Having Pain From Stirrups

Luis wrote in with the following question: "I'm 44 years old and ride about an hour, sometimes more, twice a week. After I ride I have substantial pain in the outside edges of my feet. It's got to be caused by the stirrups which are angled. I have seen stirrups being sold in catalogs that are more level. I was wondering if you have any experience or comments on these ergo-metrically balanced stirrups. Regards, Luis"



If I'm reading your e-mail right Luis, you are using standard stirrups which hang in an angled fashion - see the picture at top left - with the lower end of the stirrup closer to the horse's body.   By the way, I have to admit I had to look up the word "Ergo-metrically".

I would first make sure what is not causing your pain such as too short of length in the stirrups leathers, or even a foot problem like plantar fasciitis. Another problem for your feet may be a too narrow stirrup like an Oxbow which puts pressure on a small area of the foot. If you ride with just the balls of your feet in the stirrups then that may cause pain as well as you have the rest of your foot unsupported.

Pain on the outside of your foot may also be caused by how your legs are angled when you sit in the saddle. I think that the more your feet are pointed forwards, as opposed to being a little turned out, may increase the pressure on the outside of the foot as well.

Barring any of those reasons, you may want to try a canted stirrup. They don't work for me - I prefer a 5 inch Monel stirrup - but I know someone who routinely rides in a Crooked Stirrup and he swears by it, but I think he's using it because of past knee problems. The Crooked Stirrup levels the stirrup for the foot through lengthening the side of one of the stirrups.

There is another type of canted stirrup that I know about, this one is from Tucker Saddles called trail glide stirrup. This stirrup is canted by using a tapered bar that the stirrup leather goes around before hooking into the Blevins Buckle. I would like to hear about any solution that works for me. Safe Journey.