On the other hand, I've had my aluminum EZ Ride
stirrups for many, many years (maybe 20?) and have never had a break or a
serious crush. I found one of them slightly askew some years ago, but it
was easy to straighten. Maybe I'm just lucky and haven't had any serious
crashes.
My
horse rolled with his saddle on (I now pull all tack at the break or tie him
up tight) and smashed a metal EZ ride stirrup on the off side. It
was crushed pretty badly. I'm glad my foot was not in it when my horse
went down on it. I was able to bend it back enough to finish the ride,
but then threw it away.
A
rider at one of the Indiana Rides last year or the year before - maybe Chicken
Chase? - had a metal EZ ride stirrup break right across the middle of one
side when his young horse shied. He fell off as a result of the broken
stirrup and the horse was missing for several hours. Someone rode out
and tracked the horse. She found it standing in a
creekbed. The horse was very stressed and its saddle was
askew. I drove out and found the rider in the woods (news of his
accident preceded him into camp), and he was carrying the stirrup so I
saw the break in the stirrup first hand.
I
still use mine, but I have been thinking about switching to the plastic pair -
now Maryben says that they break too?
Karen
Lynd
-----
Original Message ---- From: Maryben Stover
<mbstover@xxxxxxxxx> To: Lori Bertolucci
<loribertolucci@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Cc: Ridecamp
<ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2007 10:11:36
PM Subject: Re: [RC] [RC] aluminum stirrups
No crushed aluminum
stirrups but I had plastic ones snap in half...both at once......mb
Jonni, I haven't had my foot in it, but at the Cuyama ride, first day,
lunch, my horse somehow got tangled up in the trailer door while tied to the
trailer and ended up on the ground. I checked to make sure he was fine and
my packs were fine,,,not realizing the stirrup on the off side was
completey flat until lunch was over and I was in the saddle trying to figure
out why I couldn't get my foot into the stirrup. Needless to say, it was a
mad dash trying to find one that I could replace it with. Thank you
John Parkes for coming to the rescue! And thank you Becky Hackworth for
loaning me a spare for the remainder of the weekend.
That stirrup was completey flattened. And since I always had problems
getting my foot out of that stirrup when I would dismount, that squished
stirrup was the last straw in making me realize how dangerous it was for me
to be using them...I don't need to be knocked over the head, most
times.. lol...to learn a lesson.
I am now back to using my old, tried but true, Trail Techs.
Has anyone actually had one of the
aluminum stirrups crush around their foot when a horse fell on them, or is
this just one of those urban...er, I mean, endurance legends. I'd like to
hear actual cases...
