The Horsewoman: A Practical Guide to Side-Saddle Riding, 2nd. Ed. Alice M. Hayes

SAFETY BARS.

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      A safety bar is a bar which will release the leather, in the event of the rider falling from the saddle, and at the same time getting her foot caught in the stirrup-iron. To be reliable, it should do this, whether the lady falls on the near side, or on the off side. The best safety bar which has up to the present been put before the public, is undoubtedly Champion and Wilton’s latest pattern. It releases with absolute certainty on both sides, and can be fitted in such a manner that it will allow the flat of the left leg to be brought close to the saddle. As safety bars and safety stirrups are the only means for ensuring a lady from being dragged by her stirrup, and as Champion and Wilton’s safety bar is more reliable in this respect than any safety stirrup, it stands to reason that it should be used with every side-saddle. With this bar on a saddle, there is of course no objection to the use of a safety stirrup, in order to make “doubly sure.” It is usually fitted with a thick flap (Fig. 15), which prevents the left leg from being brought close to the saddle; but this objection can be removed by the adoption of Mr. Ford’s plan of greatly reducing the size of the flap of the bar, and making it fit into an opening cut out of the near flap of the saddle (Fig. 16). I have found this arrangement a great improvement on the old clumsy flap, the lower edge of which is unpleasantly apt to catch on the rider’s boot, especially when trotting. I shall discuss the failings of safety stirrups further on.

Fig. 15.—Leaping head too low down.

Fig. 16.—Side view of a properly made saddle.

      Owing to the position which a lady occupies in a side-saddle, she is often inclined to draw her foot back to such an extent that she would pull the leather out of the bar, if the action of the bar was similar to that of a man’s saddle; but a Champion and Wilton’s bar is so devised that it will free the leather, only when the pressure of the left leg is removed from the flap of the bar, in which case the lady will have quitted the saddle. Hence, as long as she keeps her seat, she cannot pull the leather out of the bar by drawing back her left leg. The only thing which prevents this safety arrangement from being absolutely perfect, is the liability the leather has of falling out of the bar and becoming lost, in the event of the rider severing her connection with the saddle, in which case the retaining action of the flap on the bar will cease.

      For this emergency, Messrs. Champion and Wilton provide side saddles with a small leather case which contains an extra stirrup, and which is attached to the near side of the saddle, so that it is concealed from view, when the lady is mounted (Fig. 17). The weight of the stirrup and case is only half a pound.

Fig. 17.—Champion and Wilton’s extra stirrup case.

SAFETY STIRRUPS,

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both for men and ladies, have been in existence for hundreds of years. Apparently the first variety of this contrivance was the capped stirrup-iron, either simple (Fig. 18) or in the form of a slipper (Fig. 19), which was provided with an arrangement on its sole that prevented the toe of the slipper from yielding to downward pressure, but allowed it to revolve upwards, and thus to facilitate the release of the foot, in the event of a fall. The simple capped stirrup was used by ancient Spanish Cavaliers, and is still employed by many of their descendants in America. In apparent oblivion of these facts, the Christie stirrup (Fig. 20), made on the same principle, was patented about four years ago. Besides its undue weight (1 1/4 lb. as compared to the 1/2 lb. of the slipper stirrup), it has the further disadvantage of allowing the possibility of the toe being caught between its bars (Fig. 21). Want of neatness appears to have been the only cause of the abandonment of the capped stirrup, which is certainly safer than any of its successors, the first English one of which appears to have been the Latchford safety stirrup (Fig. 22). It consists of two irons; the small one, which is placed within the large one, being made to come out the moment the foot gets dragged in it, in which case it parts company with its fellow, and is then liable to get lost. The Scott safety stirrup (Figs. 23 and 24) has not this fault, for its inner iron always retains its connection with the outer one, and can be replaced without delay, if the lady after her tumble desires to remount. The Latchford, Scott ordinary, and Cope safety stirrup (Figs. 25 and 26) open only one way, so that the foot, when correctly placed in any of them, may not be liable, as in the event of a fall, to be forced through the outer iron, in which case the lady would almost to a certainty get hung up if her saddle was not provided with a safety bar. In these stirrups, the side of the “tread,”46-* which ought to be to the rear, is generally indicated by the fact of its being straight, while the other side is curved (Fig. 24). This is done in Fig. 27, by the word “heel.”

Fig. 18.—Capped stirrup-iron. Fig. 19.—Slipper stirrup.

Fig. 20.—The Christie stirrup.

Fig. 21.—Foot caught.

Fig. 22.—Latchford stirrup.

Fig. 23.—Scott’s stirrup.

Fig. 24.—Scott’s stirrup open.

      The chief faults of so-called safety stirrups are as follows:—

      1. They may catch on the foot, on account of getting crushed by coming in violent contact with a tree, wall or other hard object, or by the horse falling on his near side. When I was living in India, I had a Scott safety stirrup jammed on my foot in this manner, by a horse which I was riding, making a sudden shy and dashing against a wall. The iron was so firmly fixed to my foot by this accident,