I am sure that you have all seen a classic piece of riding equipment, such as the stirrup, redesigned and updated in different materials. I recently saw a pair that were made of brushed aluminum and hand machined, with a wide foot bed. They caught my eye because they were beautiful in their simplicity and had graceful lines. The wide foot bed has a built in section of no-slip aluminum grater like mini-spikes. The cut-outs on each side of the slot for the leathers reduce the overall weight. They also come in black aluminum.
Made in Italy, they cost approximately $230. Luckily, Ken Mackenzie, the owner of Quail Hollow Tack store, a vendor at HITS Thermal, generously offered me a test pair for the weekend of HITS Thermal III.
I tested them first on a hunter with a very scopey jump. My immediate thought was that the lightness of the stirrup made me feel a little insecure as it moved with the horse’s motion. After a few more jumps I got the hang of it and liked the wider foot bed as I could brace against it.
I decided to try them out in the USEF Talent Search the next morning in the Grand Prix ring. The course had a lot of tight turns and wide oxers. I was riding Dutch Star, a horse owned by Oscany Inc. and the Esse family. The stirrups were very effective and I liked the feel of them.
I had a very good round which can be seen on YouTube
You can see how my foot is positioned over most of the fences. I had a little trepidation when it came to the flat segment of the class. As I was going around I realized that the stirrup itself might distract from the overall appearance of the rider as the toe is slightly hidden because of the width of the foot bed of the stirrup. I think the judges have a certain proportion that they are used to seeing on standard stirrups. An extra-wide foot bed changes this ratio. I pinned fourth in the class, so I don’t believe that I was penalized for using the E-stirrups. Nevertheless, I switched back to my normal stirrups for my hunter rounds, as the hunter judges tend to favor a more traditional look.
I had an opportunity to get a comment from Christina Schlusemeyer, a well-respected equitation trainer and judge. She feels that the thicker stirrup branch and bed makes for a less elegant appearance in the equitation ring. She prefers the more traditional stirrup and does not care for black stirrups in the equitation ring.
I was able to meet up with John-Paul Levin, the distributor of the E-stirrup at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL. The stirrup is a huge success here and I have seen many of the Grand Prix riders using them.
In conclusion, I would love to have the E-stirrups for the jumper classes. But the reality is that it would be impractical for someone like me to swap stirrups between classes, but for a rider who is doing the jumper division exclusively the E-stirrup seems like a very clever design and definitely worth trying.
For more information on the E-Stirrup call Quail Hollow Tack Store, 817-430-8250 or visit www.quailhollowtack.com. John-Paul Levin can be contacted directly via email jplinternational@aol.com or phone 908-244-8882.
