Balotade® Cadet Plastic Stirrups with Toe Cage

Balotade® Cadet plastic stirrups with a toe cage answer one specific danger: a foot that slides too deep into the stirrup. This happens above all during ordinary riding — anyone still learning loses the position of the leg and the foot travels in by itself. The consequence only shows in a fall, when the leg stays in the stirrup. The cage closes the front of the stirrup and simply does not let the foot go any further — a plain mechanical guard with no mechanism that could fail.

The cage – a guard that closes the way

• The closed front of the stirrup makes it impossible to push the foot in beyond the ball of the foot,
• No risk of the leg getting trapped in a fall – there is nowhere for it to go,
• Nothing breaks and nothing needs servicing – it is a solid guard, not a moving mechanism,
• The guard also protects the toe of the boot against rubbing on the horse’s side and on obstacles out hacking.

Who it is for: learning to ride, children, hacking and endurance

A toe cage is most useful where the leg does not always sit in the stirrup exactly as it should:

• Children and riders still learning – the foot still wanders in the stirrup and the instructor does not have to watch its depth,
• Hacking and endurance – many hours in the saddle, changing ground and situations where a horse can react sharply,
• Boots with a soft, narrow sole, which slide in too far most easily,
• Riding schools, where many beginners use the same saddle.

A light and tough body

• Polymer instead of metal – the stirrups are very light, which genuinely matters for a small rider,
• Weatherproof – they do not rust and need no cleaning after rain or mud,
• An anti-slip tread keeps the boot in place.

Two sizes: 11 and 12 cm

• 11 cm – for children’s boots and a smaller foot,
• 12 cm – the universal size, for teenagers and adults,
• A stirrup is chosen to match the width of the boot, not the height of the rider – leave about half a centimetre of clearance on each side of the boot.

Technical details

• Tread width: 11 cm or 12 cm (your choice),
• Material: plastic,
• Guard: toe cage closing the front of the stirrup,
• Tread: anti-slip,
• Colour: black,
• Sold as a pair.

Choose Balotade® Cadet plastic stirrups with a toe cage – the simplest foot protection you can have in the saddle, and the best choice for a child’s first stirrups.