X-posted: Safety stirrups for adult beginner

[MissusS]

X-posted from Dressage as the first response to my thread there said to try posting here for more feedback

I’ve been riding for a year now and am going to start part-boarding my schoolie, a 16’2 OTTB big mover gelding. I am mid-thirties but ran cross-country competitively growing up which really did a number on my joints… especially hips, knees, and ankles. I’ve talked to my trainer (who is also the BO) and she is ok with me getting my own stirrup irons and leathers. My schoolie currently has regular fillis irons.
I have NO inclination to jump but once I’m a more experienced beginner I would look to dressage. I also don’t plan on competing… perhaps local school shows but that’s the long and short of it.

I’ve done a fair amount of research both here (so much info here!) and elsewhere online and am leaning towards safety stirrups. Specifically, either FreeJumps (likely the Pro+) or Tech Venice Sloped.

I likely will order from some place in Canada so I’m including the links here from a local tack shop for reference:
Venice Sloped: https://calgarysaddlery.com/collecti…loped-stirrups
FreeJump Pro+: https://calgarysaddlery.com/collecti…p-pro-stirrups

I am 5’10.5" and have long legs. I think the Pro+ are the best suited FreeJump style because of my height/weight/shoe size. If another style is better I would love that feedback. The Venice Sloped are also very nice (I much prefer the look of them) but I cannot seem to tell how “good” they are for minimizing impact/joint pain. I also get foot cramps pretty regularly (not just riding… generally in life!) so if that is an important decision factor and you have thoughts, I’d love to hear them.

The other side of the equation is the stirrup leathers. If I go with the Venice Sloped they indicate they can be used with any leathers. I’ve done some research there, too, and the Nunn Finer seem to come highly recommended. If there’s another kind to strongly consider I would love to hear about them. If I go with the freejumps it looks like they have fancy proprietary ones (a style for the Pro+ and a style for classics). I’ve seen reviews that you don’t NEED to get the special leathers but I’m curious if the Freejump branded ones have something wonderful going for them that justify the price premium.

So with all that rambling… Any feedback/advice is appreciated!

PS - I know that neither of these are geared to dressage, but I did see a number of positive reviews for them here in the dressage section of COTH!

[Posting_Trot]

There was a long thread on safety stirrups in Eventing a bit over a year ago now. It’s full of great information and lots of people discussed their experiences with various brands:

https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/forum/discussion-forums/eventing/342054-tech-stirrups-venice

[MissusS]

Thank you! I’ve poured over all of the the threads I could find here on COTH about stirrups and used my notes from those to narrow down to FreeJump Soft’up Pro+ and Tech Venice Sloped but now am totally at a loss as to which would be “best”. I suspect a lot of it will come down to personal preference.

[Posting_Trot]

Oh sorry. I posted a link to the wrong thread. There actually was a very long thread in Eventing (just in case you didn’t see this one, but also for anyone else that might be interested):

https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/forum/discussion-forums/eventing/10389237-stirrup-breakaway-safety-alternatives-to-barnes-buckles-or-swiss-clips

I bought the Samshield Shield R’ups (not a fabulous name, but whatever). I like them a lot. You don’t mention in your original post what is most important to you–beyond the safety aspect–but these are relatively lightweight, but not featherweight, they have a good tread on them, and they have a very slight twist to the eye where the leather runs through so that there’s a bit less tension on the leather.

For leathers right now I’m using the wider leathers, Total Saddle Fit Stability leathers. You might look at those.

[StormyDay]

I would not consider the freejumps a safety stirrup. The outer piece that is supposed to bend is pretty stiff. It’s a neat looking stirrup, but isn’t the top choice of mine if I was looking for a safer stirrup.
In the thread posted above, there’s a video showing some different styles at work. You can see there just how stiff the freejump is.

I would recommend the acovallo alupro or the safestyle brand as top safety. This is because they ever have nothing blocking the opening or they open down for quick release. Second choice would be the tech stirrups.

[MissusS]

@Posting Trot Thank you! I did review the thread but will go back through in greater detail. The Samshield Shield R’ups look very impressive, I will do more research for them today.
@StormyDay I had not reviewed the videos from the thread, I will go back and do that right now, thank you.

ETA: The Ophena safety stirrups mentioned in the Eventing thread look like they ship to Canada now… Oh man, so many options! Off to search if anyone on COTH has tried them yet