Why don't more saddles have adjustable stirrup bars?

[MissAriel]

Just a random train of thought I had today…

When it comes to saddle fitting for the rider, often the stirrup bar placement or length is mentioned along with seat size and twist to achieve optimal rider balance and seat/leg placement.

I know there are a few saddles with adjustable stirrup bars, but not many. Saddleseat saddles seem to be the exception where they are apparently more common (I have heard - exclusively h/j and dressage rider here)

It seems that an adjustable stirrup bar would increase the options for the rider, and make the saddle fit more riders at very minor cost, either in actual dollars or in compromises to saddle fit or wear.

So why aren’t there more saddle models with adjustable stirrup bars?

[Against_All_Odds1]

I have no idea! Or why isn’t there an aftermarket gadget? Like with girth extenders…

[Highflyer]

One more thing to break (and a really bad place for it!)

[TC3200]

@Highflyer

One more thing to break (and a really bad place for it!)

They rarely break off of the saddle, although I suppose that could happen. The recent slider type that Barnsby / Shively / Ideal was using does seem to be plagued by premature wear that prevents it locking into place.

The two issues I see with adjustable bars on hunt or dressage saddles:

1. Tree length, because adjustable bars attach to the tree in the twist area. Saddle seat’s lane fox saddles are all long flat trees without much rocker to them. Dressage saddles can be curvy, or flat, but are a shorter tree than an adult’s saddle seat saddle. Close contact saddles are shorter and generally curvier yet. So, just how much travel could you have on a dressage saddle or a cc saddle, and would the extra cost to have adjustable bars be worth the added cost to the saddle? Extended bars are less money and may achieve the same thing, without any structural or maintenance issues like you could have with adjustable bars.

2. Safety and practicality, especially for cc saddles. I’ve never had any type of adjustable bar with a hanger that you could count on for anything other than flatwork. Wellep bars, the stirrup leather could easily slip off of the hanger over fences or other athletic maneuvers. Cotterell or slider type, the hanger is "floppy,: i.e. it can pivot up. The safety catches on these are not very firm nor very strong, and I’ve seen quite a few used saddle seat saddles where one or both safety catches have broken off the stirrup hangers. I think years ago, I saw a saddle ad for a cc saddle with a Wellep adjustable tree and Wellep adjustable stirrup bars, shorter than the saddle seat ones, with only 3 positions instead of 5.

Patty at East Crow Saddlery has swapped standard stirrup bars for adjustable ones on saddle seat saddles. Her price used to be $300 for the slider type, $150 or $175 for the Wellep type, and less for extended bars. But that was almost 10 years ago. Discuss with her if you want more info.

[MissAriel]

@TC3200 - thanks for the information. What you say makes sense, particularly with respect to the differences in the tree shapes.

Having no experience with adjustable bars, I thought I would ask. The knowledge base of COTH came through again!

[2Below]

I, along with many riders in my area, have a Gullickson-Baines saddle (dressage) from Equine Inspired with adjustable stirrup bars. There’s 3 placings for where the leather can hang, it mostly depends on a person’s pelvis as to where to adjust it. It’s a nice feature and seems to make a difference for some riders.

[tabula_rashah]

All of my endurance saddles (Barefoot Tahoe, Specialized Eurolight, Bob Marshall and Podium Bravo) all have adjustable stirrup positions which I LOFF!!! For the most part I like to ride with my leg more under me than most riders I know unless I’m doing a lot of big climbs/ downhills.

[luvmyhackney]

Adjustable bars are why I prefer to use my cutback Saddle. That and it’s nice and slick. I haven’t had any issues with mine unless constantly moving them. You can also zip tie them in place in any issues. Many people due for the just in case moments.

[no.stirrups]

Adjustable stirrup bars are bulkier than regular ones, so if you don’t need them most people would prefer to have as little bulk under their thigh as possible. They are also more expensive.

[TC3200]

I see others have chimed in with some other aspects of adjustable bars that I didn’t have time to write. I looked around the Internet today and found this Smith Worthington blog article http://blog.smithworthington.com/ that explains some of the options and limitations of extended and adjustable bars. Contrary to what SW said about losing those screws from the Wellep bars, you can find a Phillips head version at Lowe’s (in hardware, in the blue cabinets) that’ll do. Or you can get the exact slot head stainless steel one from Fastenal dealers. It’s a metric size, but I don’t recall what it its. I took one to Lowe’s, used those bolt and screw size socket things than hang on the uprights near the fasteners, and figured out what size and tread. I bought a couple Phillips head ones at Lowe’s for temp use and then got the real thing from Fastenal in under a week.

I concur with the person who said that adjustable bars are bulkier. The Wellep bars are the least offensive in that respect. The Whitman threaded Adjustabars are the worst I even encountered, particularly when set all the way bar, because they aren’t recessed at all.

The Wellep bars are shown on saddle trees here: http://www.wellep.com/Wellep%20Eques…%20System.html The stirrup leathers can to slip off them very easily if the saddle ever heads uphill and you happen to have little or no weight in the stirrup iron at that particular time. That’s my only complaint with them.

The Coterell slider type are very long, and the rear attachment point for them, if they are 4 position, is probably too long for anything other than a cutback saddle. They might be fitted onto a larger dressage saddle, but I would wager that the back of the bar will be uphill, and also very snug against the saddle, and that will make the back 2 positions hard to lock into, and also will make more bulk under the rider’s thigh. The straight end anchors to the front of the saddle, and the big paddle shaped end attaches in the twist area.
https://german.alibaba.com/product-t…143908443.html

The Bates bar looks interesting. It has a nice upward hook to help keep those stirrup leathers on the saddle. That’s one of the best ideas yet.
https://www.batessaddles.com/wp-cont…stablebar3.jpg

[TC3200]

'Way back, we had discussions about “adaptations” on Ultimate Dressage board. If you are stuck with fixed bars at the wrong distance from the sweet spot of the saddle, you can try:
– Slip a piece of tubing or hose onto the stirrup bar, push it all the way forward, then hang your stirrup leather and flip the safety catch up.
– Experiment with different widths of stirrup leathers. Fennells.com sells traditional single thickness stirrup leathers in widths 3/4", 1", and superwide 1.25".
Combining those two things, you might be able to move the centerline of your leathers 1" or a bit more.

Being saddleseat, I have seen some old cutback saddles where someone welded a heavy “wire” loop to the back end of the regular stirrup bars and they hung their stirrup leather through that. Of course, the stirrups leathers would never release in the event of a fall, so you’d need to combine that with some type of safety stirrup. Try at your own risk, lol.