I never thought that I would do this, but I’m looking at Sprenger Stirrups. I ride in normal stirrups currently. I do have a bad knee and I recently just started having problems with my hips(my chiro says I have a tilted pelvis). Do you think that the stirrups would help this problem? Chiropractic care is helping a lot, but I would like to have less pain when riding. Any other suggestions or would my normal stirrups work just as well.
I have been riding in the Sprenger 4 way stirrup irons and Super Comfort Iron pads for years and I love them. When I rode with regular stirrup irons my knees and back used to ache afterwards.
Here are the Super Comfort Iron pads:
http://www.smartpakequine.com/super-comfort-iron-pads-6038p
I use both the Sprenger 4 way stirrup irons and Super Comfort Iron pads and my knees and back no longer ache after I ride. The irons are expensive but worth the money and they last for years.
I’m just wondering if it would help my hip pain. I never thought I would spend this type of money on stirrups, but I just sold some stuff and have some extra cash. And riding in pain is no fun 
I have also heard people say they like Royal Riders better than Sprenger. Any advice on that?
Do you have any friends from whom you could borrow to try?
I completely dislike the Herm Sprenger ones. They make it worst for my ankles and overall stability.
I much much prefet my Jin Stirrups.
What about knock off or used ones? Less expensive and might do as well.
Ask around first.
I rode in Sprenger’s for years and they made very little difference. Made the switch to Jin stirrups this spring and have way less ankle, knee and hip pain!
I also rode in sprengers and disliked them. For me it wants the flex stirrup that helped with pain but a wide footbed. I now have royal riders and love them!
Have you looked at the MDC stirrups? I haven’t tried the Sprengers, but I have had the Royal Riders and now have the MDC Comfort stirrups, and I far prefer them to the RRs. Mine don’t have any flex, but the wide footbed seems to help tremendously with my chronic knee and back pain.
I think these are the ones I have: http://www.smartpakequine.com/mdc-comfort-stirrup-3785p
I love my Sprengers. They helped my knees and ankles a ton!
The Sprengers make my knees and hips oh-so-happy, but they make my lower leg really unstable if I use them with any frequency. I have them around in case there is a cold day when I am really achy.
I use the comfort pads and they’ve helped quite a bit…although my knees do bother me sometimes with shorter stirrups.
I absolutely hated the sprengers. They felt (to me) like my foot was about to slide out of the stirrups. Absolutely can’t stand them.
I tried a 6-7 different types of stirrups this pain to manage knee & ankle pain.
These were the winners by far: http://www.doversaddlery.com/metallab-air-system-irons/p/X1-07017/ They feel more stable than some of the hinged irons with great shock absorption in the foot bed.
There are other options for addressing the hip pain. Pilates is a huge help to me- core strength & targeted stretching. I did a few privates with my instructor- showed her the body positions I use when riding & she identified the right exercises for my exact needs. They can help you figure out good pre & post ride stretches to help as well.
I have Sprengers on all my saddles. I love them!
I suffer from chronic hip/leg pain (My SI gets out of alignment very easily) and I can NOT ride without stirrups due to this problem. But the Sprenger strirrups make me comfortable enough to ride a full lesson or two hacks, and I can even walk the next day. I don’t really ride in other saddles with traditional striuups, so I can’t say I’d be miserable without them, but they’ve worked for me so far, and I won’t mess with a tack routine that allows me to ride 4-7 days a week and stay comfortable.
Also, I’m very short legged, and when I first switched to Sprengers, it was because I was getting jumped out of the tack a bit over anything larger than 3’. Once I went to the jointed stirrups, my position and security improved 100%. That was almost 15 years ago, and I’ve never looked back 
I have had numerous surgeries on my legs to remove faulty veins so my feet go to sleep VERY easily and I’ve loved the Sprenger. I have cheap knock-offs right now but ONE DAY I’ll buy them!
I have MDCs… the ones that you can rotate at the top like these: http://www.equestriancollections.com/product.asp?groupcode=MS00014
I have them in black, but I don’t show in Eq, so it doesn’t matter… I’ve got cartilage tears in both of my hips, and I find that adjusting the angle of the stirrup with these helps a little… Also making sure my stirrup length is just right… If my stirrups are too long, it really hurts me to ride, same goes for if they are a hair too short…
Have both the regular Sprenger 4 ways and the Sprenger Bow Balance stirrups. I cannot ride in regular filis irons and dislike how light the Royal Riders are.
The wide footbeds on the Bow Balance stirrups have made a huge difference! I can school 2-6 horses and still walk afterwards, which is saying a lot after my knee surgery
I like my Royal Riders better than anything else I’ve ridden in. I have tight hip flexors and one IT Band that sometimes bothers me when I ride. RRs have taken care of that.
It depends on your own particular body.
I have arthritis in my back among other problems that decided to plague me in my early 20’s. Sprenger 4-way gave me decent support for the knees at first. Long term use made my leg unstable, though, then the pain in my back increased. I am back to the support of a normal fillis stirrup.
Thank you so much for the advice! I’m thinking about going for the flexible RRs now. I never thought I would drop $200 on a pair of stirrups but while I am in the process of getting better anything to help alleviate the pain and let me enjoy riding is probably worth it. I’ll talk it over with my chiropractor and see what he thinks.
I love my flexible RR but they are black and I’ve heard that the new gray is too dark for eq. Not that I’m likely to see the inside of any show ring at the rate things are going. Bought the swivel but not flexible wide bed MDC and didn’t like them as much ad the RR. Didn’t help that My foot got stuck in in when the mounting block fell over when I was trying to get on. Fortunately it was the broke horse and he finally stopped after backing up a few feet while I hopped alongside him with one foot in the stirrup.
