Choosing safety stirrups: what release rules and GR801.6 require.

A rule about release, not a test mark

We found no test standard or quality mark for stirrups in our research. What the rulebooks regulate is how a stirrup hangs, whether it lets the boot go, and what it may have sticking out of it. Nothing here says a stirrup is safe or accepted at a competition: each body's current rules and its officials decide. US Equestrian says plainly that its own list of reviewed stirrups is not a certification or an endorsement.

The FEI rules

These are read as reproduced in Equestrian Australia's 2026 rulebooks, and the dressage rule from a 2019 text published by Equestrian New Zealand, because the FEI's own site refused our requests.

• Jumping (Annex VIII 2.2(a), in force during 2026): in the interests of safety, the stirrup iron and leather, including safety stirrups, must hang freely from the bar of the saddle and outside the flap, and the athlete must not tie any part of the body to the saddlery, directly or indirectly.
• Eventing (Annex O, 2026): the same free-hanging rule (3.1.1), and for cross country and jumping a ban on any device that does not allow the boot to separate from the stirrup immediately and without restriction in a fall (3.2.5).
• Dressage (2019 text, Art. 428.1): English-style or safety stirrups are compulsory with the dressage saddle; they must have closed branches and no attachments, and the foot must not be enclosed in or attached to the stirrup, for example with magnets.
• Para dressage: the Aachen 2026 infosheet lists special stirrups among the compensating aids an athlete may be permitted individually. A search summary of the FEI's compensating aids guidelines (May 2020, updated October 2022) says magnets or elastics on stirrups are allowed only where they break loose so the athlete can fall free; we could not open the FEI document to confirm it.

US Equestrian's GR801.6

US Equestrian's rule GR801.6, "Safety Stirrups and Saddle Attachments", took effect on 1 December 2025. It disallows, at sanctioned competitions, stirrups or saddle attachments with upward-facing, rigid projections at the moment of a routine dismount. USEF says its accident reports showed a small number of incidents in which young riders were seriously hurt after being caught on such projections while dismounting, which it describes as statistically uncommon but preventable.

In dressage, US Equestrian's clarification DR121.1 (effective 15 April 2026) requires English-style stirrups without attachments, or safety stirrups whose closed branches are metal or another breakaway material or mechanism. The foot may not be attached to the stirrup, but a safety stirrup may use a magnet to close its breakaway branch, provided the closing mechanism has no upward-projecting hook.

Where the rules disagree

• Magnets. The Irish Pony Club's 2026 cross-country tack sheet says magnetic stirrups are not allowed. US Equestrian's April 2026 dressage rule bans magnets that hold the foot but allows one that closes a breakaway branch. The FEI's 2019 dressage text bans magnets that attach the foot.
• National and FEI classes. A stirrup can be accepted in FEI classes and not in US national ones, as USEF's own note on one model shows.
• Canada. A search summary of Equestrian Canada's 2026 rule amendments says its hunter section prohibits safety stirrups with an upward metal protrusion; we could not open the document, so this is unconfirmed.

Recalls

Regulators have recalled stirrup equipment for breaking. The US CPSC recalled a model of stirrups in 2007 because the hinges could break, and pre-stretched stirrup leathers in 2014 because they could crack and break; in January 2024 Health Canada recalled a range of English saddles because the rivet or stirrup bar could break, causing a fall. The recalls page has the details.

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