Ophena Safety Stirrups Review

Ophena safety stirrups are Gorgeous irons! Capital “g” Gorgeous. Recently I tested out a pair in order to share with our equestrian community a new option for safety stirrups.

Long-time readers might recall last year I was pretty shaken when a friend of a friend’s foot got caught in a standard iron, and the result was a horrifying tragedy–always wear a helmet, people! I started researching the safety stirrups available beyond little kid peacock safety irons and found the Ophena safety stirrups.

Thank you Ophena for partnering with Saddle Seeks Horse on this post, and thank you to @ladyphotographic for the photographs.

First Impressions of the Ophena Safety Stirrups

The Ophena stirrups’ packaging was beautiful and the unboxing experience topnotch. The gift box contained the magnetic irons and a thank you note. The magnetic insoles had their own separate high-end box, and I received the Ophena saddle pad in classic navy.

I posted some pictures of the Ophena stirrups over on Instagram and asked what questions people had about them. Here are the questions I received.

1. How does your foot stay in the Ophena stirrups?

In order to properly use these Swedish-designed irons, you need to insert the slim magnetic insoles into your riding boots first. The base of the irons are magnetic and the magnetic insoles will merge together your boot and this iron in such a way that you will never lose a stirrup iron again. For real.

2. How strong are the magnets? Will the insoles attract nails or other metal objects?

The magnets are super duper strong. When I had the stirrups out of the box, they literally gravitated toward each other.

I can’t say if the insoles would attract nails as I have not encountered any when wearing them.

Click here to read about a family-owned brand of safety stirrups, founded after a daughter’s scary riding accident.

3.What is it like to ride in the Ophena safety stirrups?

If you want to have your foot locked into position, these irons are for you. I felt extremely secure in them–almost too secure. By that I mean once I mounted and my boots were on the irons, I could not figure out how to wiggle them free to adjust the exact positioning for the ball of my foot and how to get my foot in the particular “slot” where I like it to be positioned from left to right on the stirrup. Also, the tread on the stirrup is wide and comfortable.

Fun Fact: The Ophena safety stirrups are a breeze to swap out as your stirrup leathers won’t even have to come off the saddle–you can just slide them through, as shown in the Instagram post below.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ophena (@ophena.official)

4. How secure do you feel?

I never once had the sensation that my foot would fall out of the irons on the side that is open. I felt extremely secure the whole time riding.

More Ophena Insights from Fellow Riders

A few Ophena fans responded to my Instagram post and shared with me what they love about the safety stirrups.

@sari_mahara_eq who rides hunter-jumper in Texas said, “I found Ophena while researching stirrups. I was specifically looking for a safety stirrup after my horse and I took a spill together early last year. Being a mom and an equestrian, I started looking for any way that can minimize me getting any kind of extreme injuries from the sport I love. So I started looking into a safer stirrup.

After using Ophena for about six months now, I have to say I love them. My foot feels secure in the stirrup as if I’m standing on the ground. I enjoy the wide footbed, and the magnetic is just strong enough to keep your foot in place but no so strong that you can’t release your foot with no hands if needed.

They’re beautifully made. The quality is incredible. It was packaged beautifully and really gave a “luxury” unboxing type feel.

The only thing I will say is that the inserts might make you have to size up in your boots, but that’s to be expected.

Overall, I feel very safe using them and recommend them all the time to anyone who asks about them. I think they are definitely worth the price when you weigh in the safety for you and your horse of not getting stuck in your stirrup should things go badly while you’re in the saddle.”

@leanna.mangini, an equestrian in Virginia, began looking into the Ophena stirrups when she and her lessee began jumping her 17 hand Thoroughbred who normally does dressage.

“My lessee had a harder time holding onto her stirrups since she was so used to dressage with my horse. So I looked into magnetic stirrups to help build confidence while training. It was perfect timing as they had just been released the same week I googled for magnetic stirrups! We don’t ride in them 100% of the time, but I have definitely noticed a difference in leg position and seat overall.

I mostly love them because it’s one less thing I have to worry about when trying to learn something new, and then once I master the objective I can put regular stirrups back on to test myself.

They’re super safe and if we were to fall, our feet don’t get stuck, but they certainly help the rider get rebalanced in their seat without having to catch their feet!”

Click here to read about a French brand of safety stirrups (that come with an Allen wrench).

5. How do you remove your feet from the irons prior to dismounting?

This was a struggle for me and I literally had to reach down with my hand to dislodge my foot from the stirrup. My horse Knight is a steady citizen and this was no problem, but my mind flashed back to when I rode a green four-year old last year and my trainer said to be cautious about patting her or moving around, leaning down in the saddle. She wasn’t yet trained to expect all kinds of movement above her. For someone new to riding in the Ophena safety stirrups, I would advise making sure your first few rides are on a quiet, steady horse until you get the hang of how to take your feet out of the stirrups.

Since I had such a challenging time removing my feet, it led me to wonder how a rider would be able to do an emergency dismount in the Ophena irons. I asked @leanna.mangini and @sari_mahara_eq for their tips on how to get your feet out of the Ophena irons.

Leanna said she still uses her hands, but has found a way to slide her foot back quickly for a fast release. Sari said she bears down on the Ophena stirrup and rolls her foot to the outside to remove it. My guess is that it just takes practice.

6. Can you compete in the Ophena safety stirrups? (Great question!)

This information was copied and pasted from the Ophena website:

Ophena stirrups are allowed at all FEI showjumping shows and in eventing (showjumping and cross country). In fact, the stirrups are approved for FEI Showjumping, British Showjumping, and USEF/USHJA Showjumping. In addition, they can be approved for para-dressage pending the judge’s decision. 

Some equestrian federations have also approved Ophena stirrups for smaller, local, and national shows. If you have your own Ophena stirrups, you should double-check the approval with your own equestrian federation. 

However, keep in mind, that our stirrups are not approved for dressage shows. The reason is simply that dressage riders are not allowed to use any equipment that might aid in the performance: our stirrups help your foot to stay in place with the magnetic connection, thus they cannot be (yet, anyway) approved for dressage.

My Conclusion on the Ophenas

For me personally, the Ophena safety stirrups are not a good fit due to bodily aches/pains (I have some intermittent foot and ankle pain from old injuries), riding disciplines and trail vegetation. That’s not to say they wouldn’t be spectacular for you or your riding friends.

There are myriad positive reviews on the Ophena website and if you do a quick Google search, there are other bloggers and YouTubers out there who are huge proponents.

When we fox hunt, we are in the saddle for 2.5-3 hours. I can’t imagine having my feet locked into place that long. Sometimes when we are on a straightaway walking or at a check, I take my feet out of the irons. I need the ability to set my feet free to stretch from time to time. Also, there have been a couple of occasions in the hunt field where I had to hand walk my horse for a couple of miles (long story). I would not enjoy walking with magnetic insoles in my boots for that long of a distance.

Even if the Ophenas were “legal” for fox hunting, I would not use them in the field. I worry about that inner design of the Ophena stirrup branch–the double “arm.” The trees, sage brush, tall grasses, weeds would freak me out–envisioning a wayward branch or other vegetation getting stuck in the double arm of the iron.

Instances in Which the Ophenas are a Fantastic Option

• arena riding (for both flatwork and jumping)
• riding on trails that are wide open without vegetation
• use as a training tool (Leanna’s suggestion)

Ophena offers a 60-day risk-free trial, so you really have nothing to lose if you want to see if these safety stirrups are a good match for you! I think they are a great concept and I’m so happy I got to try them out and share yet another safety stirrup option in the hopes of preventing fellow riders from getting caught up in an iron and dragged.

Visit the Ophena website and see more photos of these safety irons in action over fences and determine if this brand is right for you or someone you know.

Thanks for reading and tally ho! 

Leave a Comment: Have you ever ridden in safety irons? If so, which ones do you like? What qualities do you look for in a stirrup? 

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