Oxebow stirrup

[Charles R. Stevens]

A friends son lost one, so I forged him a replacement. 

17" of 1x1/4" fullerd (acualy more curved) and 3 5/8" of 3/8 rod. 

[SmoothBore]

This is probably a dumb question, ... but how do you "lose" a stirrup, and still keep your foot ?

[Frosty]

9 minutes ago, SmoothBore said:

This is probably a dumb question, ... but how do you "lose" a stirrup, and still keep your foot ?

We used to say "losing a stirrup" meant you let your foot come out and usually ended up eating the dirt as a result. Actually losing one off a saddle sounds like not checking your gear before you saddle up, rotten stitching maybe or the pin came loose and fell out. Hard to imaging not going back to find it but it depends on where it came off. I've never used a stirrup like that though, are they easier to lose than the more common western type?

Frosty The Lucky.

[freddy317]

Nicely done Charles.

When I was a kid (~40 years ago) my uncle rode with oxbow stirrups. His were fully covered in rawhide. I wanted them but my dad wouldn't let me use them. He said that your feet can hang up easier in them (because they are lighter and so much more of your foot - the widest part - is through the stirrup).

The length adjustment was a "buckle" with a slide that covered it up to hold it in place (at about knee level). That could come apart and the stirrup could come off - this is how we switched stirrups and or changed the length for different riders. The stirrup could break or it could have fallen off (most likely when leading the horse)

[Charles R. Stevens]

The story I was told (understand I know the kid, and he is from the shallow end of the pool) was that "some one" stole the stirrup yoke (a small leather strap that buckles around the stirrup leather and prevents the stirrup from riding up with the foot) and his blevin buckle (the kind Freddy is talking about) came loose on his bronk saddle 7 seconds in to his ride ( this would be about 5 seconds longer than I have ever known him to stay on). He recoverd his stirrup and hung it on the fence wile he went back to recover his saddle. 

Like  I said, kids dad should have used a rain coat, but I like his dad, and it looked like a fun project. So now I know how long a bar I need to start with and have the tooling to make more. 

Acualy, oxbows are heavier than classic wooden bells, but yes one could get hung, so wear loose fitting cowboy boots 

[ThomasPowers]

Now Now them seconds sure do feel longer when you are in that situation; got some cousins who went to the nationals in bull riding, (we were visiting them once and he "casually" showed us a tack room stuffed with saddles that he "casually" mentioned that he hadn't bought a single one...my nephew didn't get it; so I explained it to him on the trip home...)

[George Geist]

Nice work Charles

[Charles R. Stevens]

Thank you, George. 

[Frank Turley]

Nice stirrup.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Thank you Frank