Seeking: Recommendations for THIN stirrup leathers at a reasonable price

[SweetMutt]

[QUOTE=jn4jenny;8537692]
We might be comparing apples and oranges. There’s three kinds of Beval nylon-lined leathers: regular, Gladstone, and Italian calfskin. The Italian calfskin ones are much, much thinner than the first two.[/QUOTE]

Ooooh that explains it! Mine are probably the regular.

[Gamma]

Strongly dislike any kind of lined leathers for changing length… it seems like they all buckle at least a little bit when they bend on the holes you regularly use, and then over time it becomes impossible to pull that bit through, regardless of how thin they started out. I usually have an easier time with solid single ply non-stitched leathers, even if they’re thicker. My stirrups on my saddle have stupidly thick old leathers (literally over 20 years old) but the only way you can tell which holes I use is because the color has changed. The entire length slides easily through everything, just because it’s so evenly smooth. (And yes, I inspect them regularly for wear, because–holy cow, 20 year old leathers. They just don’t make them like that any more.)

I do want to order a pair that have the T-bar adjustment system sometime to see how they suit me, they are supposed to be the easiest to adjust (and not dependent on stirrup bar area), but it seems 50/50 love/hate for them online.

Re: Color. You can always keep your current leathers for shows, if they’re a nice matching color. Generally plenty of time at shows to dismount and fidget with your stirrups as necessary in between classes.

(Side note: I am lucky not to be one of the types who is bothered by a big lump where the buckle is. I have my own princess&pea crosses to bear, though.)

[173north]

I really like the Schockemohle Chantilly leathers, which are pretty new on the market - super soft and thin, triple nylon lined, half holes, and around $100. The royal oak and espresso colors are a good match for lots of saddles - espresso is a havana and royal oak is a bit more red. I think they’re much nicer than the lined Stubben leathers which are $40 more!

[fredrich]

take a look at redwoodtack.com. they often have high-end leathers very reasonably priced.

[Backstage]

Thanks for the recommendations everyone, they have been extremely useful. As someone mentioned up-thread, there is an Ontario tack shop called Bahrs, which happens to carry most of these highly recommended options (Beval, Prestige, Stubben, etc). Its a bit far to go check them out, but a friend was in the area on the weekend and she has picked me up a pair to try out. Ultimately, they are a different brand (Exselle) but we used the recommendations here as a point of comparison. These seemed to be among the thinnest and the closest in colour. I will try them out and report back.

If they don’t work, I may need to give up on lined stirrup leathers as I hate struggling with them. I’ll probably try some like RugBug recommended if that’s the case.

[Mia_Sorella]

If you’re in Ontario, check out the BR stirrup leathers at Richvale Saddlery. They’re nylon lined, very thin, and a good price ($100 CAD).

I can’t speak to their longevity (only had them for a month), but I think the quality is pretty good for the price.

[sassymares]

I have black composite stirrup leathers that accidentally got the tops set on fire (very long story) and the part that the stirrup leathers go through squished down a whole lot. I had to get new leathers and got the M. Toulouse leathers for around $110. They are very nice and soft but the thinnest leathers I have seen and the only ones that fit in my stirrups so you should try them!