One of the scariest things that can happen on a trail ride is falling off your horse and being dragged because your foot is caught in the stirrup. If you’ve lived through it, you know what I am talking about. If not, imagine your horse getting spooked and galloping off, with you attached. At best, you get terrible road rash. At worst, you are dead.
This can be prevented in many cases with releasable safety stirrups. There are a lot of different models on the market. Europe appears to be leading in the development of some great new technologies. I recently spent time investigating a wide range of safety stirrups and narrowed my top choices down to 4 models to test and review.
My selection criteria were that it had to have a release mechanism, be trail-friendly (the mechanism should not be hindered by mud and dirt), and $400 or less (although $400 seemed high, I expanded my usual budget for purposes of product review). I did not include the popular peacock stirrup because everyone already knows about it. Some don’t like it because it is unbalanced, but if your are on a budget it is the perfect safety stirrup. If you want a more high-performance stirrup, read on.
Three of the models I tested are English-only and one can be used on both English and Western saddles. I apologize to my Western rider readers, but I ride English, so this was my focus. My goal was to find a stirrup that was balanced and stable and that I could feel confident would release when I actually needed it to – including when my foot is jammed in or sideways.
The four stirrups I reviewed were:
- SmartRider Escape (English or Western) – approximately $100
- Acavallo Arena Alupro (English only) – approximately $200
- Rid’Up (English only) – approximately $300 (available on sale now at $179)
- Tech Stirrups Venice (English only) – approximately $400
SmartRider Escape: This is a 2-piece stirrup that breaks apart when backwards pressure is placed on the top of the inner piece. It’s made in Australia of a high quality dense plastic and is very lightweight. Designed for Western saddles, it has a slot for a narrow stirrup leather so can also be used on an English saddle.
I believe this is a reliable safety stirrup because the release mechanism works well for a backwards fall and, even if your foot is sideways in the stirrup, it is rounded and smooth enough to be unlikely to catch your foot. It performed well in our test. Even if it gets muddy the release mechanism should still work. The only downside is it’s a bit clunky and tall for an English saddle, so not the most comfortable of the four. At US$100 it’s the most affordable, though.
Acavallo Arena Alupro: this is an aluminum stirrup, made in Italy, with a hinged outside branch (hinged at the top), made of polyamide. The wide footbed has a “cheese grater” surface to keep your foot in place.
This stirrup is very well made. When riding it feels well-balanced and my foot was stable due to the wide footbed. But I am not in love with the release mechanism. Given that when you fall, the toe of your boot is usually near the top of the stirrup, having it open at the bottom does not make me confident that it will always release my foot. And while the footbed provides excellent traction, in our test we found it impeded the release of the foot when the foot is inverted, and the partial branch at the outside can catch your foot.
Rid’Up: These stirrups are made in France of a reinforced polyamide and metal. A spring-loaded mechanism allows the stirrup to break away when pressure is applied at the top. The wide footbed has pins to improve traction and the footbed is 90 degrees from the stirrup leather.
As with the SmartRider, this stirrup is designed to release in a backwards fall, and it does so beautifully. We also tried it with a twisting fall with the foot sideways in the stirrup and, due to the rounded smooth sides, the foot easily slid out. The footbed has traction but not so much to hinder a release if the foot is completely inverted.
Tech Venice: Made of high quality aluminum in Italy, this stirrup has a hinged outside branch (hinged at the bottom), also made of aluminum. The wide footbed has a raised diamond pattern for traction.
Having the hinge at the bottom makes this stirrup ideal for both backwards and twisting falls. Given how widely it opens, it’s hard to imagine how your boot could fail to release. My only concern for trail riders is that the spring mechanism under the foot might be compromised with build-up of mud or dirt. If you take care of it and rinse it off after muddy rides it should last a long time.
Here is a video of the stirrups in action.
Best overall: Tech Venice. In our test we could not get it to fail to release. The engineering is superb and the manufacturing is flawless. If you can afford it at $400 (and isn’t your life worth it?), this is the one to buy. It performs just like any English stirrup should, and could save your life.
Best value: Smartrider Escape. At $100 this is very affordable. The release mechanism is reliable for a backwards fall, and if you fall sideways the smooth plastic sides are unlikely to catch your foot. A bit clunky for English riders, but for trail riding – certainly functional.
My personal favorite: Rid’up. This is my personal favorite and the one that now lives on my trail saddle for a number of reasons. First of all, I find that a 90 degree stirrup puts much less stress on my knees, which is a great benefit for long trail rides. The release mechanism is excellent. It rides like a typical stirrup and the tread is wide with just the right amount of grip. The release mechanism is at the top so less likely to be impaired by mud and dirt than the Tech.
Honorable mention: I did not test the Safe Riding S1 Stirrups because they are out of my price range (US$600). However, I am very impressed with them because they have the most sophisticated mechanism I’ve seen – it allows the outside branch to release in 3 dimensions – sideways, backwards, and forwards. It looks like it would be nearly impossible to get your foot trapped in this stirrup. Plus it’s a 90 degree stirrup (footbed perpendicular to the stirrup leather), which I love! If I had the money, I would definitely purchase these and I would be careful to rinse them off after trail rides to keep them working well.
Where to buy:
SmartRider Escape, US$100. I have not found any dealers in the U.S., so your best bet is to order them from Canada from this site. Click here for the UK, and here for Australia.
Acavallo Arena Alupro, US$200. Available from most major online tack stores.
Rid’Up, US$300. The only place I know of to get them in the U.S. is TackNRider in Wellington, Florida. As of the time I am writing this, they are on sale for $179. In Europe, see this list of dealers.
Tech Venice, US$400. Available from most major online tack stores.
SafeRiding S1: US $600 Available in US from here and here. In Europe see a list of locations here.
Keep in mind that even safety stirrups are not 100% fail-proof. Depending on the position of your foot and anything on your boot that could get caught such as a lace or strap, you could still get dragged. Horseback riding is inherently dangerous and while we can do things to reduce the risk, we can never eliminate risk entirely.
Be safe and happy trails!
Monica
