Editing Blog/2025-02-24/Lost Science (section)

=== Stirrups ===

Another example, more historical, is the invention of the stirrup. South Indians used toe stirrups for ages, perhaps for stability. But the foot stirrup was invented among the Chinese for ages before it made its way to Europe through cultural diffusion. The [[wikipedia:Cataphract|cataphracts]] I was so fond of in Age of Empires were actually completely unstirruped and they packed quite a wallop. But you can imagine the increased efficacy of a cavalry that was foot-stirruped must have been quite desired.

The technology for stirrups existed for a long time and they "should have been" invented much earlier. Some argue that the absence of a rigid saddle tree (the base of a saddle) causes too much pressure<ref name=saddle-tree-pressure/> so it could conceivably be argued that stirrups absent the padded saddle would position the rider strictly in the same position each time causing the horse to be more tired than with the natural more random movement otherwise.