When should I replace my stirrup leathers?

It’s critical to keep an eye on your stirrup leathers – they are a one of the most critical parts of your saddle, and as straps, can be worn through quite easily.  While many people don’t consider checking their stirrup leathers for wear and tear regularly, it’s of vital importance to ensure that you do and look at them as a piece of the saddle that wears through, possibly more easily than the other straps because of varying pressure and can snap and potentially cause injury to both rider and horse.

Injury through snapping

If you’re jumping or riding at a pace that requires you to support your weight through part of the gait, such as both trotting and cantering, or even at a gallop or walk, you have to be entirely sure that your stirrup leathers will hold.  If they don’t and they snap, you could tip off one side of the horse, fall and injure yourself, and while many riders train to fall off the front of the horse (though try not to!), many aren’t sure how to fall off the side and can land on their shoulder and really injure themselves badly.
Stirrup leathers should therefore be checked and changed at the first sign of serious wear and tear, and your best judgement should be made for medium wear.