What about the Flexon safety stirrups? Has anybody seen or used those? Or the Equiline S1?
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I just got the Acavallos, and I really like them. I find them heavy enough to suit me, and love the wider foot bed. I am at that age (55), that I am trying to be as safe as possible.
I rode in the Samshields over cavaletti today! Mine are very shiny and I’d think that the chrome version (which I got) would be acceptable in hunter classes. The outside branch can go almost 90 degrees forward and back and goes out as well, so no worries about getting caught in a forward vs. backward fall — should release regardless. Mine have the treads with the spikes. There were a few times when I needed to reposition them but I could just lift my foot up a little and do it. They have a good weight and don’t fly around. They felt pretty stable, and even though there doesn’t seem to be much twist to the eyehole, they did not want to keep shifting back to be parallel to the horse’s side like the Acavallos did for me. I want to ride in them some more, especially as I get better at putting my heels down through my ankle fracture recovery. Today I was only going over cavaletti, so didn’t really get to test out the shock absorption claims. There was nothing about them that annoyed me, so I’m pretty happy and don’t think I’ll be sending them back. More testing to come.
@Posting Trot: the Flex-Ons are heavier than I suspected from the videos (which is a good thing, to me) — 1.2 lb each.
They seem great from a safety perspective, and it would be easy to keep an allen wrench around if you need to put the stirrup back together after a fall. Personally, I’ve realized I need a twisted eye hole, and that’s the main reason I didn’t try them — but they might work well for a lot of people.
I have been eyeing both of the Equilines (S1 and S2), but have not received a reply from the company about their weight. If you go back a few posts, toward the end of the 3rd page in this thread, I talked about them and how the prices have come down a lot if you look in the right places and are willing to buy from overseas.
@2horseowner: I’m glad the Acavallos suit you! I wish they had the twisted eyehole and were a little heavier, but the price is pretty nice compared to the other safety stirrups out there. They’re great bang for the buck.
Hah! I can’t believe I missed those mentions of the Equiline and Flex-ons! Hmm. I also think I prefer the offset eye, and I’ve got to say that after watching the Flex-On guy on a video demo-ing the way that the arm comes free, I was a little put off.
(He really had to put some muscle into it; maybe that is a good thing, but it also makes me worry that you might have to come off just right for the arm to snap free).
The TechVenice ones look interesting: I like the magnetic arm. They also don’t have the offset eye though. I wonder how much I’d miss it, and how much that detracts from the potential safety angle, if at all?
Where did you order the Samshields from?
I always ride in FreeJump stirrups and put them to the test yesterday. I was getting on to ride dressage and had a very freak accident- my very dependable horse spooked while mounting when someone threw a hay bale in the loft and I wasn’t all the way on. I twisted and went underneath him and the FreeJump released immediately when I got into a bad situation. Other than normal soreness from hitting the ground, I am totally fine. I can definitely say that in a normal stirrup I would have been hung up. I did not come close to the top of the stirrup either and it definitely released.
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Glad you’re okay, @SeeSpotEvent!!! Wonderful to know you can trust your stirrups. I’m happy that my fear about the FreeJumps didn’t happen for you!
@Posting Trot, I bought my Samshields from Forelock and Load in the UK: https://www.forelockandload.com/product/samshield-shieldrup-stirrups/. They were very nice and shipped the next day for about $338 including shipping. Took 6 days to reach me in the middle of the US.
There are some Samshields available elsewhere for a bit less if you don’t want the bright chrome color, or there’s a used black chrome pair on eBay for $285 + shipping. There might also be more availability of new ones for $300-ish around the middle of August (try https://www.redpostequestrian.co.uk/179040/products/samshield-shieldrup-stirrup-irons--chrome.aspx or https://www.royalequestrian.co.uk/product/samshield-shieldrup-safety-stirrup/ or https://www.equishop.com/en/stirrups/14145-shield-rup-stirrups.html).
I heard from the Barnes Buckles person that they were shipped out end of last week from overseas, so I hope I’ll have them in hand next week… crossing fingers
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Thanks for the tips and places to buy. I went ahead and bought the Samshields from royalequestrian: it was a pretty good deal: $302 including shipping, and I could get the “black chrome” color.
Thanks again, and I’ll check back in once I get them and try them out!
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Looking forward to your review!
Okay, I received the Shield’rups yesterday. (Two day delivery from Royal Equestrian!) My god, the stirrups are packaged like a diamond tiara; or, since I don’t have a diamond tiara, how I imagine a tiara might be packaged. It’s a little over the top.
Anyway. I got the black chrome color. They’re very pretty (almost jewel-like, perhaps to justify the packaging…). The color is a very glossy black that has purplish highlights–think a blackbird in the sun–, so not exactly the standard issue. I don’t care about that though.
I was impressed by the arm of the stirrup that disengages, and then can rotate both backwards and forwards as well as off to the side. It also doesn’t require a ton of force to cause it to disengage. It then clicks back together with the body of the stirrup very easily–there is a magnet that allows it to snap into place.
In terms of weight, they’re comparable to the weight of an MDC stirrup, although the Shield’rups are more weighted towards the footbed. The footrest is cheese-graterish, but the teeth don’t seem so sharp that they will tear the leathers when I run them up.
I put them on the saddle and rode with them today, although it was so hot I only rode about 20 minutes. (I didn’t fall–I wasn’t that committed to testing them). I popped over some cavaletti and so on, and they seemed very nice. One nice feature is that the Samshield logo is on the outside (break-away) branch of the stirrup, so if you do need to get the stirrup back, it’s easy to see if you have put them on correctly.
So here’s hoping I never have the need to experience the breakaway benefits! (Not likely, but fingers crossed).
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I got my Barnes Buckles! :encouragement: Now I just have to figure out how to put them on. 
”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹ I’m eager to see if they’ll fit the Rid-Ups as well as my MDCs.
Posting Trot, I’m glad you like the Samshields, and that black chrome color sounds gorgeous. I still wish they had more twist at the eye hole and I found myself adjusting them more than I’d like, but that was mostly on the side with my bad ankle, so I’ll see how it goes. And ITA on the packaging. Took me awhile to figure out how to get them out! And then I kept checking the box to see if the alternative treads were somehow included. (Nope.)
Waaaaah, the Barnes Buckles don’t work on either my wonderfully springy MDCs or my new Rid-Ups. 
I has a sad. I will put them on some older fillis stirrups as my backup stirrups, but I have been spoiled by wide footbeds for comfort and I will have to see how it goes.
Which means I am still on the hunt for another good pair of safety stirrups. At the moment I am using the Rid-Ups, which I still really like, on my dressage saddle (crossing fingers that there’s less of a chance for a forward fall while on the flat), and the Samshields are on my jumping saddle.
Given @SeeSpotEvent’s happy FreeJump experience, I’m still thinking about FreeJumps, if cautiously. Last week my surgeon confirmed that my bimalleolar fracture was due to twisting, almost certainly from the stirrup, so the solid bars right next to the tread in the FreeJumps still give me the willies.
I’m still intrigued by the Equilines, and just PMed with a COTHer who has used them and really loves them. I’m hoping that happy user will stop by the thread so you can hear more.
I rode in the Samshield Shield’Rups in a (baby level) 2-phase this weekend and they did a nice job for me on XC. I’m happy to ride in them. The only thing I’ve noticed is that if I drop my stirrups over the other side of the seat instead of taking the time to run them up my Webbers properly, they scratch the saddle leather. Being lazy, I still drop them over the other side now, but I turn the webber so the flat side hits the leather instead of the scratchy side.
I’m still using the Rid’Ups for dressage and they feel good, too. (No scratchy parts to worry about, either.)
I’m going to keep my eye on the Equilines (both S1 and S2), so if anyone else tries them out, please report back!
I still love my Acavallo Arena stirrups. Fortunately, I have not put them to the test. I am just putting the basics on my 4 year old, so not jumping right now.
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Agree with IFG on Acavallos, I really love mine and they are very secure.
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Thanks to you enablers, I too bought the Acavallos and so far love them. I needed a grippier footbed than my Compositis, and these seem like the bests of all the things I need for my joints (lightweight, wide footbed) plus a bit of extra safety.
I can’t wait to see how it feels to use an actually grippy footbed next time we dash through water.
I found them for $162 on Amazon (sold by Hitching Post Tack, who lists them at the full $195 on their own website). Still much pricier than a cheap composite stirrup, but at least it was a slight discount.
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I finally saved up enough money for the Tech Venice Sloped irons, I ordered them through my “local” tack store, then I got told that the silver/silver ones were on back order. I told the tack store that I would take another color scheme, I just wanted the stirrups sooner rather than later. Well I finally got the call, they told me they were given a choice of pink or blue branches on the stirrup and they got me the blue ones.
I finally got them on my saddle yesterday. One thing I noticed is that the “bell” of these stirrups is a LOT higher than on my old Prussian sided or Fillis stirrups, and I do not see much danger of getting hung up in these stirrups. if and when I fall again my feet should come out easily.
Today I had a lesson and my riding teacher seemed to like them. She noted that my right lower leg was going a bit too far back but this was probably not from the stirrups but from my lack of proprioception from my MS. She agrees with me that my feet should come out easily if needed.
My feet were comfortable, my feet felt secure in these stirrups, and the grater foot beds were not too aggressive about hanging onto the soles of my boots.
So far I am pleased. It was hard for me to wrap my head around paying $400.00 for a pair of stirrups but I figure that medical costs of repairing my feet (and the rest of me) from getting hung up when I fall off again would cost me a lot more money.
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Well hard to tell if the Acavallos released or I just got thrown free, but my young horse threw a monster buck and I was thrown clear of the stirrups. It does give me peace of mind to know that they would have released if I had needed them ;).
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Some more about the Tech Venice Sloped stirrup irons.
When I saw how high the bell of these stirrups was I shortened my stirrup leathers a hole on each side. When I rode in them the stirrup/stirrup leather length was still about a half hole too long.
This is not bothering me much. I had been toying with the idea of lengthening my stirrup leathers anyway. Plus this also means that more of my lower leg covers the wide part of the Millbrook stability leathers, if I had lengthened my stirrup leathers with my regular stirrups, less of my lower leg would of been on the wide part of the stirrup leathers.
This morning my feet did not bother me at all. My feet seem to like these stirrups even though they are nowhere near as sloped as my double-offset Prussian sided stirrup irons. It was not difficult for me to cock my ankle as I sank my weight into my heels which sort of surprised me since these stirrup irons LOOK so massive.
My riding teacher and her granddaughter thought these stirrups looked “cool” even though they look so different from regular stirrup irons. My riding teacher said that it was too bad that they only came in one width, 4 3/4", because most of her students that need them are little kids. She would appreciate smaller width stirrups and a lower price, then she could get them for her school saddles, but, alas, life is rarely perfect.
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Couple of safety stirrup updates… I tracked down some Swiss Clips. They don’t fit my MDC S Flexes, either. 
So Barnes Buckles and Swiss Clips pretty much require a traditional stirrup eye.
I like the Samshields, but my feet still wander a bit on them, despite the spikes. So I’m going to keep looking in case I find anything I like better.
I just ordered the Equiline S1s from a site the UK (for a bit more than half the cost of Equiline’s US price, $595, sheesh). Won’t get here for another week or so, alas, but I’ll let y’all know how they do for me. They are apparently heavy (which I prefer). Was told they are ~1.9 lb each. Crossing fingers.
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I have the Acavallos and SafeStyle stirrups. I prefer the SafeStyle as they hang well, have a good weight and there’s nothing mechanical about them to not work. I like the Acavallo Arena stirrups but it’s easy for them to get turned around and they feel a bit large and clunky to me. The Safestyle are the closest to regular stirrups. They are also less expensive, even with the shipping charges.
You can read my reviews of them here:
https://equineink.com/2018/05/31/acavallo-arena-stirrups-review/
https://equineink.com/2018/07/24/safestyle-stirrups-review/
If anyone has child sized feet I can give them a killer deal on a pair of Safestyle stirrups because I ordered one pair in the wrong size and they won’t accept returns!
SafeStyle also makes a “safety hook” which I believe allows you to attach your already expensive but non safety stirrups like a Barnes Buckle: https://www.safestyle.nl/safety-hooks/ I’ve never seen them in person and am not exactly sure how the work.
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