Okay, I hope this makes sense.....I've got a girl taking lessons on my horse in my Circle Y barrel saddle and has to have the stirrups short. The problem I have with this is that the stirrup leather "tails" which hangs inside of the fender but against the horse (it's getting longer as I pull the stirrups shorter) is getting too long. I don't want to cut the "tail" off because I have longer legs and need that extra length.

When we were getting the stirrup length good for her at that first ride, I noticed the tail was almost catching on her foot. Obviously seeing that danger, I immediately had her get off and I finally managed to get the "tails" folded around the bottom of the fender and tightly secured by the stirrup hobbles.

My other saddles have the same problem when you shorten the stirrups so my question is: Can you fix the rigging to where the tail of the stirrup leather is not hanging down, but to the inside (between the buckle and fender and NOT bascially touching the horse?). The saddles both have the Blevin buckles (shown below) on them and the male side of the buckle is attached to the leathers in a way that I'm not sure that I can which that around.....

I hope this makes sense.......I'm almost confusing myself trying to explain this!!!! :)

I THINK I know what you're describing. The only suggestion I have is to punch a couple holes in the very end of the stirrup leather, a couple more through the portion the tail curls up against, thread a length of rawhide through them and tie it off. Or... sticky-backed velcro tabs. ~FH

FloridaHorseman:

I THINK I know what you're describing.

Thanks for the info....I was trying to explain this to a friend who knows me pretty well and SHE was having problems understanding what I was talking about.

Next time you all ride, look at the underside of your stirrups. If you were to shorten them, would the part that gets longer be hanging down or would it be to the inside right against the inside of the fender panel? haha mine is getting so long with this girl that I can take it and feed it under the stirrup hobble and around the very bottom of the fender panel back up under the stirrup hobble again. It's not in her way like this and is very safe, but it looks horrible. I think saddles should be rigged to where that part that gets longer is what the wooden stirrup actually rests on between the buckle and fender panel. I just don't know how to change it

I don't know what to tell ya'. All my western saddles with one-piece stirrup/fender leathers are rigged so that when the stirrup is adjusted to it's shortest length, the bar of the stirrup is up against the bottom of the fender and can't get any shorter. And at that adjustment the stirrup billets do not to extend far enough to interfere with the stirrup bell. A stirrup leather with a separate fender (two piece) would give you more leeway with the shortening adjustment. But at some point the stirrup would start to creep up under the the fender, too. And good luck finding a pair that will match your existing saddle. Maybe it's time for your friend to get her own saddle? Or try an English saddle... ~FH

If it's enough of a leftover, I will take the end andput it up around the stirrup bar and use the hobbles to fasten it that way.. (rather than fold under - if there is enough to reach, just have it come up on the outside of the fender and hobble it down. I rode my old Martin saddle this way for quite some time as I didn't want to cut the excess (even though I have long legs, there was still quite a bit left). When you're riding, it's not all that visible under your leg.

Or, if you have the blevin's buckle - you could take it off and put it on backwards, and put a half turn in the leather - (trying to envision it without my saddle here) - and that way the excess would stay UNDER and could be looped back through the stirrup on the inside....  mentally that is working.. (my husbands saddle from when he was a child is made so that the excess is up under, but I'm at work and have no accessible saddles! 

I have seen shorter fenders for small fry.  You replace the entire fender and stirrup assembly.

Other than that, I would just tuck the excess leather under the top  of the stirrup and back up the other side..  Get a big ole rubber band to hold it.

Thanks for the tips guys! I think it's bad saddle design to not have the excess leather go up under the wooden stirrup. When the tail hangs straight down, not only does it restrict how much you can shorten your stirrups, it's a MAJOR safety issue I think, because I've gotten my foot caught in there on more than one occasion. The tail with your foot in the stirrup acts like a belt bucklet. The only way to get it if it gets stuck out is to move you foot forward alittle, which would be hard if your falling off or something. Yikes!!

Anyways, I took the saddle to the saddle/leather shop in town and he was able to reverse that Blevin buckle and reroute that excess like I think it should of been from the start (under the stirrup). It only cost me $24.50 and he punched a few extra holes and gave me some great cleaning tips. Well worth it to me!!!!!!

 Thanks!!!!