Gizmos That I Like - Part 5

This is the MDC Sport Classic Stirrup.  I love these stirrups.  If you've ever seen an endurance stirrup, you'll understand why.  Endurance stirrups are wide, deep, and very padded.  They're comfortable and they give you a "platform" on which to rest your feet.

When I first started riding in a dressage saddle, I really struggled with the shallow fillis-type irons.  There was no place to rest my foot and the stirrup "drifted" to an angle under my boot.  I also struggled with the lack of grip on the rubber pads.

The MDC has a pivoting eye that your leathers slide through.  It can be adjusted to rest at a 90 degree angle so that it lies in an "open" position against the horse's side.  With the eye set to the 90 degree angle, the stirrup doesn't try to drift back and lay flat against the horse.  I also like the extra deep foot bed and the texture of the foot bed.  It's not sharp like many of the cheese-grater pads are, but it does give more grip than the standard stirrup pad. 

The main draw back to these stirrups is price.  They run around $180 although I did find mine slightly cheaper.  Even so, compared to $30 for standard irons, it's a lot to pay.  But I sure like mine ...

---