I prefer the nylon sport tack wide padded stirrups. They are made by easy boot now, I believe....beware of the no name plastic ones, as they break when they hit trees. I once had the metal ones, but they hurt my shins when I carry the saddle.

I like the cages, too, although mine are cageless...

 

You ride Western, so my stirrups would be useless for you. Mine are Metalab 2-way jointed. Love them. My old, arthritic knees, ankles and hips love 'em too!

 

Most distance riders I know use Easy Ride stirrups, plastic with cage. They come in metal as well, but I'm worried about risk of crushing foot in a fall.

Personnally, I have tiny feet and find the EasyRide too big and clunky.

I switched recently to a no-name aluminium with cage stirrups. They come in many fun colors. I love they are light, have a wide comfortable platform, a removable cage and affordable price. I've read the paint might peel off with time as a downside. The foam isn't thick, but so far I don't need more cushioning.
Amidale is the original model in UK:
Aluminium Light Weight Flex Ride Caged Safety Endurance Horse Riding Stirrups | eBay

I got a US copy:
ALUMINUM ENDURANCE RIDE CAGED SAFETY HORSE STIRRUPS With L/key For Remove Caged

There's a lady on FB Endurance Tack page selling them in all colors.

 

I'll throw in that I ule EZ Knees stirrup turners that makes for more comfort for my bone on bone knees. I often wear a heavy hiking boot with an aggressive sole and find that a plastic stirrup lets the sole slide out of the stirrup more easily. They had a leather bottom which I removed and then beveled the back of the stirrup to ease the exit a little more. As always, YMMV


https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail...qi7BRCvsr3N58GvsTkSJAA3UzLvsJJ7BdtPv3h3bfJx6hxD2ZgZg2Szb9h3yJKl6Qr3kRoCU2Lw_wcB

 

english stirrup users feel free to comment as i'm hoping others can also benefit too

 

I may change my mind with more miles, but I'm conditioning for LD's and future 50's and I'm using my Wintec AP (old fashioned kind) and regular English irons for my stirrups. I also have a smooth gaited OTSTB so I'm not posting much and I fox hunted for years so going into 2 pt for a cruise to free up his back is no big deal. I rode in a friend's Tucker with cage stirrups and while I loved the saddle, I was not a fan of the caged stirrups, but I am eyeballing some English irons that are a bit more wider if my current irons get uncomfy. So I'm probably not much help here.

 

The easy rides come in both western and English post widths...

 

Greentree, I've never seen any option of a narrow EZ Ride stirrup. If there is, I'd be interested.


OP, before switching for the Amidale copy, I've been adding Cashel Stirrup Cushions to my English stirrups. It worked fine for many years.
Cashel English Stirrup Cushions Pads Pair


You can also add cages to regular English stirrups.
Korsteel Polymer Stirrup Toe Cages Pair

 

Not an endurance rider just trails, hopefully longer and longer ones. English saddle and EZ ride stirrups. No cage, although it would be safer. I do ride in boots with heels, not trail-running shoes. I find my stirrups to be extremely comfy.

 

Eole, they used to come in 1 1/2", 3" , and 4" posts. Mine are 3", my friend rode in a wintec and always had the narrow ones.
Now that they are EZ ride, but it may be different...

 

Oh! I misunderstood: yes they come in English, Endurance or Western leather/fender width. I thought they had different FOOT sizes, I wish!

 

well to be honest my answer would be, depends. I have a pair of iron oxbows on my saddle that is for sale. I am hoping that when it sells, The buyer wants the plain rawhide, roping stirrups that came with my new saddle.
My every day riding stirrups are brass bound 4" monels, and if I am riding in the brush or back country I have a pair of roughout tapaderos.

 

Why not change the stirrups before selling?

 

I ride in MDC stirrups. They have this great twisting mechanism at the too which allows you to set how they fit, and they have wide foot beds. They're english though.

I've ridden in other stirrups but English and western and none have come close.

 

They look really cool. $200+ though. I looked at the website and it seemed like a lot of people with all kinds of different leg pain were helped by them.

 

I'd like to try the new EZ ride stirrups that have the more grippy foot beds but they're very spendy. I have a pair of the older ones but I don't use them because my feet slide out when I put my heels down.

Currently I'm very happy with my stirrup set up. I use the lightweight composite stirrups and added the wider, grippy footbed that a friend sold me on. The footbed is like a tire tread and cushions nicely while adding width and grip.
Stirrups:

Footbed:

 

I have just a cheapo pair of iron double jointed stirrups-they have a little bit of flex to them which supposedly helps your knees. I've had this kind for about a year now, they are fine: https://www.horseloverz.com/english...ack/stirrups-stirrup-irons/jointed-stirrups/coronet-fillis-irons-double-jointed

"Caged stirrups" are another one of those things I never heard about until reading it on the forum. Can someone tell me more about them and why you use them?

 

^^ sorry, just re-read my post after the time was up to edit. Was typing on my phone and made it sound like the stirrups were MADE OF iron, rather than calling them irons that would make for a harder ride for my little mare!!

 

Cages are like tapaderos, they keep your foot from sliding through.

 

my wife is looking for caged because she generally rides in a hiking boot and we both like a wider stirrup so we can drop the stirrups while trail riding and pick them back up easier when we are ready to speed up or get into some hilly stuff

 

My western style I use EZ Ride plastic with cages. My Aussie that has English leathers I use Herm Sprenger Bow Balance stirrups. I have had knee and ankle issues for years and my Bow Balance stirrups were the only stirrups I could ride for more than 15 min in. I love the padding in the EZ rides. On one set we taped off the pad, cage and top bar and painted them with a paint specifically made for plastic so that they were a different color. They are now 3 years old and have held their color well.

 

Chiming in late (was away at a ride with no cell service), but another vote for the EZ Ride w/cages here (I ride in low hikers just about exclusively). We have the older type.. have heard mixed reviews about the new ones but haven't had a chance to try them for myself.

I have eyed the colorful ones people are selling on fb (I think they are supposed to be knock-off Clouds), but haven't needed any so no excuse to try them. The Cloud stirrups were all the rage for a while, but they were not easy on the wallet so I never tried those either. I have to say, to look at them I was skeptical about how they could be better then the EZ Rides when the pad was so thin.. but some people have raved about them.

 

phantom: curious what people don't like about the new ez stirrups? thinking about ordering from riding warehouse for the versatility of being able to be used no matter what style saddle my wife ultimately ends up with

 

I heard some complaints about the pads being too grippy, so that people could not easily reposition their foot. I could see this being a potential issue for me, as my hikers def have a lot more tread than the sneakers I used to ride in. I also heard they are harder to find again if you lose one (I assume because they are lighter than the old type, but don't know that for sure).

 

never thought "too" light would be an issue, since we both drop our stirrups a lot it is a good thing to keep in mind although I think I could remove some of the grip, if we go with them i will be sure to let you & others know what we find

 

I wouldn't think the light would matter at the halt or the walk.. but i could see how being light might make them jump around more at a trot or canter (think post spook/stumble/whatever that makes you loose a stirrup unintentionally).

I would def be interested in your feedback if you get them!

 

ordered a set of the EZ-Ride Ultimate w/ cage since they will be versatile for any saddle we end up with. hopefully here by next weekend so we will see how things go.

new saddle is HOPEFULLY shipping next week so going to be an exciting few weeks here in NY

 

i haven't tried the stirrups yet (they are for my wife) she is riding in timberland flume boots just to give you an idea of the tread pattern

she used to say she could feel her toes going numb by the time we rode from the day parking lot to the first lot (less than 1/2 mile) saturday we did 8 miles yesterday we did 11 and although still had some knee pain she said her feet felt good the whole ride.

not too much grip with that tread pattern at least, easy to pick back up if she lost a stirrup, but I could see that changing on an english leather although I think they still have enough weight that they aren't going to be any more jumpy than other stirrups. better stirrups did accentuate how terrible her saddle is but hopefully the pandora will fix that issue

the one thing I don't like about the stirrups is the plastic cage, when riding through brush that plastic makes some odd noises that took my mare and I a bit to figure out what that sound was behind us

 

although still had some knee pain

I had knee pain to the point I had to dismount and walk a while about every hour or so.

I got some Cashel EZ knees and that helped, but not enough. I'm diagnosed with bone on bone on both knees. Knee replacement is in the future.

I began riding with my feet out of the stirrups occasionally as a means to rest my knees and postpone the next dismount.

Eventually I found a location for my feet where my knees did not hurt or tire at all with my feet further forward and lower than recommended.

I moved my stirrups to that location and now I can ride 4- 5 hours until my entire body wants a rest and my knees are still fine.