Abstract:
An apparatus is disclosed that provides for a conveniently removable mounting stirrup that assists a rider in climbing into a riding saddle, and provides for compact storage. The removable mounting stirrup includes features for a convenient saddle attachment and removal while on top of the riding animal.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     Not applicable.  
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
       [0002]     Not applicable.  
       REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISC APPENDIX  
       [0003]     Not applicable.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0005]     The present invention is a portable and retractable stirrup especially useful for equestrian riding. The retractable stirrup is an additional stirrup temporarily attached to the saddle of a riding animal, such as a horse. It allows a rider a method to assume the correct riding position on a horse when the normal riding stirrup is too high for the rider to conveniently place his foot into the stirrup. The retractable stirrup provides a type of stair movement that greatly assists a rider with limited leg movement such as the elderly, with a smaller size such as children, or when the horse is at a higher elevation than the rider. The stirrup has been particularly designed to require a very small storage space, as storage on a riding saddle is normally very limited.  
         [0006]     2. Discussion of Related Art  
         [0007]     U.S. Pat. No. 6,688,088 describes a horse mounting aid method that includes a second smaller stirrup that is mounted just below the horse mounting stirrup. This additional stirrup has practical problems in actual use. The stirrup may be drawn up under the fender and/or side jockey when not used. This places the equipment in contact with the horse causing chafing and injury. It is difficult and dangerous for the rider to actually remove the temporary stirrup without falling to the ground because the rider must lean over to remove it. Finally, there is no provision to securely lock the temporary stirrup to the stirrup leather.  
         [0008]     U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,957 describes an extendible stirrup for a horse. One of the saddle riding stirrups is mounted on a spring loaded mechanism. Since the mechanism is designed to serve two purposes, which allow a rider to easily mount onto the horse, and also provide for a secured riding position, the retraction mechanism is overly complicated with a long list of many moving parts (col. 11, 12).  
         [0009]     U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,797 describes a temporary mounting stirrup for a horse. The temporary mounting stirrup is looped around the saddle horn and provides a lower stirrup for the rider to lift upwardly to a higher elevation with the right foot. The storage of the temporary mounting stirrup is poorly designed, by looping the strap and securing the loop with a D ring and clip. The temporary stirrup remains hanging from the saddle, and creates a hazard of catching on objects, such as brush or tree limbs. It may be removed by lifting the strap over the horn, but the strap does not loop conveniently into a compact storage. It is difficult for a rider to place a foot into the strap when the rider has limited leg movement. The strap does not have a defined opening for the foot, which is inconvenient for the rider and, when used, causes painful side pressure on the foot. The strap is not secured to the saddle horn and there is the likelihood of the strap falling off when riding hard. There is no provision for placing the strap immediately behind the normal riding stirrup. A person with poor leg motion will find it hard to cross the legs in the cramped space between stirrups to get the correct leg into the normal riding stirrup.  
         [0010]     U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,938 describes a stirrup extension that hooks onto the existing riding stirrup, but there is no safe and convenient method for the rider to remove the extension without leaning over severely to reach the top of the device. It has limited use as it is dangerous to leave the extension on the riding stirrup as it may catch on tree limbs and bush, and further, it is liable to fall off.  
         [0011]     U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,161 describes a leg up strap that is designed to assist the rider in climbing onto a horse. The strap has limited use as there is no provision for the rider to remove the strap from the horse when mounted. It is hazardous to leave the strap in place while riding, and the flexible foot opening creates unwanted side pressure on the foot as already mentioned in previous discussions on other patents.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0012]     This invention pertains to a conveniently removable mounting stirrup that may be designed for various lengths, allows the rider the ability to climb into a riding saddle with limited leg movement, and provides for convenient, very compact storage. The mounting position and mechanism facilitates an easy and secure method of attachment, and also a convenient way for the rider to store the stirrup and to re-attach it while on top of the riding animal. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING  
       [0013]      FIG. 1  is a front view of the retractable stirrup assembly.  
         [0014]      FIG. 2  is a side view of the retractable stirrup assembly.  
         [0015]      FIG. 3  shows how the retractable stirrup assembly may be attached to a saddle. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0016]     One important goal of this invention is to provide a method to allow a rider with limited leg movement to more easily mount up on an equestrian saddle. It also provides suitable assistance for riders with shorter legs, such as children.  
         [0017]     Another important goal of this invention is to provide a method where the temporary mounting stirrup is conveniently removed and stored by a rider in a bag, such as a saddle bag. The device has been particularly designed with consideration to this by using flexible material, to the extent practical, so it may be stored in a very compact space. It also has been designed so that the flexible material will conveniently wind around a winding buckle, such as used in seat belts. The stirrup has been designed to be light weight and present little hazard under normal use.  
         [0018]      FIG. 1  shows a front view of the retractable mounting stirrup in the retracted position. A D Ring  10  at one end allows for saddle attachment. As an alternate, a round ring may also be used. An upper strap  12   a  interconnects the D Ring  10  and a winding buckle  13 . The upper strap  12   a  is attached to the D Ring  10  by looping the upper strap  12   a  around the D Ring  10  and securing it by suitable upper strap stitching  11   a . Other methods of securing the upper strap  12   a  to the D Ring  10  may be employed. These methods may include mechanical crimps, rivets, glue, wire, etc. that are well known in the art. A lower strap  12   b  is attached to a continuous stirrup strap  14  that loops through the lower strap  12   b  and the stirrup tread  15 . Similar to the upper strap stitching  11   a , the lower strap  12   b  connects to the continuous stirrup strap  14  by looping around the continuous stirrup strap  14 , as shown, and securing it with suitable lower strap stitching  11   b . Other methods may be employed to secure the lower strap  12   b  to the continuous stirrup strap  14  as already mentioned for the upper strap  12   a . The continuous stirrup strap  14  may be connected to the lower strap  12   b  in a manner to prevent sliding or it may be rigidly attached. The continuous stirrup strap  14  and stirrup tread  15  create a near triangular shape which makes is convenient for a rider to place a foot into the opening. The stirrup tread is made of a rigid material, such as metal or plastic, to define the triangular shape without the necessity for a rider to manually create a space for the foot by using his or her hands. The rigid stirrup tread also prevents the continuous stirrup strap  14  from putting side pressure on the rider&#39;s foot. Other prior art devices do not consider the difficulty some individuals have with this issue.  
         [0019]     The upper strap  12   a  and lower strap  12   b  are preferably the same type of strap to ensure that the winding buckle  13  will function properly; however, this is not a requirement. The winding buckle  13  may also be designed to wind up the upper strap  12   a , the lower strap  12   b , or both straps. The continuous stirrup strap  14 , the upper strap  12   a , and lower strap  12   b  may be the same or different types of material. Any suitable strap material may be used that will carry the required load safely, and have appropriate wear properties. In a preferred embodiment, a strap material that is suitable for a seat belt is used for all three straps.  
         [0020]      FIG. 2  shows a side view of  FIG. 1  to provide further clarification. The winding buckle  13  is preferably a commonly used strap winding system such as distributed by SeatBeltPros.com, P.O. Box 1554, Langley, Wash. 98260 and provides for a spring driven winding mechanism. Other types of strap winding mechanisms may also be employed by methods well known in the art, which provide for mechanical strap winding featuring the use of a spring, and are readily available commercially.  
         [0021]     An important embodiment of the current invention is to allow the length of the retractable stirrup to be varied. This may be done by increasing the length of the upper strap  12   a  and lower strap  12   b . A buckle or adjustable belt can also be added to either strap to vary the length. As an alternative, similar devices that provide for strap length adjustment may be applied that are well known in the art.  
         [0022]     The stirrup tread  15  is preferably of suitable dimensions for functionality and for compact storage. Experiments with different stirrup tread  15  designs found that a rectangular bar with an opening for the continuous stirrup strap  14  with the outside dimensions of 5½ inches long, 1½ inches wide, and ¾ inches tall was suitable. Preferred lengths were found to be 4½ to 6″ long, based on typical foot widths. A ¾″ wide stirrup tread  15  was found to be too small and allowed the foot to easily slip out. Suitable widths were found to be 1 to 1½″ wide. A preferred stirrup tread  15  material is an aluminum rectangular structural tube that is 5½″ long, 1″ wide, and ½″ tall with a ⅛″ metal thickness. As a preferred embodiment, the top of the stirrup tread  15  may be modified to prevent foot slippage by adding a slip resistant material or increasing surface roughness as is well known in the art.  
         [0023]      FIG. 3  illustrates how the retractable stirrup may be attached to a typical riding saddle  33 . A clip  32  is rigidly attached to the saddle so that the retractable stirrup assembly  34  is located behind the normal riding stirrup  35 . The retractable stirrup assembly  34  may be located anywhere within the area  31   b . As an alternate, it may also be located ahead of the normal riding stirrup  35  in area  31   a . A clip  32  is only one possible method of attachment. Other attachment hardware may be employed, by methods known to those skilled in the art, and include a buckle, hook, snap, latch, or a tie off arrangement. It is preferred that the location of the clip  32  or other mounting hardware is placed where the rider will not have to lean over excessively to remove the retractable stirrup. The attachment should be simple and suitable to carry the weight of the rider, as the retractable stirrup is not meant to replace, or be an alternate for, the normal riding stirrup  35 .  
         [0024]     The actual use of the retractable stirrup is straight forward. The retractable stirrup is attached to the saddle, the rider pulls the stirrup tread downward until the upper and lower straps are completely extended from the winding buckle, and then the rider puts the right foot into the retractable stirrup. The rider then puts the left food into the normal riding stirrup, swings the right leg over the saddle, and sits. The spring winding mechanism in the winding buckle then retracts the straps automatically, and the rider may then remove the retractable stirrup and store it. Alternatively, the rider may allow the retractable stirrup to remain in place.  
         [0025]     In particular, this invention has been conceived to allow for a very compact storage. The unit can be collapsed to fit into a rectangular box 6″ inches long, 2″ deep, and 2.5″ tall which equates to 30 cubic inches. It would also fit into a cylindrically shaped storage bag 6″ long with an equal volume. This allows the unit to be conveniently stored by the rider in a saddle bag, knapsack, or other storage place accessible to the rider. The use of flexible straps makes this possible, rather than using many rigid members to define the stirrup assembly.  
         [0026]     While various embodiments of the present invention have been described, the invention may be modified and adapted to various uses to those skilled in the art. Therefore, this invention is not limited to the description and figures shown herein, and includes all such changes and modifications that are encompassed by the scope of the claims.