Peacock stirrup accident - has anyone experienced?

[RugBug]

I’m curious to know if our little rider was just a fluke or if others have experienced something similar:

Rider is fairly small, should probably be riding a small or perhaps a small medium, but in CA, we don’t do ponies they way back east does. Pony is a large. Kid finishes her lesson and goes to dismount. Removes feet from stirrups, swings over and goes to slide off. She said at one point she felt like she stopped and couldn’t keep going to the ground. Turns out the little hook on the stirrup for the rubberband caught on something (she was wearing tights, no belt). It actually pierced her skin and gave her a laceration from upper thigh to lower belly. She needed 16 stitches. :eek: We are trying to figure out how it happened and what we need to do to prevent it.

Has anyone else had an accident/injury caused by peacock stirrups?

[Renn_aissance]

There was an accident at a show last year where a young boy had a similar experience. It was the impetus for a rule change proposal to disallow the use of peacock irons. The proposal did not pass.

[Posting_Trot]

Something similar happened to me, although the hook didn’t catch on my skin (thankfully), but instead on a fold in my breeches. Ripped a good 4 or 5 inch tear in the fabric.

I have not ridden with peacock stirrups since.

[MHM]

I had never heard of such a thing until a discussion on this BB within the last year or two, when quite a few people chimed in with similar stories.

Certainly one of those things that would not occur to you for a piece of safety equipment.

[Libby2563]

A friend of mine rode with a girl who tore her labia on a peacock stirrup while dismounting. That story scared me off them for life.

[IPEsq]

It’s been a long time since I used them, but I don’t remember much of a “hook” on them. I couldn’t imagine how they would do this damage to a kid. The knob on the bottom and a rounded tab on top. I did a google image search and saw ones like these and also saw some with some rather large hooks. Sounds like they need to do away with the sharp hooks!

[findeight]

You can get something caught on almost anything around horses though…it just happens less often on some things then others. Those stirrups have likely prevented more injury then they ever caused. If it worries you, don’t use them…or maybe a bit of strategically placed tape…or, better, avoid the ones with the bigger hooks.

[kashmere]

Oh wow! :eek: I had a little one get hung up on a peacock iron the other day - ripped her jodhpurs! - but never anything like that. Yikes.

[betsyk]

Have heard of it, haven’t witnessed it, but knowing that, I make sure to (try to!) teach kids how to dismount correctly - don’t drag yourself off the side of the horse, push away as you jump down, etc. But in therapeutic riding we definitely have people of all ages who can’t do that as well as others. One solution is to bring the stirrup leather forward, in front of the knee roll, after the rider drops their stirrups before dismounting.

As someone said, I’ll take the everyday benefit of the peacock stirrups over the once-in-a-lifetime risk of something worse than torn breeches. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve replaced a rubber band and have been very grateful I had a rubber band there to replace.

[rosegold]

[QUOTE=IPEsq;8916135]
It’s been a long time since I used them, but I don’t remember much of a “hook” on them. I couldn’t imagine how they would do this damage to a kid. The knob on the bottom and a rounded tab on top. I did a google image search and saw ones like these and also saw some with some rather large hooks. Sounds like they need to do away with the sharp hooks![/QUOTE]

^^^ Echoing this. I’m having a hard time imagining the kind of hook on a peacock stirrup that would tear through fabric, let alone flesh. Can someone link pictures? After an accident, I’ve always ridden in peacock stirrups, and mine have such rounded nubs on the sides that I imagine I’d have to be really determined to hurt myself with them.

@betsyk;8916169

As someone said, I’ll take the everyday benefit of the peacock stirrups over the once-in-a-lifetime risk of something worse than torn breeches. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve replaced a rubber band and have been very grateful I had a rubber band there to replace.

^^^ Echoing this, too. I’ve actually never heard of these sorts of accidents happening, but have seen (and experienced) peacock stirrups saving lives on more than one occasion, and am happy to continue using them even after reading this thread.

[zoobeezoo]

[QUOTE=rosegold;8916218]
^^^ Echoing this. I’m having a hard time imagining the kind of hook on a peacock stirrup that would tear through fabric, let alone flesh. Can someone link pictures? After an accident, I’ve always ridden in peacock stirrups, and mine have such rounded nubs on the sides that I imagine I’d have to be really determined to hurt myself with them.

^^^ Echoing this, too. I’ve actually never heard of these sorts of accidents happening, but have seen (and experienced) peacock stirrups saving lives on more than one occasion, and am happy to continue using them even after reading this thread.[/QUOTE]

Seconding (thirding?) this. A peacock stirrup that did its job when it needed to (and a helmet) saved my life once, so I will definitely take the benefits over the slight potential for injury when dismounting.

[Posting_Trot]

There are other safety stirrup options, though. The “S” stirrup is the one that I started using after my episode with the peacock hook. But there are other, newer innovations in stirrups.

[PNWjumper]

I had to go look at pictures of my daughter’s peacock stirrups. Like others have mentioned, hers are an extremely rounded/dull knob at the top and bottom. I can’t imagine how it could hurt a kid - with the exception of the torn labia which sounds incredibly awful and a possibility with any sort of any open-sided stirrups (made me think about my Free Jumps too!).

But with that being said, my daughter did hop off of her pony one day while wearing slightly baggy breeches. The breeches hooked on the stirrups and tore a hole like others have mentioned.

I guess it’s another lesson about the fact that there are a million and one ways to hurt yourself around horses!

[Proffie]

[QUOTE=Libby2563;8916099]
A friend of mine rode with a girl who tore her labia on a peacock stirrup while dismounting. That story scared me off them for life.[/QUOTE]

This happened to a student of mine a couple of years ago while dismounting as well. But I’ve also seen and heard of more than a few falls where the rider was dragged, so I’d rather play the odds here.

[charismaryllis]

ouch. tore my breeches on mine once (in 10 or so yrs of riding with them); volunteered at a TR stable for 5 yrs with exclusively peacocks, never heard of any problem with them at all.

now, i did hook a barrel with the peacock when we were riding around them, and pulled it over; spooked a classmate’s horse and she fell off. apologized profusely–and learned to stay FAR away from obstacles with the stirrups.

re: pics

https://www.google.com/search?q=peacock+stirrups&espv=2&biw=853&bih=612&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwimi42Iq4jQAhWHiVQKHcRGBQgQ_AUIBygC

these show stirrups with everything from just a little nub all the way up to an actual hook. mine are koresteels–pretty nubby. the breeches i tore were a little loose. if i’d been in my kerrits it probably wouldn’t have happened.

[Justmyluck]

I’ve caught my jeans on peacock stirrups before.

[js]

https://www.jefferspet.com/products/ss-peacock-stirrups-with-pads-pair-size-4-1-2-in?sku=A8SF&gclid=CN-68JusiNACFdY8gQodHMoCAA

Here are what some look like, there are other brands with much less hook on them. Is the brand known that the child was using? There is a hook but it doesn’t look sharp enough to cut enough much less require stiches. Was it a poorly made pair with particularly rough and sharp hooks? I have seen some buckles on cinches made in 3rd world countries that had very sharp edges from poor craftsmanship.

[StormyDay]

I have heard of a young boy getting himself stuck on his stirrup, and it ripping part of his scrotum (am I allowed to say this on COTH?) really badly. He required lots a stitches and it was very painful for the little boy.
Stuff happens though. Once I got my leg stuck on the back of my dressage saddle and hung there until I fell down. Another time somehow my stirrup leather ripped a big hole in my pants. Sometimes our equipment backfires.

[M_O_Connor]

Dismounting without taking care to clear the ‘hook’ can unfortunately lead to Peacock accidents! Luckily my batch of kiddies escaped without undue harm, but we did experience ripped shirts, lost buttons, and one time a little one dangling by a belt loop (she didn’t weigh very much :eek: ).

I have in mind a design for a safer Peacock…but it’s one of those things that if pursued, I wonder would anyone buy it…I just can’t see anyone tossing their old Peacocks…?

[Wayside]

Ow. I haven’t seen anyone ripped by one, but a zillion years ago when I was in Pony Club, there was a girl at a rally who got her field boot laces caught on them when she fell. I seem to recall the her horse stopped pretty quickly, so she didn’t get dragged far, thankfully. Hopefully field boot laces wouldn’t hold out for very long under that kind of pressure, but it was still scary.