22 



EIDING AND TRAINIiq-Q SADDLE-HORSES. 



small stirrups be avoided. The irons should not, of 

 course, be so large that the boot-heels can, by any acci- 

 dent, get through them, but there should be ample room 

 for the foot to be thrust in and out with perfect freedom. 

 This will be one of the best safeguards against the worst 

 mishap that can befall an unhorsed rider — that of being 

 dragged by the heels by a runaway horse, owing to the 

 binding of the foot in the stirrup. There have been 

 numerous devices made to prevent this calamity. The 



Fiff. 3.— SAFETY STIRRUP. 



only one of them that is even tolerably sure (and that 

 one is nearly perfect), is shown in figure 3. This is 

 simply an an-angement for closing the back part of tho 

 iron by which the stirrup-leather is fastened to the 

 saddle, with a movable piece held in place by a spring, 

 exactly as the blade of a pocket-knife is held. It takes a 

 sharp jerk to open this catch, but, unless it is allowed to 

 become fastened with rust, it will yield to much less 

 strain than that of a falling rider. These safety irons 

 are attached, as a matter of course, to all English saddle- 



