I about to treat myself to some Sprenger Bow Balance stirrups

M

Myfellpony

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Mar 15, 2015
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Before I fork out nearly £200, has anyone used these stirrups and also any of the ’cheaper’ ones and found the ‘cheaper’ ones to be as good if not better.

Also, what width do I go for? There are currently two pairs ending today on EBay, one at 4 3/4 and the other at 5 1/8. I would like to save a bit of money if possible so would put a bid in on these before buying new.

I can’t get to the yard to measure my riding boots until after the auctions have ended. My bare foot measures 4 inches, 5 with slippers on, which are definitely wider than my boots. Which size would you go for?
 
I use the Sprenger Offset Eye stirrups with the twisty connections so your foot can escape. They are hard to run up and very heavy but superb, riding in other stirrups hurts my knees now.
 
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I have Sprenger stirrups. Mine are not offset eye. Ones foot can escape from straight Sprengers too. That is my understanding.

For the width, one should have half an inch wider than the widest part of ones boot, at the ball of the foot. In modern language they say 1 cm each side.

I have two pairs in different sizes to fit my summer and winter boots. It is hard to see the difference so I tie a bit of red thread to the winter one's. Red reminds me of winter as it is like Father Christmas.

I bought the Sprengers on the recommendation of my RI who does RDA and wanted to minimise the wear and tear on my joints.
I was in my sixties then.

I love them and take them with me wherever I hack . But I have never taken them to riding lessons when I ride in whatever the RS provides.

I did once buy some cheaper look alike hoping they would do for winter. The cheaper ones are from a reputable maker but are not the same. The spring feels looser. I think Sprenger have the patent on a paticular spring design. I bought a pair of Sprengers as a gift for a friend in USA too.

I believe that the springs can rust up after a time particularly with look alikes but I have not dared to roll up the rubber and look at mine.
By the way, I dont know if this is relevant to Sprengers but I have not lost a stirrup when riding. And my poor stirrups may suffer more wear than most as I dismount using the stirrup. If I owned a saddle this might be a problem but as I take my own leathers and stirrups to the yard, they are fitted at random, left and right of the saddle.

I do nothing to maintain the stirrups but I do take care of my leathers. I take them out of the stirrup irons after riding, hang them up straight and clean them regularly. Leathers do not last forever, however expensive they are, as the hole one uses stretches with time. I am now on my second pair.
 
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I like the idea of stirrups with offset eyes. I’m investing in a pair of Acavallo opera stirrups for backing the wee guy next year
 
Know nothing about sprengers. But i brought some double bent safety stirrups 2nd hand from someone. They also have extra thick stirrup leathers which came with them. As i do tend to be quite heavy in the stirrups i found they havent stretched like the standard ones.

The stirrups are twisted 90 at the top. I thought my feet would slip out being double bent but ive found them ok. The definitely make it easier to put my feet in the stirrups with the twistas well. When ive sat in a saddle with normal facing stirrups ive found myself faffing to find the stirrup.
 
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Jane&Ziggy said:
I like the offset eye because it makes recovering a lost stirrup so much easier
Click to expand...
Fair enough. I have not lost a stirrup out riding for years and years. But a few weeks ago my total strrup, leather and iron together, fell off into the road just as we left the gate. Luckilly I was out with YM and she dismounted and retrieved it.
 
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