Product Review: Icelandic Stirrups

When I bought my Wintec dressage saddle from the used tack sale, they threw in free webbers and stirrups. I got to pick any stirrup worth $10. I ended up getting a pair marked $15 so I had to pay a full $5 for them. At the time, I didn’t know what they were, but figured they were unique and for $5, I could try them out.

It took me a while of googling “90 degree stirrups” and “twisted stirrups” to determine that these are called Icelandic stirrups. They’re a combination of safety stirrup (the curved design lets your foot come out in a fall) and the 90 degree angle of MDC or Herm Springer stirrups.

They don’t have any flexible joints, a wide footbed, composite materials, or anything else fancy, but they are really comfortable. I have bad knees and bad ankles from years of mistreatment and I get a good deal of pain riding in regular stirrups. I’ve been riding in Herm Sprenger Bow Balance Stirrups for a few years now and have never really been impressed with them. They’re not worse than regular stirrups, but I don’t think they’re worth the cost. I had recently decided to give up on the Herm Sprengers and get composite stirrups. However, after riding in the Icelandic stirrups for a few months now, I have decided to just switch to them.

I moved them over to my jumping saddle recently as the Wintec has been pinching Nilla’s back. I need to order a wider gullet for the Wintec. I also need to get a different dressage saddle entirely, so I haven’t been too motivated to get the new gullet, but I have taken to doing even my dressage lessons in the jump saddle to help her back so I moved the Icelandic stirrups over as well.

They’re pretty cheap too. $45 on Horse.com. Heck, you can even get them for $50 on Amazon with free (prime) shipping. Certainly a lot less than Herm Sprengers or MDCs. They also come in fun colors. I’m thinking of getting the turquoise ones for my jump saddle to match my bridle.