. She died.
I bought the toe cages the next day. If something happens in the saddle like a stroke or faint or collapse or whatever that makes you go limp, then our foot will not go through the stirrup to add to that, just the 6 foot fall to the ground!
Yes I close the bars on the saddles.
Oh, this is interesting… I broke my ankle in S-curve stirrups. I fell off to the left and spiral fractured my right ankle because my right foot (I assume) got stuck. It makes sense that the stirrup might have turned and gotten too deep on my foot when I got popped out of the tack, and then I ‘carried’ the stirrup over to the left side with me as I fell. It was a very undramatic fall otherwise so it’s always been a bit of a mystery how I managed to shatter my ankle but it’s all making more sense now!
I really think they should be taken off the market. People pay more money for them and think they are doing the right thing and safe and they are more dangerous than normal stirrups.
The cages fit onto normal stirrups.
Cages stop your feet going through the stirrup, but wouldn’t stop all issues of the foot getting hung in the stirrup temporarily. That’s why I like the ones that open at the side.
As @Posting_Trot said the price is only high when you compare it to other stirrups. I compared it to hospital bills and time off work… that said, they are an investment and I would recommend trying some before you buy because different people prefer different styles. I love the Acavallo Arenas.
As @conniemary said, the cages don’t stop all binding. I would still have gotten stuck with how my foot ended up, even with cages. It was not a matter of how deep my foot was in the stirrup.
I ride in the cheapo Tipperary, too (and show, as well!). I can’t stomach paying $$$ for a helmet that has the same safety features as the cheap one.
I have been eyeing the MIPS technology - need to get to a tack store to try some on.
Well then, you’ve saved so much money on your helmet, you can spend it all on stirrups!
(I’m kidding. I had to talk myself into spending the money on the stirrups, but they do give me peace of mind.)
I have a birthday coming up. Maybe I’ll ask for them!
I LOVE my Tipperary with MIPS. I sent back a lot of different brands of MIPS helmets before getting my Tipperary Windsor. I bought mine from Riding Warehouse, they have a fantastic return policy.
Ok! Maybe I’ll give ordering a try. I just threw out my 5+ year old Tiperarry for one that I got as a bonus when I bought a pair of boots. I’ve only worn it a couple times though, so it can go back in the box as the emergency backup again if I find one I like better!
Thank you!
I just checked the prices of the Tipperary Windsor and they’ve really gone up since I bought mine last year. 
Endurance/ trail rider - I always ride with cages. I feel much safer in them and they are far more comfortable, plus I almost always ride in sneakers. My friend the other day, hopped on another friend’s horse- not thinking about the stirrup difference (she also always uses cages, rides in sneakers). Went to get off and her foot slip through and got stuck. Fortunately horse didn’t care and just stood there while she jumped around
I have used the Kwik Out stirrups for about 20+ years. I don’t recall ever having them open on me while riding, but it doesn’t take much pressure to get them to open up. I trust them to work when needed.
See, those scare me because if they open in the midst of a bad accident, you now have a stabby metal piece flying around. If the horse goes down with you for example, I could see that impaling rider or horse. That’s why I like the rubber branch the SafeStyle irons now come with.
That’s a fair point. I’ve used them for so long that I had stopped thinking about them. It might be time to explore other options.
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