Which stirrup bar do I need?

Your Wow saddle comes with the option of three different placements for your stirrup leathers:

Front bar

Back bar

Up and Over

But how do you choose which one you need?

The front bar

Not exclusively for jump saddles, although it is often thought of in this way!

The front stirrup bar can be really useful if you have a particularly long upper leg length - so from your hip to your knee. Sometimes this length of leg means that it is hard to get your heel comfortably in line with your hip, as your lower leg ends up swinging forwards, unbalancing you in the saddle and making you feel that it is harder to rise out of the saddle, or keep your balance - you may even compensate by tipping your shoulders forwards. By moving to the front bar, your leg can hang naturally in balance, and you have more room in the saddle.

It can also be useful if you are riding very short for jumping, as again, it is giving your upper leg more room, so the geometry of the triangle your leg and the stirrup leather make is in balance.

The back bar

This sits higher up than the front bar, so it will effectively shorten the length of your stirrup leather. If you are trying the different bars out, keep in mind that there are usually two holes difference between the front and the back bars.

The back bar is probably most common as a comfortable option for riders - if it is correct for you then you should feel as though your leg hangs naturally in balance, making the ear/shoulder/hip/heel line easy and natural. Of course this is also dependent on your saddle being in balance! It can also be used for jumping if that is what works for your leg position. To check you are in balance to jump, try trotting/cantering in a two-point position and see how easy it is to keep your lower leg stable and underneath you. If you are really struggling to balance, then your stirrup leather may not be in the right position.

The Up and Over

This is the furthest back position of the stirrup leather, and it is not advisable to use this for jumping. This leather is one long piece, and fastens directly to the tree underneath the centre of the saddle. Because this leather isn’t on a stirrup bar, but screwed directly into the tree, it is really important that you use safety stirrups - as the leather will not come off the saddle should you fall and get your foot trapped.

The Up and Over stirrup leather is useful if you have shorter legs, or if you have a long back, perhaps with some lordosis of the spine. It’s mainly used by Dressage riders who are struggling to ride long and keep their heel underneath their hips on the back stirrup bar. Moving the leather a little bit further back can make a huge difference to their balance and leg stability.

The most important thing is balance.

Try the different positions of stirrup bar and work out which one feels best for you - each horse and rider combination is different and unique, and it has to be what works for you. There are so many things to concentrate on whilst in the saddle, the last thing you need is to be fighting your tack! You should always feel that the saddle is supporting you and making it easy to sit neutrally on your seat bones, with your leg comfortably supporting you. If you are out of balance it makes it not only harder for you to ride effectively, but also harder for your horse to move correctly - which can lead to all sorts of issues! So make sure you work with your Wow fitter to stay in balance - watch videos of yourself riding and always ask your fitter if something can be changed if you are struggling to stay in balance as it may be a very simple, easy fix.