Stirrup

For the bone, see stapes. For other uses of the word stirrup, see Stirrup (disambiguation).

The stirrup is a ring with a flat bottom fixed on a leather strap, usually hung from each side of a saddle to create a footrest for the rider on a riding animal (usually a horse or other equine, such as mule), suspended by an adjustable strap from the saddle for use as a support for the foot of a rider of a horse when seated in the saddle and as an aid in mounting. It greatly increases the rider's ability to control the mount, increasing the animal's usefulness in communication, transportation and warfare. It is considered one of the basic tools used to create and spread modern civilization. Some argue it is as important as the wheel or printing press.

The word stems from Old English stirap, stigrap, Middle English stirop,styrope,etc., i.e. a mounting or climbing-rope; from Old English stigan, to mount, climb, and rap, rope, cf. Dutch stijgbeugel, literally mounting bow or loop, German Steigbügel

History

The stirrup was invented surprisingly late in history, considering that horses were used for bareback riding and to pull carts or war chariots since the fourth millennium BC. They are mentioned in early Chinese literature and examples which must be earlier than the 7th century A.D. have been found in Japan; the true stirrup was apparently invented in northern China by the nomadic Turkic tribes in the first few centuries AD, although a simple loop through which the rider placed his big toe was already to be seen in India either by 4th century BC (Desmond Morris, Horse Watching 1998), or the 2nd century BC. ^*

It was invented at first as a single mounting stirrup only used in gaining the saddle; the first dependable representation of a rider with paired stirrups is in a Jin tomb of about 322 AD. The stirrup was spread throughout Eurasia by the great horsemen of the central Asian steppes. It is uncertain when it was first adopted by the nomads. The first attested use is by the Alans. The Greeks and Romans did not use them but mounted by vaulting or from a mounting block. Some historians believe the Huns must have used them to enable their conquests, but there is no evidence for this. Stirrups reached Sweden in the 6th century, leading to the establishment of mounted Thegns during the Swedish Vendel Age. From this period have been found rich graves of mounted elite warriors, which include stirrups ^*. The importance of the horse during this time is reflected in the later Norse sagas, where the 6th century Swedish king Adils is said to have been a great lover of horses and to have had the best horses of his days. Interestingly, all accounts of this king's warfare describe him as fighting on horseback, although the later Vikings never or rarely did so. To add a 6th century source, Jordanes claimed that the Swedes had the best horses beside the Thuringians, reflecting the importance of the horse during this time (see also the Battle on the Ice).

Stirrups were first indirectly documented in Central Europe during the reign of Charles Martel in the 8th century, when verbs scandere and descendere among the Franks replace verbs denoting "leaping" upon a horse. A pair of stirrups have been found in an 8th century burial in Holiare, Slovakia. The stirrup of the early middle ages seems to have been light and semicircular or triangular in shape. By the 14th century the footplate became broader and the sides heavier and ornamented. By the 16th century this ornamentation increases and open metal-work is used.

The Arab stirrup is very large, affording a rest for the entire sole of the foot; sometimes the heel part projects and terminates in a sharp point used as a spur.

Advantages of stirrups

In the use of the horse in warfare, the stirrup was the third revolutionary step, after the chariot and the mounted horseman. Stirrups changed the basic tactics of mounted warfare and made cavalry more important. Braced against the stirrups, a knight could deliver a blow with a lance that employed the full weight and momentum of horse and rider together. Reacting to a sudden and urgent demand for cavalry, Charlemagne ordered his poorer vassals to pool their resources and provide a mounted and armed knight.The addition of stirrups also allowed a rider to use a longer (and vastly more powerful) bow by standing up on the stirrups.

Lynn White Jr., in Medieval Technology and Social Change (1966) suggested that the rising feudal class structure of the European Middle Ages derived ultimately from the use of stirrups: "Few inventions have been so simple as the stirrup, but few have had so catalytic an influence on history. The requirements of the new mode of warfare which it made possible found expression in a new form of western European society dominated by an aristocracy of warriors endowed with land so that they might fight in a new and highly specialized way."

In 1970, opposing Lynn White Jr.'s ideas, D. A. Bullough's article in the English Historical Review and Bernard S. Bachrach's article titled "Charles Martel, Mounted Shock Combat, the Stirrup, and Feudalism" in Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History pointed out that stirrups are actually no advantage in shock warfare, but are useful only in allowing a rider to lean to the left and right on the saddle without falling off. Therefore, they are not the reason for the switch from infantry to cavalry in Medieval militaries, and not the reason for the emergence of Feudalism. These ideas are generally accepted as the truth in modern historical circles.

Styles of stirrup

There are two basic methods of using stirrups. The stirrup itself is the same but the length of the stirrup leather is different.

Long stirrups allow the rider to extend his legs fully while keeping his seat in the saddle. When riding in the long stirrup the rider has an excellent feel for the horse and excellent ability to communicate with the horse via the legs. When riding with long stirrups the rider is very stable in his seat. This provides a sturdy base for activities where the rider is at risk of being unseated, such as sword fighting or lancing. Long stirrups were thus the choice of medieval knights and is the choice for dressage riders today.
Short stirrups require the riders the keep their knees bent. When riding in a short stirrup the rider has the ability to stand up in the stirrups and get his seat clear of the saddle thus allowing him more mobility but at the cost of having less feel of the horse. When riding with short stirrups the rider often adopts what is known as a forward seat. In the forward seat the rider can lean over the horse's own center of balance, his withers, thus inhibiting the horse's balance and athletic maneuverings as little as possible. Jockeys and show jumping riders therefore use this type of stirrup. The horsemen of Central Asia, such as the Mongols, also used this type of stirrup as it allowed them to rise up and fire their bows from greater height.

Stirrup leather

As the rider's whole weight must be carried at one side when (dis)mounting, the two straps, which may be part of a set of horse tack which the same saddle-maker produces, must be made of the strongest leather, and is therefore also suitable for use as a punitive strap.

Weakness in the Design

The stirrup design does have inherent design flaws. The rider's whole weight is at times supported entirely by the stirrups. During these periods, excessive pressure is exerted on the Peroneus Tertius tendon which runs along the bottom of the foot. In extreme cases, stirrups have been found to cause damage to the tuberosity of the 5th metatarsal bone. Over long periods of extreme use, this can cause various medical conditions ranging from simple impaired walking to severe pronation or supination of the foot. Normal riders, however, generally have no related problems, even over a lifetime.

In stirrups with open fronts it is possible for the rider's foot to slip through in whole or in part and cause the rider to be dragged in a fall. English saddles are often designed with special attachments from the stirrup leathers to the saddle whereby the leathers are able to fall from the saddle if the rider starts to be dragged.

Sources and External links