Do you lock your stirrup leathers into the bar?

[martha sc]

Is it safer to lock then, preventing an unfortunate loss of stirrup in a difficult situation, or is it safer to leave the locks down so that the entire leather and iron can come off the saddle in a fall, thus preventing being dragged?

[Hayburner]

I have NEVER locked my stirrup bar and I use the Frank Baines webber style leathers. Before I get on I do make sure they are seated as far back as they will go. I don't think the webber style leathers are as secure as the regular buckle leathers, but I still don't lock them on. Hmmm, maybe I should..LOL

After a friend of mine got her foot stuck in a stirrup and shattered her ankle I switched to break-away stirrups for my new green horse. There is NO WAY I want to go through what she went through and the months of rehab before she could ride again. Part of her issue was her riding in a wider winter boot and her foot didn't' slid out when her horse spooked and she lost her balance.

[martha sc]

My riding friend just took a BADDDDD fall on landing from a jump. She said her right stirrup leather and iron, on a Tucker endurance type saddle, came off the saddle when she landed and she went over the mare's right front shoulder because of that equipment failure. On closer inspection, the catch was down on that side, allowing the leather to slide off. She didn't put it back up after cleaning the saddle last time. She keeps the latches up for safety reasons.
I am AFRAID to ride with the bars locked, I ride a standard all purpose style saddle with regular leathers and Peacock irons with the rubber band. But I am also AFRAID of falling like she did.

[Dapple Field]

In regards to the winter riding boot, I have always used a wider stirrup in the winter just so that I won't get hung up in case of a fall. For the OP I have never heard of a stirrup leather sliding off of an unlocked stirrup bar. Mine are always down and if you were to check many saddles, the stirrup bar does not always go flat easily meaning you would probably get dragged if your foot didn't come out.

[Quelah]

In the 35 plus years I've been riding I've never put that tab up on my own saddle or the hundreds (?) of horses ive tacked up for others.

[texsuze]

In all my riding years I've never locked the tab to hold leathers on. Some of my saddles have had such a snug fit, that I'm not sure the leathers would even come loose from the saddle.

[jeniferkey]

I don't put them up, and I think one of my dressage saddles doesn't have them, just a swoop up. I have enough trouble switching stirrups and getting the leathers on and off with them down. I've lost one stirrup and leather this way when I was 10 and my pony and I encountered a train. I had gotten off to hold him and he bolted away. We went back and found the leather and stirrup hanging off a tree. I've been dragged in a Western saddle and figure they should come off if I they have the chance if I ever get hung up.

[Chisamba]

When i did Endurance riding i used to keep them up because of extreme terrain variations. Generally, I keep them down. I think both choices have their pros and cons in a safety argument, but I will teach people to ride with one stirrup or no stirrups to encourage stability in times of crisis.

[PaulaO]

I checked last night, and mine are locked. I remember that when I bought the saddle (second hand) the leathers slid out with the bars unlocked. Slid out without me doing anything!

[Dapple Field]

If you are going to ride with them locked, I'd at least lubricate the hinge and use safety stirrups.

[Moutaineer]

Nope, always, always unlocked. In fact, one of the reasons I sold my Custom Saddlery saddle was because the stirrup bars had these little hooks on the end of them that stopped the leather from sliding off...

I was dragged by a bolting horse across a frozen ploughed field as a child because my leather hung up. Not an experience I wish to repeat. I can see no pros at all to the leathers not coming off the bars reasonably easily.

[Sue B]

When I was a teener, some nutter I was riding smashed me up into the post-and-rail arena fence and some how my boot got hung up on something sticking out of the post. I wound up hanging upside down form the post, boot top firmly pinned, stirrup and leather still on foot. All I can say is "thank you" to whomever invented the slide-off bars.

[Srhorselady]

Always unlocked for safety reasons. Never had one slide off on its own altho occasionally had a struggle getting them off for cleaning or changing!

[Imperini]

Have never locked them on various saddles, and have never had one slip off. They're usually quite tight even being unlocked.

[Silverado]

I have never locked them and I ride with Peacock stirrups 99.9% of the time.

[galopp]

Always clicked up, most particularly when going x-c. That said, they fairly easily go flip up/down (passier).

[StraightForward]

Always unlocked, though I have Safestyle irons on my dressage saddle. Tried to put them on my jumping saddle but my knees said no to that, so I have flexible synthetic "irons" instead. I can't see the leather slipping off unintentionally except with serious jumping or riding the Tevis Cup or something.

[heddylamar]

Always up.

[jaybird660]

It's very unsafe to lock them up as others have mentioned. You run the risk of the stirrup leather not coming slipping off and being dragged or worse. I also am not crazy about when some people slide their stirrup leather under the flap between the flap and sweat panel.

[Moutaineer]

Yes, Jay, I had to do that for quite a while after my accident because I couldn't tolerate the stirrup leather against what was left of my inner thigh. I hated it.

[silk]

Always down, never ever locked/up.
Today I accidentally hooked my iron on am empty/lone gate gudgeon, next to the fence I chose to hop on the horse at. I didn't even think twice about the mounting location, horse walked off and then I realised we were hooked! Leather slid off and detached from saddle, thankfully, and with relatively little "pull" on it. Had a laugh as I dismounted to get the iron and put it back on the saddle, but also a big sign of relief.

[ejm]

When I worked with racehorses and young horses heading to the racetrack, it was de riguer to have the bars up. The stirrups were smaller so less danger of getting a foot hung, and the more experienced riders were more concerned about having a stirrup leather pull off at a crucial moment when a horse was acting up.

Nowadays, I worry about a wreck where the stirrup leather doesn't pull off, so always down.

[Godiva67]

Not since the early 70s when saddle design changed. Back then I had a saddle they would silde off all the time but the catches were very easy to flip open too & not recessed stirrup bars. 6 years ago now my best friend was killed when she got dragged by a horse with the bars up.