The Best Stirrups for Horse Riding | Help & Advice | Houghton Country

The right pair of stirrups can make all the difference to your riding, whether they enhance rider and horse performance by maximising stability and balance, offer increased comfort, or simply keep you safe in the event of a fall. At Houghton Country we are all keen riders with different priorities and preferences regarding our stirrups, and we have hand-picked a selection of the best stirrup irons and leathers to help you enjoy your time in the saddle. With so many different designs and features being marketed as essential, knowing which stirrups are going to be right for you can be difficult. That’s why we have broken down the key design benefits that feature in the latest innovative designs of technical stirrups to help you decide which are most important to you and which stirrups will improve your time in the saddle.

Long gone are the days when everyone rode in traditional fillis irons – stirrup irons now come in all sorts of novel designs, intended to maximise safety, provide shock absorption, give extra stability, and enhance comfort. Different riders have different needs, depending on experience, history of injury, joint pain or weaknesses, and discipline. This guide looks at each part of the stirrup and the various innovations in design available, explaining why a particular feature may suit your riding needs.

When buying stirrup irons you will often find especially on traditional designs that there are size options, these tell you the width from branch to branch across the footbed.

To find the size you need take the boots you will likely be riding in and measure the widest part of the sole of the boot this is usually at the ball of the foot and add an inch or 2.5 - 3cm to get the width of the footbed required.

As a rule, when the foot is in the stirrup iron, there should be enough space on either side of your boot to have a finger on either side.

If the boot touches the branches when in the stirrup, it is too small, increasing the risk of the foot becoming stuck or caught.

If the footbed is too wide for the boot then the foot may feel insecure affecting the rider's lower leg position and security in the saddle.

As stirrups increase in width they often increase in weight, too wide stirrups can be particularly disturbing to younger riders as the weight can be difficult for them to control.

Modern stirrups are usually sized as Junior, these are aimed at older children and teenagers so are commonly for foot sizes UK3.5 - 5, with weight of the rider recommended to be under 10 stone and Adult which are usually designed for foot sizes UK 4 - 9, people with wider feet can sometimes find these designs too tight and unsuitable.

1. The grip: Old fashioned treads are made of rubber which is easy to wipe clean and provides some grip against the sole of your riding boot. The disadvantage of these plain rubber treads is that the grip wears away relatively quickly, they still become a little slippery if the soles of your boots are muddy or wet, and they do not provide as much grip as other innovative treads designed for extra grip; if you are prone to losing a stirrup, traditional rubber treads probably aren’t for you. Instead, opt for cheese grater style treads or ones with metal pins/spikes that provide extra grip.

2. The width: the wider the tread is across the ball of your foot from toes to heel, the bigger the surface area for you to balance on. A wider tread therefore helps with stability and can improve joint pain suffered with narrower treads, as the weight of the rider is dispersed across a broader space, meaning less shock is sent through the rider’s joints. 

3. The size: it is important that your stirrups are not too small for your feet – when the stirrup is on the ball of your foot, there should be no less than 1cm clearance between the side of your boot and the arm of the stirrup. This amount of clearance means that your foot is likely to disengage from the stirrup if you were to fall. If the stirrup is too big, you may feel more unstable. Some stirrups come in children’s vs adults’ sizes, and this is usually dictated by a weight limit and/or your shoe size. If you are over the weight or shoe size limit of a children’s stirrup it is not advisable to ride in these stirrups, as you are at higher risk of becoming stuck in the stirrups if you were to fall, or of the stirrups snapping.

1. Safety has become more of a concern with regards to the development of new stirrup designs in recent years, and most riders feel investing in a stirrup with a sound safety mechanism is worth doing.

• These mechanisms usually come in the form of a quick release feature on the outer arm of the stirrup, which is designed to release the foot in the event of a fall. This thinking came from traditional peacock irons, which feature an elastic on the outer arm which pops off when the weight of the rider’s foot leans against it – i.e. as the rider is falling. However, peacock stirrups are designed primarily with children in mind, and are generally only available in quite small sizes. Research and design has come a long way since the days of the humble peacock stirrup, and that quick release outer arm now comes in more sophisticated forms. Some of these safety mechanisms are designed to snap completely, while others feature a magnetic or spring-loaded closure. When the rider’s weight is distributed across the tread fairly evenly, this closure keeps in place; when the rider’s weight loads significantly to the outside of the stirrup tread and pushes against this wing, it opens, releasing the rider’s foot. 
• Another version of a safety stirrup is one with a shaped outside arm which gives the foot more space to release without relying on a mechanism opening. This design stems from bent leg safety stirrup irons, which are an alternative to peacock irons. The disadvantage of these bent leg irons is that they do not benefit from any other design features aimed at improving rider comfort and performance. If safety is your priority, though, and you are on a tight budget, then bent leg safety irons are a sensible choice.

2. You may see some stirrups with flexible arms that give some movement, known usually as flexi stirrups. This movement takes some pressure away from the rider’s ankle and knee joints and can help the rider to maintain the correct lower leg position. Many riders swear by the difference this feature on a stirrup can make to their comfort, especially on long hacks or while recovering from injury. 

3. The colour: long gone are the days when stirrups weren’t made to stand out, and now you can match your stirrup irons to your matchy colours, or choose something a little different to complement, for example, your competing attire. For showing, you will need silver stirrups to keep in tradition. For other disciplines including dressage, showjumping and eventing, any colour is now permitted.

1. Some stirrup irons are set on a slight incline that slopes downwards towards the rider’s heel. This incline helps the rider to keep their heels down and eases strain on the ankle and knee joints. If the footbed is not angled, slightly more force is required from the rider’s leg to keep their lower leg in the correct position, and so the incline alleviates some of this effort. An inclined footbed may therefore be chosen by riders who suffer with ankle or knee problems or weaknesses, or those that have trouble keeping their heels down consistently.

2. Shock absorption is featuring in more and more stirrup designs, with many riders complaining of soreness in their knees, ankles or hips following a long time spent in the saddle, for example on a hack, or after an intense schooling or jumping session. A layer of shock-absorbing technology underneath the tread cushions the rider’s foot and leg, absorbing impact and vibrations caused by the rider absorbing the movement of the horse, whether over a fence or on the flat. 

The design of the eye that your stirrup leathers run through can make more of a difference than you would think. Traditional irons have their eye orientated perpendicularly to where your foot would sit in the stirrup, meaning your leathers cannot lie flat against your leg. This twist in the leathers can be irritating, and places some strain on your ankles, which have to work to keep the stirrup iron turned away from the horse’s side at the correct angle. Some modern designs have the eyes orientated so they are in line with the position of your foot, eradicating this twist in the leather and the strain on your ankle. Having your stirrups hanging at this angle also means it is easier to relocate a lost stirrup. These designs are therefore chosen by those with ankle or knee pain, and/or those who often lose their stirrups.

Until recent years, stirrups were made from stainless steel, which is a long-lasting metal. Recent innovations favour aluminium or plastic for their lighter weight. It tends to be personal preference whether a rider prefers a heavier or lighter weight stirrup. The advantage of heavier stirrups is that they can be easier for the foot to find if you were to lose a stirrup, as their weight means they hang in place. Lighter stirrups are however less cold and heavy on your horse’s side if they were to bang them – i.e. in the event of a fall or a lost stirrup. 

The right stirrup leathers are equally important, as they can help maximise security and comfort in the saddle. Traditional plain leathers remain a popular choice, but this design has been modernised with non-stretch versions, which feature a nylon core to reduce stretching. Riders often find that their left stirrup leather ends up stretching, as it is from this side that they mount. Even the slightest stretch can make us feel asymmetrical, which affects position and balance, and so non-stretch leathers are a good investment for those using their stirrup leathers on multiple saddles, riding several horses a day, or simply looking for their leathers to last.

Wider leathers are now available, which offer a closer contact feel between the rider’s leg and the horse’s side, reducing bulk between your leg and the saddle flap. These leathers claim to improve lower leg stability and eradicate that annoying twist that can rub your calf, and reduce bulk underneath your thigh.

Another design that reduces the bulk between your thigh and the flap of the saddle is the “T bar” stirrup leather, where the equivalent of the buckle is further down the leather.  

The perfect length of stirrups depends on what type of saddle you are riding in, what discipline you are doing, and where you feel comfortable. Dressage saddles will have you ride with longer stirrups, while jump saddles will see you shorten your stirrups. Likewise, when jumping, it is advisable to put your stirrups up two holes, or about 3 inches, from your normal flatwork length. As a general guide, hold your arm up so that your fingertips touch the bar of your saddle that the leathers attach to, and the end of the leather, i.e. the top of the iron, should reach your armpit.

At Houghton Country we stock various stirrup irons which benefit from various combinations of these features – we are sure to have a set of stirrups to suit your needs!