The subject of this application relates to the field of equestrian equipment, and more particularly to a stirrup arrangement which permits the horseman to more safely and easily mount, ride and dismount a horse, or other rideable animal.
Traditionally, stirrups form parts of conventional horse mounting equipment and may be positioned on one or both sides of the saddle. Stirrups are designed not only to assist the rider in mounting, but also in maintaining balance during riding, and when dismounting.
For safety while riding, the bottom, foot resting, portion of the stirrup is generally located at a level where the rider's feet are comfortably engaged when the rider is in the saddle. Depending upon the height of the horse and the leg length of the rider, this may result in the stirrup being too high for the rider to easily engage for mounting the horse. Riders often attempt to overcome this difficulty by searching for something to stand on, or having another person physically assist them. Appropriate items, or persons, are often not available.
Another possibility is adjusting the stirrup to a lower than functional level for mounting, however, this presents the additional problem of readjusting the stirrup when the rider is sitting in the saddle. Even a highly experienced rider is dangerously exposed to an accident while trying to perform this maneuver. When the rider, in the saddle, attempts to reach down for drawing up the stirrup, the required leaning to one side can lead to a fall. Using traditional stirrups, the only safe way to adjust the height is to have another person, one who is dismounted, adjust them for the rider.
In the alternative, a rider may attempt to climb upon an object such as a bucket or ladder to reach the stirrup, but this also can lead to injury caused by the instability of the object or the animal moving at a critical time.
One object of the improved stirrup is to greatly increase the safety and convenience of mounting a horse or other rideable animal. Another object is the elimination of mounting drawbacks associated with traditional stirrups and substituting safe, reliable alternatives, without giving rise to excessive costs.
It is yet another object to define herein a fully integrated stirrup assembly which assists a person in mounting a horse from the ground, helps to keep the person safe during such mounting, and provides a simple, reliable transformation of the mounting procedure, and subsequent ride, into a more enjoyable activity.
The present improvement in stirrups creates a fully integrated arrangement which is safer, easier to use and more reliable for mounting and riding, as well as being suitable for either English or western type saddles. The improved stirrup allows the rider's foot to be safely positioned in the device during mounting and riding while prohibiting the rider's foot from becoming dangerously stuck or trapped therein.
These advantages are achieved through the provision of a mounting aid assembly which comprises, in one form, a pivotally mounted bottom portion, or step, to which a hollow, open ended, receiver or volume is attached. The receiver, in this example, comprises a cage formed from spaced-apart thin bars or wires, but may be constructed from a variety of other materials. The step presents a generally vertical, out-of-the-way, mounting support surface when pivoted to latched, riding position. However, in response to a small angular rotation in the opposite direction, for example, about a quarter circle, it engages a positioning stop fixed to the stirrup iron. Here the mounting support surface presents a generally horizontal, foot supporting attitude at a location substantially lower than the stirrup support surface used for riding. In this location the mounting support surface serves as a more convenient and safe target for the rider's foot insertion and subsequent swinging upwardly into the saddle. Once in the saddle, this example only needs a simple forward kick to pivot the step into the prior upper, latched position, where the foot is safely and comfortably received for riding without exposure to trapping in case of a fall. It further provides a simple, convenient and effective way to stow the mounting step when not needed.
In another form, the improved stirrup arrangement comprises a mounting step rigidly connected to, and supported by, a laterally offset brace which, in turn, is pivotally connected to a lower, laterally offset, area of the stirrup. The step and its support brace together form an “L” shape whereby, upon pivoting the brace, the mounting step is stowed, generally vertically and in greater part, above the level of the riding footrest, where it becomes a side wall of the stirrup foot entry. A resilient spring arrangement, associated with the pivotal connection, allows the sidewall step to rotate, and thereby move outwardly and downwardly under pressure. This movement creates a lateral opening, permitting a foot, otherwise trapped in the stirrup, to be released.
For mounting, the step and brace are rotated against the spring arrangement by hand to a position where the step latches into a horizontal, foot receiving attitude, well below the stirrup footrest. After mounting, foot pressure on the footrest releases the latch and the step rotates under spring pressure to its side wall, that is, riding position.
In both forms, appropriate stops are provided to limit rotation of the step between a functional, mounting aid position and a safe, foot withdrawal position. When the mounting aid device is pivoted from its normally stowed, upper, position downwardly, in both forms the step descends a sufficient distance below the stirrup support surface to substantially assist the rider in the mounting procedure. Once the rider is mounted, in one form of the improved stirrup, a quick forward jerk of the rider's foot will provide the impetus for the mounting portion to pivot up, roughly through about a quarter circle, and latch in foot protecting position. In the other form the mounting step device is hand cocked to its lower step position, where it locks for aiding the mounting procedure. After mounting the rider's foot on the footrest triggers a return of the mounting of the sidewall position where excess side pressure by the rider's foot causes pivotal wall movement sufficient to release an otherwise trapped foot.
Reference is now made to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by like numerals.
As required, detailed embodiments of the improvement are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the device, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the arrangement in virtually any appropriately detailed structure.
Referring to the drawings in more detail, in the embodiment of
The stirrup assembly 10 includes the basic functional parts to be considered a stirrup iron, such as a frame member 11 and footrest 12 but, in addition, has an auxiliary portion comprising a stirrup aid member, or mounting step device 14, comprised, in this example, of a laterally offset brace 16 supporting a mounting step 18. The upper end 20 of the mounting step device 14 is pivotally connected to the underside 22 of the bottom part, or footrest 12, of the stirrup iron. The footrest 12 has sufficient lateral extension for receiving a rider's foot 25 thereon,
The pivotal connection between the mounting step device 14 and the footrest 12, in this example, is provided by depending, spaced apart bearing mounts 26,
An offset, axially projecting pin 32,
The trigger lever 36 is mounted for rocking on a transverse pin 38 and, at its other end 40, terminates in a generally vertically projecting post 42 extending through and above an opening 44 in the footrest 12. An appropriate spring 46, best seen in
The stirrup iron, in this example, has a fixed sidewall 48 which locates on the horse side of the stirrup assembly during normal use. The sidewall 48 is fixed to one end 50 of the footrest 12 and curves at its upper portion 52 to produce a shape similar to the inverted letter “J.” The upper portion 52 of the sidewall 48 includes a bridge 54 through which an adjustable leather support strap (not shown) may be engaged in a conventional manner.
In the example shown in
One functional operation series for the example shown in
Further, if the rider should fall, due to rough riding or other reason, the stowed mounting step 18 will rotate outwardly and downwardly, under the pressure of a foot, which may otherwise be trapped. This will produce a release, virtually eliminating the danger of a foot lock, and being dragged head down. In the event a rider prefers a greater resistance to rotation than supplied, this can often be adequately addressed through selecting a helical spring of greater resistance.
Turning now to the second embodiment, illustrated in
Spaced-apart thin bars or wires 74 extend from the sidewalls and center of the mounting step 60 to an anchor rod 76, also connected to the bottom portion or mounting step 60, together forming a hollow, open ended cage for receiving the foot therein. Although thin bars or wires are shown in the present example, the hollow open ended foot receiver may be constructed of a variety of other materials, such as leather, screen or suitable plastic.
The mounting step 60 is normally maintained in position forwardly and frontally of the stirrup iron 58 by means of one or more appropriate latches 78 which, in this example, engage the anchor rod 76. In this position a receiving volume is created whereby a foot may enter the open end and ride comfortably without danger of the foot extending through the stirrup iron and being dangerously trapped in case of a fall.
When, however, it is desired to utilize the device as a mounting step, it is a simple matter to release the latch 78 whereupon the bottom portion or mounting step 60 moves through a surprisingly small approximate quarter circle, whereupon the projection 64 of the sidewall 66 contacts the stop 62 and the mounting step 60 is presented for use at a significantly lower level than the riding surface or footrest 80. In this location the mounting step 60, and its extension 72, are presented generally horizontally and substantially lower than the functional stirrup surface, thereby serving as a more convenient and safe target for the rider to utilize by foot insertion and swinging upwardly into the saddle.
Once in the saddle a simple forward kick against the mounting step by the foot will easily pivot the step into the prior upper latched position where the foot confining configuration is in effect for safe riding. In addition, the arrangement described provides a convenient and effective ability to stow the mounting step.
Many other changes and modifications can be made in the design of the present arrangement without departing from the spirit thereof. Therefore it is requested that the rights to the improvement be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.
This application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending application Ser. No. 11/796,060 filed Apr. 26, 2007 entitled “Horse Mounting Aid Assembly”, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,575,849, and Ser. No. 12/378,125 filed Feb. 11, 2009 entitled “A Stirrup Assembly” which is a continuation-in-part of said application Ser. No. 11/796,060. Full disclosures of said applications are incorporated herein by reference, the priority of which is hereby claimed.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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16032 | Trussell | Nov 1856 | A |
700053 | Weddington | Oct 1867 | A |
261733 | Larcom | Jul 1882 | A |
717850 | Hey et al. | Jan 1903 | A |
841793 | Levy | Jan 1907 | A |
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Number | Date | Country |
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3734795 | May 1989 | DE |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20090266039 A1 | Oct 2009 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12378125 | Feb 2009 | US |
Child | 12500326 | US | |
Parent | 11796060 | Apr 2007 | US |
Child | 12378125 | US |