I have been dissatisfied with stirrups since i first got on a horse.I tell people i don't remember learning to ride but i remember learning to walk when i fell off my horse and had to walk home. I wear a 11 1/2 ee and when you add a double stitched welt or a white's packer it really gets wide. I have tried about everything made. Stirrups over 2 1/2 wide cause the outside ball of my foot to burn.[maybe to much stirrup pressure] They are also easier to lose. My Dad was a natural bronc rider and i inherited none of that, if one humps up and passes gas i fall off. I have broke a lot of colts and finally gravitated to a 1 inch flat bottomed iron ring. If you point your toes down it takes a lot of action before you lose a stirrup. You guys are right in that it takes a hell of a boot to ride those rings or oxbows. I broke both shanks in a pair of double soled high topped riding heeled Tony Lama's riding those rings.
I usually ride with bulldog taps when working on the ranch and hunting and at one time used 1 inch overshoe oxbows.
I won the state high school finals cutting 2 years in a row but i'm not a cutter. Dad's friend was and put me on his turnback horse.
I have team roped a lot and for a few years tripped steers.[just about the most fun you can have with your clothes on]
In the steer roping most guys rode 4 inch deep ropers but i learned from a couple guys that had bad ankles and had to wear whites for the support that a 2 inch deep roper is actually easier to get away from when stepping off.
Along came the crooked stirrups and i thought they were baloney till i rode some. Like mtrancher i thought they only came in 3 inch. Then i found S.A. Walls and i have settled on what he calls his 2 inch cowhorse Stirrup. They are much easier to hold . I rope in them ranch in them ride colts and put them in my taps.[i also ride with my foot all the way in to the heel] They never burn my feet or put all that pressure on the ankle bone and make it sore. I love them and have them on all my saddles even though i don't like the looks of them. They also will turn your boots black where they rub.
I will also offer this caveat: this is my experience and i don't expect many folks to have the same results.

Fred


Fourth Generation Border Rat