What does a photo of Princess Elizabeth on her pony have to do with peacock stirrups?
I didn’t live in England in the 1930s so I have no idea whether or not they had peacock stirrups back then. I do know that where I lived, and rode, they did not exist.
I think the point is that they did exist.
You said they did not.
You might not have had them where you were riding.
But exist, they did.
No peacock stirrups here.
Nor are there any peacock stirrups in the photo @sascha linked. Those are ordinary stirrups of the type many people used before the advent of fillis stirrups.
I’m not going to argue about something to trivial that iseems impossible to prove. I’ve just been looking up histories of stirrups and no one says when peacock stirrups were invented.
They DID NOT exist where I rode as a child.
Prove it.
lol
There are several photos of the Queen riding in what I know as peacock stirrups in that article.
You have to go to the article and scroll thru the photos.
Edit - Or read the post here where someone copy and pasted them for you.
I doubt they edited those photos of the queen riding in peacock stirrups because they knew this topic was going to come up here on COTH.
Edit again.
A random photo of a peacock stirrups stop we are sure you are talking about the same thing.
She didn’t link a photo, but an article. 
I was very surprised to read the article, because peacock stirrups are ubiquitous in the leadline, short stirrup and small pony classes in hunterland, and were also common in Pony Club back in the day.
I even remember it being a requirement for kids to have them to ride in the pony races that ran at point to point meets, back when kids rode their own hunting ponies in those races, rather than the format that exists now.
I have never personally experienced, or heard of, anyone getting injured by them; but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened. And Armand Leone’s point is well taken, it’s such a simple change to make to prevent potential injuries, why not make the change?
I do think that for small children, the most practical thing to do is to change the design of the peacock stirrup to face the hook inward and downward.
I have seen two children dragged after the laces on their paddock boots got caught on the hook when they fell off. Both ponies were stopped quickly and neither child was seriously injured but it was terrifying.
Obviously that can’t happen very often or they wouldn’t be so commonly used, but given that I’ve seen it twice, that was enough for me to decide that they can’t be used with laced boots.
I never even thought of the possibility of lacerations.
I ride in standard stirrups but I wouldn’t consider peacock stirrups if I was looking for a safety-type stirrup.
Makes zipper paddock boots sound better all the time! The worst I’ve done is catch the loop on on boot on the hook of the other when I was walking. Sad to say I’m such a klutz, it didn’t surprise anyone, and the only thing hurt was my pride.
She did. They may not have been available in your location but they did exist.
Even that may be a stretch. I was aware of them when I was a kid because I read every horse book I could get my hands on. However, since my family had to do the horse thing on a very tight budget, I only ever got to go into the most basic tack shops and we were only shopping for boots and helmet. The schools I rode at did not have them on their school ponies. Lesson kids didn’t fraternize much with horse and pony owners so I have no idea what boarders had on their saddles.
I did not see a set in the flesh until I was well into my 20s, but they darn sure existed and were available at tack shops that were more than a corner in a hardware store, and some distance away.
The way he describes the injuries, it sounds like these children slid off the horse with their belly against the horse’s side. This is really is not how one should dismount a horse. It is safer to support your own weight and vault off to the side, landing facing forward. I was taught this in my first riding lessons before dial-up internet existed. Or, you can keep a foot in the stirrup, swing the other leg around and step out when you have a foot on the ground (if you have a shorter horse or pony. I wouldn’t try this on something tall unless you have the hip flexors of a gymnast.) I suppose it’s a matter of weighing outcomes. Are these stirrups actually preventing injuries? Are these stirrups causing injuries? What’s the acceptable ratio? Is there a better choice?
This was my thought as well.
Is the USA so litigious that people will sue a horse show for the poor horsemanship training given their child by their chosen coach? I realize the author is a lawyer and ought to know, but…
Kids are living breathing examples of not doing things as they should, so yeah, there’s lots of ways not to get hurt using peacocks… But, kids…
And I suspect the design has saved so many more children than it has even slightly damaged, but I have to agree that there’s probably a simple design change that could make them even better. I mean yes, America is a wee bit litigious, and the risk is small with a significant positive trade off (foot not trapped), but there’s a lot to be said for continuous design improvement.
I understand that the more hi-tech safety stirrups are more expensive than peacocks, but there are definitely better options for children.
Acavallo, Freejump, and Flex-on all manufacture safety stirrups for children.
I’ll point out that my own experience, where a peacock stirrup ripped my breeches, occurred when I was in my forties, so the hazards are not limited to children by any means. No one ever told me to swing my stirrup leather over the horse’s neck when dismounting, and I’ve never mastered the art of vaulting off my horse’s back so cleanly as to not touch the horse’s side as I’m going down.
Life is real and for me vaulting doesn’t happen. 
I think they’d still work. Most drags happen because the foot twisted. Either side of the stirrup bar giving would release the foot. That’s why they teach that belly roll if you find yourself hung up - the foot is twisted sideways in a too-small stirrup and rolling it over will set it free.
I’ve been hung up once, thank god on my Old Man who didn’t drag me. It was a combination of winter boots and “summer” stirrups.
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