stirrup bar, up or down?

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somethingorother

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GG's post just made me think of something. I have always been told that the little foldy bit on the stirrup bar should be flat rather than folded up. So that if the stirrup gets caught the leather will come off and not cause the horse to panic if it gets stuck.

But i know a lot of people who fold them up, to stop the stirrup coming off. The other girl who rides my share sometimes always folds them up, which is a pain.

Which way is correct? The thing that makes me unsure, is why do they fold up if it's unsafe for them to be that way?

I'm probably just a bit sad for overthinking things like this lol :rolleyes:
 
People used to put them up for xc ridng (generally pros) but keep them down for everything else. If they're down and you're foot gets caught in the stirrup in a fall then you won't be dragged so it's a safety issue.

My Bates Momentum saddle has stirrup bars that curve slightly upwards but can't be altered, I guess the curve is enough to help keep them in place but not so much that they can't be pulled off in the event of a fall
 
down. always. im pretty sure they fold up for when the saddle is not being used to secure the leathers, its a really really old design
 
always down. I expect that if anything were to happen that would pull the stirrup off, then I would be tumbling alongside it!
 
Down...I have sadly seen a young girl get dragged along by her foot still on stirrup due to her bar being up...the release wasnt there for her...it wasnt pleasent to see.

most new saddle now like previously said, have the bar curved slightly upwards..
 
bates and wintec will because they are australian origins arent they? and that is an australian design i think. much better idea
 
ALWAYS DOWN !!!

Sorry to shout but having had the experience of being dragged having had my horse for 7 weeks I am speaking from experience.

It was the fact my stirrup leather came off that stopped it being worse than it was, it's scary being dragged with your foot stuck in a bent leg "safety" stirrup.. my instructor was horrified...
 
Having been dragged a short way and still managing to damage my hip before the stirrup came off, always down.

Mind you, when my pony decided to run into the back of his mate out hunting and my stirrup came off, I was questioning the merits of having it up :p:D.
 
Thank you, i can now feel safe in the knowledge that i am right :p :D Aparently the stirrup came off once whilst she was riding in the school. But she doesn't break out of a trot anyway, so it should be less serious than the implications of it not coming off should it need to.

I've been a bit worried that i might miss it having been put up one day, and it may cause an accident to become much more serious. Maybe i should have some stronger words? Maybe a graphic description of being dragged? :/
 
quirky said:
That doesn't sound good :(. I invested in a pair of those after my dragging incident. Can you explain how/why your foot didn't come out?
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In truth, I can't. My instructor couldn't either, my stirrups are the right size for my feet...I was wearing Ariat terrain boots at the time. I now wear grassmere's and it has never happened again - the foot trapping not the falling off, I've since fallen off but never had the dragging experience again and to be truthful never want to again..
 
down, always. if the stirrups come off too easily (and i lost both at a hunter trial once, oops!) then an elastic band or two wrapped around the end of the stirrup bar to make a bump that the leather is less likely to come off, helps. i'm sure that in the event of a dragging incident the leather would be pulled over the elastic band easily.
best way to avoid being dragged - ride with stirrup on toes/ball of foot, no deeper, imho.
 
kerilli said:
best way to avoid being dragged - ride with stirrup on toes/ball of foot, no deeper, imho.
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Didn't help me. I was riding in MH High Rider boots, with the correct stirrup width. I now ride in a slimmer boot as it was the most horrid experience.
 
Hmm.... I was always of the opinion of down too, although having lost my stirrup (as in, it detached itself from my saddle and ended up 10 feet away from me on the arena surface) whilst jumping on the weekend, I was starting to wonder if I should have kept it up.

Rubber bands eh? will have to give that a bash to prevent such humiliation next time...
 
Down, unless lunging I think? I came off and nearly got dragged but the stirrup leather came off which stopped it. *phew* Had the bar been up, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have got away with just bruises :)
 
Am I the only person to admit that I thought they should be up and as a result am always double checking that they are? :o :eek: :o

I shall go home and rectify the matter tonight.

Thank goodness for HHO - you learn something new everyday :)
 
I was always taught down too, but my current stirrup leathers are such good leather they're slipped off twice when my horse has done awkward jumps eventing... So I now slightly raise the ends to make it prevent the stirrup coming off for a slight problem, but so that they would pull flat again, and therefore release, in a dragging situation. Will give the elastic band idea a test drive...
 
In PC I was taught down at all times for riding. The up position for lunging & for leading your horse for long distances (as in the army).

Having said that a friend nearly wrote off her saddle when her stirrup caught on the gate latch when leading her horse out of the arena. I always cross over my stirrups or run them up when leading through a gateway. (Wouldn't hunting though). More ancient Pony Club teachings!
 
As previouslt said, down for everything except leading and lungeing. On the subject of stirrups I saw a lead-rein class on Sunday with a VERY small child in adult stirrups, if she had slipped she would have gone through to the thigh...do people not think? Doesn't bear thinking about!
 
Down, down, down.

I've hit the deck with the stirrup still round my foot (bolting horse did 90 degree swerve). I spent a few weeks wearing a cast, but think it could have been a whole lot worse.
 
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