Re: Stirrups

[Penny McCauley <penny@zianet.com>]

> Then I saw an old bareback pad
> hanging there that had western style, plastic stirrups. They were kind of big
> and had a wide footrest area. I tried them. Too slippery but very 
>lightweight.

Ed,
A caution about using the box style western stirrup....and this may 
apply mostly to women....but, the western box (roper's) stirrup has a 
long neck which tends to rub aganist the leg, just above the ankle. In 
the past I have padded the top of the stirrup to try to prevent 
soreness. And after 50 miles my lower shins ouched! So I gave up and 
bought some E-Z Ride stirrups, which have a very narrow neck. These 
stirrups don't interfer with my leg as long as the stirrup is turned 
out.
But that's not to say the box stirrup won't work well for you. Your 
mouse pad idea is great!
Good luck on your up coming 50 miler.
Penny (NM)