Safety stirrup

Details Safety stirrup Safety stirrup

1996-02-23

1998-10-27

Swiatek, Robert P.

Harness for working animal

Stirrups

With spurs

B68C 302

Patent

active

058264132

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to horse riding stirrups and is particularly concerned with safety stirrups which prevent the rider's foot from being caught in the stirrup in the event of the inadvertent dismounting of the rider such as being thrown from the horse.


BACKGROUND ART

Known types of stirrups generally include a D-shaped metal structure with a slot located in the centre of the arcuate portion of the D to enable the stirrup to be attached to a stirrup strap. In use, the rider's foot is inserted into the stirrup such that a base portion defined by an inner surface of the upright of the D of the stirrup locates against the sole of the rider's foot and the arcuate portion of the stirrup locates against the top of the rider's foot. In this way the rider's foot is held in place and is not easily dislodged from the stirrup when the gait of the horse increases.
A disadvantage of existing stirrups is that in the event of the rider falling from the saddle, one of the rider's feet can become caught in the stirrup. This is particularly the case when a rider is thrown from the horse, the swiftness of which does not allow the rider to extract a foot caught in a stirrup. Catching of a foot in a stirrup can cause serious injury to the rider since the rider may be dragged along beside the horse.
Safety stirrups have previously been devised to overcome some of these problems. One form of safety stirrup includes a frangible or weakened portion of the stirrup located adjacent to the stirrup strap attachment slot. In use, this frangible portion is designed to break away if the rider's foot is caught in the stirrup when the rider is thrown from the saddle.
This frangible stirrup is satisfactory in that the rider is saved from further injury which may be caused by being dragged along the ground. However, the rider cannot easily remount, since the saddle now has only one operable stirrup and the rider may be thrown from the saddle again should the horse increase its gait. Hence the rider should replace the broken frangible stirrup before continuing, which may be inconvenient or impossible.
Also, the frangible stirrup often does not prevent the rider from suffering leg injuries. Hence, they are only of limited benefit for novice or disabled riders. A further disadvantage of these stirrups is that they are more bulky than conventional stirrups in the region of attachment to the stirrup strap and this increased bulk often causes wear to the rider's clothing.
An alternative form of safety stirrups is disclosed in Australian Patent Application No. 62109/90. In this stirrup, the foot is held in a restraint which separates when the restraint is pivoted out of the normal position of the restraint with a rider mounted on a horse. This pivoting will occur when the rider is thrown from the horse and the separation of the restraint results in release of the foot from the stirrup. A disadvantage of the stirrup described in 62109/90 is that a foot must be placed in the stirrup from a particular side for the release mechanism to operate. Use of the stirrup with the foot inserted from the wrong side prevents operation of the release mechanism.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a stirrup which alleviates or overcomes the disadvantages of existing stirrups.
According to the present invention there is provided a safety stirrup comprising: portion of the U to enable a stirrup strap to be attached thereto; member when the stirrup is in normal use, wherein the foot support comprises a tread having an extension projecting upwardly from each end of the tread, and a foot upper restraining portion comprising two arms which co-operate together to form a looped configuration extending from the extensions formed on the tread, each said arm being pivotal outwardly from its adjacent support extension; and and the inverted U-shaped mounting member to retain the foot upper restraining portion in a plane within the inverted U-shaped mounting member when the stirrup is in said normal use and to th

REFERENCES:
patent: 535870 (1895-03-01), Taylor
patent: 1000782 (1911-08-01), Cox
patent: 1276540 (1918-08-01), Kall

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