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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

{Our Wooden Stirrups from Chile}

From the country where we received our Matrimonial Blessings (read: {Miracle in Chile - the country where we both got married}) we did bring home these wooden Chilean Stirrups. A small and a large one. The Chilean Horse is America's oldest Cow-horse.
More pictures from our honeymoon in Chile you can also see at: {Angels engraved on lucky calender coin of 1969}. But now, let's talk about the Chilean horse. Initially, the rural Native American population of Chile rode bareback. But even today, the horse is used extensively as a means of transportation in the rural areas where we got married. That was in the southern tip of Chile. A long, narrow country with immense beauty. As most of you already know from María Cecilia's extraordinary blog: Casa Dulce Hogar. We both LOVE her country and that for several reasons.
The Chilean stirrup was made of solid wood and by the 18th century, the trunk stirrup took on more of a Persian slipper shape. The later style had lots of influences from the Jesuits and you can read more about that at: The Chilean Horse. The two stirrups I show you here, are on the steps of our gazebo in daylight.
Like all the Chilean stirrups of the past 300 years, they continue to be artistically decorated with beautiful hand-carved baroque patterns that have no equal in the equine tack world. During the 200th birthday of the Republic of Chile, Bicentenario en Chile - 200 años de vida republicana. in María Cecilia's blog, you can see them still being worn on the horses! It's the 3rd photo, just click on hyperlink.
On yet another blog of María Cecilia you can see some real old wooden stirrups: La Casa y el taller de Coca en el Sur de Chile in a photo taken on her trip to the south of Chile, where we got married. By train it took us 15 hours from Santiago, the capital where María Cecilia lives! It is a very long country and till Patagonia you need to cover quite some more distance!
The groove where the metal part would be, you can see here at: Casa Dulce Hogar where María Cecilia shows how a complete one looks like. Also visible on the hyperlink above with more information on the stirrups.
This is how we saw the patients come to the little clinic of Mission Cuinco/Osorno in Chile, wearing such wooden stirrups.
So much about the Chilean cowboy's wooden stirrups...

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9 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 17, 2011 at 2:24 AM

    Beautiful old wooden stirrups!
    I wish you a pleasant Tuesday.

    ReplyDelete
  2. GabriellaMay 17, 2011 at 3:30 AM

    Beim Wort "stirrups" bin ich gleich hellhörig geworden, weil ich ja eine begeisterte Westernreiterin bin und natürlich weiß was stirrups sind! ;o) Jetzt hab ich all mein sehr schlechtes Englisch zusammengenommen und Dein Posting gelesen! Sehr interessant! Und wie toll die Steigbügel aussehen!!!
    Ich schick Dir ganz, ganz liebe Grüße!!
    Gabriella

    ReplyDelete
  3. bikimMay 17, 2011 at 4:11 AM

    so pretty!
    your house is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! love the details you have on the windows!!!! it looks like a sanctuary!
    enjoy!
    happy day,
    Rosa

    ReplyDelete
  4. orchid0324May 17, 2011 at 7:55 AM

    Hello, my Dear Mariette,

    Oh, you really are worldwide lady.
    I thank you about letting me know about stirrup. Well, wooden ones must have been hard to ride on. They sure look artistic and your gazebo steps must be proudly decorated with them.

    I will find time and looking forward to enjoying your post about your wedding in Chile later, amazing place to have the ceremony, isn't it♫

    Hugs, Orchid.

    ReplyDelete
  5. maría ceciliaMay 17, 2011 at 2:11 PM

    Dear Mariette, it´s so nice to see our "estribos" here!!!
    Yes, there are still lots of places here in Chile where they continue making by hand wooden estribos with so many different carved patterns, all of them so pretty. All our "cowboys" wear them all the time, specially in the south where the horse is, like you say, a mean of transportation and also work in the agriculture.

    When you say you went to the south by train, sadly this wonderful train is not working anymore and instead there´s the bus to do the long way trip.
    many hugs

    ReplyDelete
  6. ~*~ saskia ~*~May 17, 2011 at 2:46 PM

    Another beautiful treasure you showed today, my sweet friend. I love popping over here and enjoying your world, Mariette!
    x
    Have a wonderful rest of your day, mine is coming to an end xxx

    ReplyDelete
  7. rosenresliMay 17, 2011 at 4:01 PM

    Hallo Mariette,

    obwohl ich selber jahrelang geritten bin (freizeitmäßig), habe ich solche Dinge noch nie gesehen. Sehr interessant! Hast Du denn ein eigenes Pferd? Ich hab meinen Mann schon geärgert und gesagt, daß wir in unsere Scheune doch eigentlich noch ein Pferd stellen könnten, lach.

    Ganz liebe Grüße,
    Tanja

    ReplyDelete
  8. Draffin BearsMay 17, 2011 at 4:30 PM

    Dear Mariette,

    I love your beautiful old wooden stirrups and what a lovely thing to bring back to remind you of your trip.
    The patina on the wood is fabulous.
    Many thanks for e birthday wishes and I hope you are having a lovely week.

    Hugs
    Carolyn

    ReplyDelete
  9. Johanna GehrleinMay 17, 2011 at 5:34 PM

    Hallo Mariette,
    du hast immer so interessante Sachen. Sowas habe ich noch nie gesehen. Aber sie sind sehr hübsch und kunstvoll gearbeitet. Der große gehört sicher Pieter und der kleine zierliche ist für dich. :-)
    Schöne Grüße, Johanna

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your visit and comment.

Mariette...