Yes, that is the type of stirrup I use now.
I would buy that pair but it is too narrow for my foot.
I have used MDC Ultimate stirrups, since I began having knee pain back in 2008. With regular stirrups, you are constantly fighting the stirrup leather to keep the stirrup turned correctly on your foot. With the MDC’s, my pain almost went away.
I eventually got OrthoVisc injections, which kept me, along with the MDC’s, from having both of my knees replaced, for 3 years. I had both of my knees replaced a year and a half ago. My new knees have helped immensely, but I still love the MDC stirrups.
Doesn’t Dover or BoB have a try it to buy it program for those stirrups? I have 2 pairs ( one set for my dressage saddle and one set for my jumping.)
I have had knee issues for years and struggled with pain and stiffness in them while riding. Years ago,rode in my trainer’s saddle one day and she had the HS jointed stirrups and I couldn’t believe the difference they made for me. I promptly picked up a pair for myself.
Now, I have a bum ankle from being sprained too many times. I find that my jointed HS stirrups are causing more pain in my ankle and I think it’s from too much flex.
I’ve tried the composite wide foot bed stirrups from Greenhawk but they didn’t help at all. I’m thinking the MDC stirrups might be next on the list to try. I need something with less flex for my ankle, but also helps lessen the torque on my knee. I guess maybe the silver lining is that this is all on the same leg??? Lol!
Older rider here with bad ankle and knees. Ankles need tsupport and flex stirrups will agravate a bad ankle. I deal with my knees by changing leather lengths while riding. For me having my knee in one position is going to make then hurt so when i can I drop the stirrup for the stretch and also change length even just up one hole ,after a while do it again. Knees want to bend. Any joint will hurt if you hold it in one position. Try this ,make a tight fist and see how long it takes to start hurting,
I also do this while driving , moving my seat closer and then back again to change the bend in the knee. Works great for long trips .
I do the same thing walkers! Some days I adjust my stirrup length 5 times in a ride. I do find that riding with my Back On Track knee wrap does help and I just picked up their ankle wrap. Haven’t had a chance to ride with it yet. Here’s hoping it fits into my paddock boots!
the mdc that swivel very much helped me. if the pain is really bad, perhaps try some kt tape for a bit of extra support.
I’m bumping this up as it came up when I searched. Your knee pain sounds so similar to mine. What did you settle on that worked for you?
Squats have probably made the biggest difference–both goblet squats and bar squats. Pain in the gym seems to correlate with less pain out of the gym. I do not have the same knee problems as most people where it is degradation of the cartilage between the femur and tibia. My issue is the knee caps are high and offset to the outside so that the underside of the patella does not ride in the grove at the base of the femur. I have talked to one other rider with the same issue and she too found significant relief doing squats through PT–Her pain was completely resolved, but she was quite a bit younger than I and likely still had a bit of cartilage left.
As far as stirrups I ended up switching to the MDCs. Both the “classic” with the “S” positioning and the “Sport Classic” with the swivel on top that can set the stirrup at either a 45° or 90° angle. My ankle are too flexibility for the hinged ones. I like them both and they help a bit. Not sure whether it’s the wide foot bed or getting rid of the twist.
I am likely headed for a partial knee or "Patellofemoral Joint Replacement where they only address the underside on the patella and the surface of the femur. https://www.hss.edu/conditions_patellofemoral-joint-replacement.asp
Thanks so much! Weird that you say that, I’ve been squatting/Crossfitting pain free for years now and then this year I had a really weird day where I think a combo of bad shoes/heavy jump school/ walking in arena sand instability/followed by a heavy lifting and jumping workout deeply screwed something inside my kneecap. I’ve slowly built back up and have been FINE for months then bam knee pain is back after riding in my jump saddle galloping for the first time all year. So I’m trying to isolate if my angle/knee pinching is actually the cause. Dressage saddle and longer leg is totally fine. I will absolutely give your suggestions a shot, thank you!
Was think about this and have one more thing for you to check. IT band. It took me a good while once I realized how tight mine were to get them loosened up and moving–the foam roller is my friend. I also get body work done by someone who does Active Release Therapy which has bee hugely helpful. ART is like chiro for soft tissue. I was once told “IT band pain IS knee pain” so it has been really helped to address it.
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Boom. Done. Thank you so much for your help!
