Equestrian Safety Stirrups
To reduce the potential risk associated with equestrian stirrups, safety stirrups offer an alternative. Stirrups, whether attached to English or Western saddles, can be dangerous for two reasons. Horse Rugs If they are too wide, the rider's feet can potentially slip through the front. Or, if the stirrups are too narrow, there is the danger of the feet getting stuck. In both cases, should the rider fall off the mount, they could be dragged behind the moving horse.
Safety stirrups are partially unattached at the top rather than completely enclosing the foot within the irons and the tread. They are designed to break away and release the foot in any direction should the rider fall. western saddle They come with a wide tread meant to comfortably secure the rider's feet, and their ergonomic design works with your feet, the saddle and the horse.
Some designs are such that the stirrups break away if there is too much lateral movement or if the rider's toes point upwards. If this happens, the stirrups release the feet so the dismounted rider is not dragged.
An alternative to safety stirrups are attachments known as a tapaderos. These are leather cups, also called toe stoppers, that close the front end of each stirrup and prevent the feet from slipping through. Equestrian bridles
Moving parts on stirrups - because of the work they are put through - can lead to them more quickly wearing down. This might be a problem for some horseback riders who don't want to deal with replacement parts. Other safety stirrup designs require too much force to release the stirrups, making them ineffective should a rider fall. Unless the feet and legs go in a particular direction, the safety stirrups could fail to release. Another problem involves safety stirrups not breaking away when a rider's toes point upwards at too great a degree. Sometimes the rider's toes move to the side, and even though they fall, the stirrup does not release. For these reasons, designers have experimented with many types of safety stirrups with the intention of making a set that is failsafe.
Huell Howser-Champion Turf Saddle Equipment Manufacturers-How Saddles are Made
