History of the Stirrup

2024 Newsletter Article

The Invention That Changed the Course of History!

There is one invention that changed the course of history that we still use to this day. This invention built kingdoms, conquered lands, established empires, and created the world order we know today. It changed the direction of human history forever.

The stirrup!

According to a study at Cambridge university, horses were first domesticated about 6,000 years ago in Ukraine. This spread throughout Europe and Asia. For thousands of years horses were predominantly used to pull carts or farm equipment and if they were ridden, it was bareback or with a blanket.

The romans are thought to be the first to use horses in battle, but they were most often used to quickly ride up to and flank the enemy and then they would get off their horses for the fight. There is records in the battle of Alesia where the romans fought on horseback, but they had to do it while balancing on the horse with their legs. Ouch! Let’s leave the romans here to their bareback battle for a moment.

It is estimated that the Chinese first developed the saddle in 300BC. Designed to improve upon the traditional blanket method, it provided a better way for riders to balance themselves. But still not a perfect solution.

We turn to India in 200BC for the first real evidence of stirrup use starts to appear. There are sculptures dating back to that time that show barefoot riders using a type of stirrup that fits over a rider’s big toe.

Obviously, there is only so much weight one can put into a big toe, but this would provide some stability. It’s a start. But a problem these people encountered was the weight of the rider was put on one spot on the horses back. This created discomfort and sores on the animals backs.