Flex On v Sprenger Bow Balance

[carthorse]

Flex Ons are definitely better for standing up in to reach high blackberries and Luka really approves .

Joking aside they do make for a more stable lower leg, hence why it's easier to stay standing to reach blackberries, while the angled foot plate still eases pressure on my dodgy joints. The Bow Balance were good but I think these are better for me.

 

[Skib]

My Sprenger have some give in them but are completely straight and with normal rubbers. I want my stirrups loose and level. Nothing fancy.
Much of my learning to ride was done without stirrups and I want my legs to hang easily.

 

[newforest]

Flex Ons are definitely better for standing up in to reach high blackberries and Luka really approves .

Joking aside they do make for a more stable lower leg, hence why it's easier to stay standing to reach blackberries, while the angled foot plate still eases pressure on my dodgy joints. The Bow Balance were good but I think these are better for me.

I am jealous I haven't ridden for nearly a month
However I have a section of field to pick black berries from the ground.

 

[Jessey]

I’m not much for fashion things (I’m a function before form person), but I have to admit when I tried my friends flex-ons I thoroughly approved! To my surprise! I haven’t switched my endurance stirrups to them, but I might if I was doing more varied work with Monkey.

 

[carthorse]

@Jessey I also am rather sceptical about every new thing that implies it will vastly improve horse and/or rider performance but like you I'd ridden in someone else's and was impressed. I'd got my Sprengers a few years ago because my ankle and knee were starting to hurt on longer rides or in bad weather and they did help since they have some give in them and a wider footbed, but these are better for me. The pins had always put me off, I don't want that level of grip, but it turns out they do them with a normal tread too so that made my mind up.

 

[newforest]

When I rode at trekking venue the first thing I noted was how great the stirrups felt.
I should have asked what they were. I am not in the sprengers at all as I can't make them into safety ones. Least at the moment.

 

[carthorse]

@newforest in theory the shape of the Bow Balance Sprengers makes them a safety stirrup and the one time I came off riding in them my foot came free. That said if you're riding in a treeless with a ring rather than a bar for stirrup leathers then I think I'd want to be very sure they'd release me quickly. My Flex Ons are the safety version where the side comes away if the rider's foot is caught in a fall, a similar principle to peacock irons.

 

[newforest]

@newforest in theory the shape of the Bow Balance Sprengers makes them a safety stirrup and the one time I came off riding in them my foot came free. That said if you're riding in a treeless with a ring rather than a bar for stirrup leathers then I think I'd want to be very sure they'd release me quickly. My Flex Ons are the safety version where the side comes away if the rider's foot is caught in a fall, a similar principle to peacock irons.

One of the saddles is a ring and I swapped to something else because of that.
The other isn't so they are fine on that model.

 

[Jessey]

@Jessey I also am rather sceptical about every new thing that implies it will vastly improve horse and/or rider performance but like you I'd ridden in someone else's and was impressed. I'd got my Sprengers a few years ago because my ankle and knee were starting to hurt on longer rides or in bad weather and they did help since they have some give in them and a wider footbed, but these are better for me. The pins had always put me off, I don't want that level of grip, but it turns out they do them with a normal tread too so that made my mind up.

Same reason I went to the endurance type, but I was riding predominantly western then so limited options, and got the English leather version when I liked them so much.

 

[newforest]

I have just swapped back to my Spenger. I am not looking for anything else just now.

 

[Jane&Ziggy]

My Sprengers are the offset eye System 4s. I really like them, though Sid says they are very heavy. I do lose a stirrup sometimes and they are so easy to retrieve, plus very stable when getting on.

 

[newforest]

If I lose one it's usually in canter. I haven't cantered for two years now, so that's going to be fun.