How to store your safety stirrups?

As a rider, you store your tack nice and neat, right? Your saddle is on its rack with a saddle cover on and your bridle is on its hook. The brushes are in the grooming box or a bag. Your horse's blankets are hanging from the door. But is there a possibility that you are ignoring your safety stirrups? They are hanging from the saddle, what would you possibly need to do to them?

Protect your safety stirrups and your saddle

Not many think about how they should store their safety stirrups. After all, it is easy to just pull the stirrups up and forget about them. However, in order to protect your stirrups and saddle, you should get something to protect them.

The best thing you can go for your stirrups is to get stirrup covers. They are small bags (usually made of cotton) and they pull over your stirrups, protecting the stirrup and the saddle. All you need to do is to pull them on after your ride before you put your saddle cover on.

This way, possible moisture and dirt will not touch your saddle. Any sand grains left on the stirrups might end up scratching the leather of your saddle and that is not good.

However, if you do not have stirrup covers or cannot get them, you can still do something. Get two small towels, such as face towels, and wrap them around the safety stirrups before you pull them up.

If you happen to own Ophena safety stirrups, you can easily detach your stirrups after every ride and place them in a box. Our Smart Attach system has made this so easy for you, that it only takes a few seconds. See?

How to protect safety stirrups when traveling?

As you travel to shows, you have to pack your tack securely. Many show riders have a tack box that they can take with them. In order to make sure your safety stirrups will not get scratched on the way, it is recommended to remove them from the leathers or at least cover them with stirrup covers. At the very least, wrap the towels around the stirrups and you are good to go.

How to clean stirrups?

Cleaning your stirrups is easy. No matter if you have iron, plastic, or titanium stirrups (like our Ophena T), all you need is a gentle sponge, warm water, mild soap, and a clean towel. Stainless steel can generally be cleaned and polished up with a sponge or microfiber towel.

For our magnetic safety stirrups, we recommend using a damp towel to remove metal debris from the tread. Or use an air compressor if available to blow away metal debris. You can also use a stiff bristle brush, such as the one included in our stirrups cleaning kit, to remove dust and metal pieces that might have adhered to the treads of your magnetic stirrups.

Get Ophena safety stirrups today

If you haven't seen our wonderful magnetic safety stirrups yet, take a look here. Ophena is beautifully designed, safe, and worth every penny. Our customers love the stirrups, as they are easy to use, super safe and the new technology is fantastic. Dare we say they are the best in the market?