Sprenger bow balance will I notice the difference??

soulfull

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I already have the older sprenger flexi stirrups but as I am recovering from an ankle replacement wondered it the new bow ones with the blue colour on them will be even better????

Anyone upgraded and did you find any difference?
 
Sorry, I can't answer your question but I would be very interested as well to hear from anyone with their opinion about these stirrups. I've started to get achey joints and I've also hurt my knee recently which sometimes gets aggravated by riding and I was thinking of buying a pair of these but they are an awful lot of money if they don't work, but I'd be happy to buy them if I thought they would work. Anyone???
 
I had the blue bow balance, used for my arthritic knees. They are mainly for jumping. I wouldn't have anything else. I used mine for everything though :D
 
I honestly don't see how a pair of stirrup irons can be "for jumping" or "for dressage"!

I don't jump, and I have the Bow Balance irons. I'm not sure if they're any better than the "normal" Sprengers, necessarily, because I don't have any of my own to ride with regularly and compare. But I do love my Bow Balance irons - if they were a horse you'd say they were "a comfortable ride, and easy to do" :p

Possibly a bit much money to spend on a new set if you already have the "normal" ones, though?
 
will be doing general riding club stuff, inc sj xc as I have a new ankle joint and my horse is 'green' will be starting with small jumps but hope to go upto 3ft 6in at some point in the future
 
I bought a pair of the bow balance stirrups as the ligaments in my knees used to be very painful after just hacking out let-alone any other exercise. I always hack in my dressage saddle - for horse and rider comfort - and found that the stirrups definitely had a big impact and stopped my knees hurting so much. They're very comfortable when jumping too and ease the stress on your joints.

My understanding was that the curve element - although it obviously allows a bit more flexibility and movement - it is in effect just a safety feature and allows the rider's foot to release quicker from the stirrup in the event of a fall.

They're great if you suffer from joint problems, but I'm not sure how the two differ from a rider comfort point of view.
 
I find them great. I bought them for jumping as my horse kills my ankles as he is so bouncy. However I can't get on with normal stirrups now they are just too uncomfortable in comparison. The bow is just supposed to be a safety thing for quick release so I do not think this aspect helps beyond normal sprengers other than making it easier to get a stirrup back if lost as they spin back the right way.
 
Both are much more comfortable than any fixed stirrup I've ever used, but I mostly do hacking and schooling/simple dressage rather than jumping. I had both types at the same time for a while (on two different saddles/two horses) which made comparison easy. I couldn't tell the difference from a comfort point of view, but the blue ones are easier to retrieve if you lose them as they hang at angle.
 
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