How to know how many inches stirrups to buy?

Question

Plz... help

Answer 1

wearing the boots you normally wear for riding. Pop your foot into the iron so your foot rests with the widest part on the treads. You should  have a gap of 1/4-1/2" either side of your foot(for safety, so your foot can slip out easily in a sudden un-planned dismount !). Measure the irons (on the inside)side to side, across the tread..this gives you the measurement . You need an iron with enough room so your foot doesn't become wedged in, but not large enough that your foot  could slip right through and become trapped.

sorry-just read the other answer posted and realise I think I have mis-understood the question...mebbe a UK/USA thing...we have stirrup leathers and the irons are often called just 'stirrups'...silly me  Zoe x

Answer 2

For stirrup irons - most people use 4 3/4. If you have a little wider foot, you might want a 5". If your feet are really naroow, then maybe 4 1/2. But 4 3/4 is very common.

For leathers, most are standard 56" unless you get child's leathers or extra-long leathers. 56" works for most, and you can always punch holes to make them shorter.  

Answer 3

Measure from your fingertips to your armpit. This is the length that your stirrups will be when you are ridding in them and they are buckled up. I suppose if you times that amount by 2.3, that will give you a rough guide on how long to buy the stirrups. If you are looking at them in a shop, buckle them up about the middle hole and hold it from your fingertips to your armpit, you should have plenty of adjustment up and down to allow for different leg lengths for dressage or jumping.

Although when I measure the length before I hop on the horse, it has a stirrup on the leathers so maybe alow for that by having it a little shorter to allow for where the stirrup will be.

Hope this helps, Jane