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I Forge Iron

"Historical" stirrups


Drewed

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Having had my foot caught in a stirrup while a horse flipped over on top of me, and then stepped on me, because of historically correct shoes and stirrups..... there is much to be said about using modern stirrups and riding boots for safety. I ended up lying on the floor of the Manassas Hospital Emergency Room for a couple of hours waiting to be triaged.

I will never try that combination of historical correctness again. It took seven years for my leg to heal to the point it is now, which is still not great.

Safety first; beauty and/or historical correctness a dead last. .... pun intended. ;-)

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....David- had to happen at Manassas didn't it? First or 2nd Manassas?


It was a training weekend with the 2nd U.S. about 11 or so years ago. If it had been my horse I would not have taken her into the swampy field that they arranged to camp and train in. The horse that I rented sank into the ground up to his pasterns with each soggy step. I warned them that while I had what was called "a natural seat" and rode balanced style (according to my mother-in-law who used to train people to ride), and looked like I knew what I was doing, that I was a beginner rider (I had been on a horse no more than three times in my life.) To make the story short, I got tired, the horse reared, I tried to get off, my left period-correct brogen-shoe (I have wide feet) got stuck in the period correct stirrup, I landed on my back, the saddle with horse attached landed on my chest and rolled around, and then the horse placed one of its steel shod feet on the inside of my left thigh (just missing my you-know-what) and ground it to hamburger when he stood up. None of the doctors in the emergency room, or the orthopedic doctor that I went to, had a clue what to do, so I ended up buying a second-hand scuba jacket material and velcro to make my own brace to hold the leg together until it could heal some.

The lesson learned: safety first, period correctness a dead last. Modern stirrups, modern riding boots, and not to ride with what my wife's relatives and other horsey people call "yahoos" (guys who did not take formal riding/safety lessons, but instead ride around recklessly waving their hat and yelling "yahoo").
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