There are 2 stirrups on each saddle. One hangs down on either
side. The stirrups give you a place to rest your feet while riding.
This adds some security and helps the rider keep their balance.
Experienced riders do not need stirrups in order to stay on,
however stirrups do make it easier and less tiring.
A stirrup in a english, western and aussie saddle help the rider
to balance and hold on. From Walking all the way to high jumping
stirrups help the rider with their balance which also helps the
horses balance.
The following information is provided to prevent the continuing
deaths from persons being dragged after getting their foot caught
in the stirrup during a fall: It is life-saving to make sure that
the stirrup fits so closely to the rider's boot both in width and
height so that it is not possible for the rider's foot to fit
through the stirrup. This is to prevent the rider from getting
their foot caught in the stirrup during a fall and being dragged
literally to death. Stirrups are available in different widths and
heights. Make sure you buy ones that do not allow your foot to go
all the way through. Elastic sided so called "safety stirrups"
unfortunately do allow the rider's foot to go all the way through
and so allow for the rider to get caught on the remaining L-shaped
steel part of the "safety stirrup" and therefore are very un-safe.
The only safe stirrup is one that is fitted too closely to your
foot to allow your foot to go through it, while at the same time is
not so tightly wrapped around your foot that your foot cannot get
out of it. The stirrup must fit each person individually and be
bought in the correct size for that individual person, not simply
bought in size "child's stirrup" or size "adult stirrup", but must
be measured to match the rider's boot in inches or centimeters
where the ball of the foot would rest on the stirrup. Riders wear
boots with heels to help prevent the foot from going through the
stirrup but the boot-heel by itself is not enough to completely
prevent that problem. Test the stirrup by trying to put your foot
through it in any way you can while you are not on the horse. If
you can get your foot through it, it is the wrong stirrup due to
either wrong size or wrong overall shape or both. (Not every saddle
is provided with hinged safety bars to allow the stirrup leather
resting on them to come off during a fall, and, some of the hinged
safety bars are too rusted to un-hinge)