[Safety stirrups thread] Stirrup breakaway safety: Alternatives to Barnes Buckles or Swiss Clips?

You need Tech Stirrups - Venice Sloped. :slight_smile:

I have the XC stirrups and they are just lovely. Enough weight to get them back easily. Super comfortable. No slip.

@ake987 Thank you for showing these Tech sloped stirrups. I ride best in the old-fashioned double offset Prussian sided stirrups but I wanted a safety stirrup. These look like an ideal compromise.

Now I just have to come up with an extra $400.00, OUCH.

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I use these: https://www.victorycanter.com/Matrix-Composite-Toe-Cage.html

Utterly unfashionable but they do the safety job and are easily interchangeable with other pads. All for about $25.

Those don’t look as if they would be FEI legal. There is an eventing rule that would seem to prohibit cages.

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^^^^ Plus, I don’t see how toe cages could prevent a hung foot. Yes, it won’t let your foot slide all the way through a stirrup, but when I fell years ago, the ball of my foot-area was caught for only 2-3 seconds before coming free. Long enough to break my leg, but not dragged.

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Toe cages are mandatory in Aus/NZ for Pony Club.

I use them them at home for young/green horses and for hacking out as i’m almost always alone. Been using them for years and can’t see a way to get hung up on them.

One of the expensive nouveau iron things have a bar in front of the foot so sort of the same idea.

I bought Rid’up stirrups after a bad ankle sprain caused by a spook/fall. The stirrups detach if you fall.

My only complaint is I wish they had a bit more weight. I don’t find them easy to regain on the move if I lose one.

OOOOH, @Blugal! That’s the first time I’ve heard of Rid’ups and I am VERY intrigued. Where did you buy them?

I like a heavier stirrup, too, but for the safety aspect I might be willing to deal with a lighter weight.

Here’s a place in Canada that sells Rid’Up stirrups, and are in Canadian dollars…
https://equineww.ca/products/ridup-stirrups

They have them on sale, and one wonders if they will continue to carry them.

Here’s place in the UK that has them. https://firstthought.1.ekm.shop/ridu…ups-1244-p.asp

Given the paucity of hits during my search, they don’t seem to be having much success in breaking into stirrup market.

Here’s their website, and they claim to ship all over the world. They offer their stirrups in two models–one for 239 euros and one for 139 euros. They are one of the few direct sales manufacturer prices that are cheaper by far than retail sellers.
https://www.rid-up.com/en/products

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Thank you, @vineyridge! I just bought a pair of the Rid’Ups in blue. Since I’m an eventer and have two saddles to outfit, I could justify buying both the Acavallos and the Rid’Ups and see how I like them compared to each other.

I love that the Rid’Ups essentially have a Barnes Buckle / Swiss Clip built in to the stirrup! Given my twist fracture, this video sold me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk9Bv8UVVCk They also have a footbed with spikes, more like the FreeJumps than the cheesegrater Acavallos. I bought the more expensive pair because the other looked better for peeps with small feet (a.k.a. not me). Oh, and if you want a discount from the Rid’Up store, this blogger can give you a 10% promo code if you DM her: https://www.blog.chevaletmoi.com/crash-test-brackets-ridup/

I hope I’ll love both sets of stirrups. If not, I can always sell the one I don’t like as much on eBay and grab another of my favorite. The exchange rate from USD is pretty decent right now, thank goodness, so that helps.

I also might be getting my hands on a pair of scarce-as-hens’-teeth used Barnes Buckles just in case I want to go back to my MDCs. I’ll let you all know if I manage the feat. I still wish I could get a pair of the discontinued Swiss Clips and have contacted a number of tack shops, but so far no luck in getting the any of the very few that might still exist at anywhere remotely resembling a semi-reasonable price including shipping (and I was happy to throw a fair amount of $ at the task).

In any case, I’m far enough along in my fracture recovery that I might be riding with stirrups again in a couple of weeks. I’m anxious to test both the Acavallos and the Rid’Ups out. The Rid’Ups will be here in a couple of weeks.

By the way, the Samshield Shield’Rup stirrups seem to be getting VERY hard to find. Even a few weeks ago Farmhouse Tack had them, but that page now 404s. European tack shops still have some, though. They seemed to meet all my requirements, but the fact that they’re new and yet the few US shops that carried them have stopped that worried me a little. But at least they’re still available in Europe. I did notice that this used $285 pair on eBay seems to have a corroded finish, so that might be an issue with the Shield’Rups in general: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Samshield-Black-Chrome-Shield-R-Up-Stirrups-With-Box/202697593546?hash=item2f31b7d2ca:g:E~MAAOSwh1Fc7EGl

This is slightly off topic, but wanted to see if anyone had any stirrups they’d recommend that provide stability and excellent shock absorption and/or arch stability keeping safety in mind as well. Last year I tore my plantar fascia in a non-riding incident and ever since my foot gets numb and tingly after riding for 30 minutes. Kicking my foot out of the stirrup helps with that, but then I’ll get off and my foot will be really stiff and sore in the arch. I currently have the fixed, wide tread royal riders.

@ndirish07, check back with me in a month or so and I’ll let you know if either the Acavallos or the Rid’Ups might suit your needs. :slight_smile: I have the feeling that I’ll be relying on shock absorption a lot for my recovering ankle. The Acavallos don’t seem to have a flexible footbed, but the descriptions mention it, so we’ll see. The Rid’Ups look like they have a more shock-absorbing footbed, but I want to test it.

When I bought my MDC S Flex Stirrups last year, they got rid of my occasional numbness/tingling. (I have — or at least had, before the fracture :cry: — super flexible ankles, and my feet would go numb from the knife-edge pressure at the back edge of a stirrup.) The MDCs were great for shock absorption, but they aren’t safety stirrups, and from now on I would only use them if I can get Barnes Buckles / Swiss Clips to attach them to my webbers.

I ordered the Acavallos yesterday. I will chime in when I test them out. I am 55, and felt it was time for a little “more safety” at my age. Ordered from Tack Room Inc. I have been riding in the MDC stirrups also, and noticed a bit of numbing sensation in my feet also.

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Interesting Missed in Monday on COTH where the rider credits her safety stirrups. Anyone recognize the model? https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Hit-The-Ground-Running-With-The-Chronicle-s-Missed-It--Mondays.html?soid=1114625386478&aid=tWQsvfqcWrU

I saw that and guessed FreeJumps. Looked like they were open at the top. Just a guess, though.

No stirrup recommendations, but taping the foot (physio taught me how to do it) really helped for me because it provided the support needed. The injury took well over a year to heal and to stop bothering me while riding, but eventually, it did. No new stirrups required, but a good boot and an excellent footbed also helped.

Did you have weird numbness and tingling? How long did that last? I’m 14 months post injury. It was a 70% rupture of my plantar fascia. I had no prior issues with my foot either; go big or go home I guess. I have custom boots with a custom othotic insole and still have issues. I feel like I should be able to get an rx for new stirrups and use my FSA to pay for them at this point… I’m debating between free jumps and Flex-ons.

This isn’t true for NZ Pony Clubs. Can’t speak for Australia but suspect it’s the same

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Not that I can recall . . . just pain/discomfort. I sure hope that finding the right stirrup helps or that others have more advice. As I said, I found that taping helped the most.

https://ophena.com/

just saw these come across my Instagram today. Sold out until July. Not sure if they are legal but how interesting…I’d like to try them.

ETA- does not ship to America…