Boots, gloves and stirrups: what the rules require.

The FEI's own rules site refused our requests, so the FEI Jumping and Eventing rules here are read as reproduced in Equestrian Australia's 2026 rulebooks, and the FEI Dressage rules from a 2019 text published by Equestrian New Zealand. We could not reach the 2026 FEI Dressage Rules, so dressage details may have changed.

Riding boots

Most of the rules quoted here require a heel. The rest is mostly colour and style.

• FEI Jumping Rules (28th edition, updates effective 1 January 2026), Art. 207.2.3: civilian athletes wear black or brown boots, or another dark colour at the FEI's discretion. A boot may have one contrasting colour, only around the top, heel or toe. Boots must have a heel, including for children and pony riders.
• FEI Eventing Rules (2026), Annex O: cross-country boots must have a well-defined heel, which the rule says is to stop the foot slipping through the stirrup. In the dressage test, boots are black, black with a brown top, or a dark colour.
• FEI Dressage Rules (2019 text), Art. 427: at CDI3* and above, FEI Championships and Games, riding boots are black or the colour of the coat.
• US Equestrian dressage, DR120.1.6 (2026 booklet): at Fourth Level and below, riders may wear tall boots, or paddock or jodhpur boots with half-chaps or garters that match the boots. Tall English-style boots are required above Fourth Level. Under GR801.9, any boots or shoes worn while riding anywhere on the grounds must have a distinguishable heel.
• Equestrian Australia national eventing (rule 2.3, 2026): long boots in black, brown, or black with a brown top, or short boots with matching full-grain leather chaps. Boots must have a heel, suede chapettes are not allowed, and juniors may compete in jodhpurs and short boots.

Gloves

Stirrups under FEI rules

The FEI rules on stirrups concern release. Under FEI Jumping Rules Annex VIII 2.2(a), in force during 2026, the stirrup iron and leather, including safety stirrups, must hang freely from the bar of the saddle and outside the flap, and the athlete must not tie any part of the body to the saddlery, directly or indirectly. FEI Eventing Rules Annex O 3.1.1 has the same free-hanging requirement, and Annex O 3.2.5 forbids, for cross country and jumping, any device that does not allow the boot to separate from the stirrup immediately and without restriction in a fall.

In the 2019 FEI Dressage text (Art. 428.1), English-style or safety stirrups are compulsory with the dressage saddle; they must have closed branches and no attachments, and the foot must not be enclosed in or attached to the stirrup, for example by magnets.

US Equestrian's safety stirrup rule (GR801.6)

US Equestrian's rule GR801.6, "Safety Stirrups and Saddle Attachments", took effect on 1 December 2025. It disallows, at sanctioned competitions, stirrups or saddle attachments that have upward-facing, rigid projections at the moment of a routine dismount. USEF explains that its own accident reports showed a small number of incidents in which young riders were seriously hurt after being caught on such projections while dismounting, which it calls statistically uncommon but preventable.

• Warning year. During the 2026 competition year (1 December 2025 to 30 November 2026), officials give verbal warnings and no rider is held back for a non-compliant stirrup. From 1 December 2026 the rule is enforced like other tack rules, under each discipline chapter's penalties. On 21 October 2026 the warning period is still running.
• What complies. With the stirrup not activated: closed branches; or an outside branch gap of no more than 1.5 cm that lines up with the outside plane; or an open branch that lies inside the stirrup's plane. Stricter breed or discipline rules take precedence.
• Reviewed designs. A USEF task force meets in January and June to review designs that makers submit. As of June 2026 it listed some models as compliant and two as non-compliant, and it states that the list is not a certification or endorsement. USEF notes that one model it found non-compliant for national competition is permitted in FEI classes in jumping, para dressage and endurance.

US Equestrian's dressage clarification DR121.1 (effective 15 April 2026) requires English-style stirrups without attachments, or safety stirrups whose closed branches are metal or another breakaway material or mechanism. The foot may not be attached to the stirrup, for example with magnets, but a safety stirrup may use a magnet to close its breakaway branch, provided the closing mechanism has no upward-projecting hook.

Magnets are treated differently by different bodies. The Irish Pony Club's 2026 cross-country tack sheet says magnetic stirrups are not allowed. US Equestrian's April 2026 dressage rule bans magnets that hold the foot but allows a magnet that closes a breakaway branch.

Stirrups and stirrup leathers have also been the subject of product recalls, listed on the recalls page. Whether a particular stirrup, boot or glove is accepted at a competition is decided by that body's current rules and its officials.