How do you attach stirrup leathers to the stirrup bars?

Question

I just got a new english saddle and I dont know how to attach the stirrup leathers to the stirrup bars. HELP!

Answer 1

A lot of saddles have a piece of the bar that can bend up or down...  when it's up, it locks the stirrup leather in place so it can't slide off the bar (as if those things are ever loose enough to let the stirrup leather move at all)...  when you want to take off or put on the stirrup leather, you have to put that part of the bar down.  It doesn't go all the way down, but it straightens out so that the stirrup bar only goes in one direction...  it doesn't go across and up, it just goes across.  If your saddle doesn't have a piece that goes up, then just ignore this entire section.

Once that piece is down, (stop and make sure you're holding the stirrup leather properly...  the buckle should face up, the stirrup should be down...  i don't mean that to sound dumb or insulting or anything...  it's just that when i try something new, i often make stupid mistakes and this isn't something that you want to have to repeatedly do.  so make sure you have the stirrup properly) take the back part of the stirrup leather (behind the buckle...  the part with the holes, not the part near the buckle) and get it in back behind the stirrup bar...  it takes some muscling...  it's always a tight fit.  but i promise that there's space back there...  just keep wiggling it.  you might want to pull the stirrup leather up and down as you pull it onto the stirrup bar...  it might be easier than trying to pull it directly onto the stirrup bar.  So keep wiggling and pulling on the stirrup leather until it's all the way behind the stirrup bar and all the way as far as it can go toward the pommel of the saddle.  Then if your bar has the 2 pieces, you can move that end piece back up.  Then you should be able to pull the stirrup leathers up and down like you normally would to change the length of the stirrup.  Then do the same on the other side.

You could also...  unbuckle the stirrup leather, take the side with the holes, and shove it up the back of the stirrup bar until it's out enough on the top for you to pull it down.  But that's the really hard way.  the other way is the proper way to do it.  I think the other way is easier because you can use 2 hands and wiggle the stirrup leather forward instead of just pushing it up...  if you're trying to push it up through a small space, a lot of times it will just bend and it won't go up.  So you should take the part with the holes and line it up and push it back behind that bar like I described in the first explanation.

I hope that made sense.  It's a hard thing to explain since there's only a small space.  It's a hard thing to do too, but at least once your stirrup leathers are on, you won't have to do it again for quite a long time.

Answer 2

Stirrup bars as in the slots on the irons, or the bar on the saddle?

To attatch them to the irons, you just use the buckle.

For the bar on the saddle, you do the same thing, use the buckle.