I had a horse fall and land on an aluminum stirrup. It essentially crushed flat. Luckily I had jumped out of the way before this happened, but if my foot had still been in the stirrup I probably wouldn't have been able to get it out. So, either a broken leg/ankle/foot or injuries from being dragged.
But I still prefer aluminum overall. Now, if the plastic came in more pretty colors, that might sway me. :)
Ruth
Date: Wed, 27 May 2009 19:22:20 -0400 From: tprevatt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [RC] Nylon Stirrups
Nothing is risk free. Nylon flexes and each flex will weaken it. At
some point it can break. The best thing to do is to periodically
replace nylon stirrups. Aluminum is also not risk free they can result
in a nasty cut. I had my horse spook to the point that my foot came out
of the stirrup, which swung out and came back and the edge caught my
ankle which resulted in a gash. Aluminum also is not a flexible metal
and also will fatigue and break when flexed many times. Aluminum wire
will break much faster when repeatedly flexed long before steel. There
is no such thing as a perfect stirrup material that will last forever.
Truman
Bob Fletcher wrote:
FYI: I was riding over the long weekend and I had a
mishap with my nylon stirrups that I wanted to give everyone a
heads-up. My nylon trail stirrups snapped in mid-post and I came off
my horse. Lucky me, I was riding with my friends and I was able to get
back in the saddle and ride stirrup free the rest of the ride. My
stirrups were just about brand new, having only a few rides prior to
this incident. When I was making my decision on buying the trail
stirrups, I thought that the nylon would be better because it is
lighter. I checked out my friends aluminum trail stirrups and the
difference in weight is negligible.
>From this ride forward, only the aluminum stirrups for me.
bcf
-- “I maintain there is much more wonder in science than in
pseudoscience
“I maintain there is much more wonder in science
than in
pseudoscience. And in addition, to whatever measure this term has any
meaning,
science has the additional virtue, and it is not an inconsiderable one,
of
being true.” Carl Sagan
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