Do you ride with whip and/or spurs?

[Mosh]

Wear spurs on my ex race horse because he is seriously nappy (he napped in company once!!) and without them takes the mickey. He can be a little spooky as well so if he is spooking and I can get him off my leg and past the horse eating monster. He is also very lazy!

Always carry a whip of some sort because I never know when I need it to reinforce my leg or tell him which direction to go in (for example not backwards!)

 

[Tiffany]

Don't use either with my girl, she's forward going enough off my leg

 

[alesea]

I always ride with a whip- I rarely use it, but all of our horses are trained to respond to the whip on the ground, so it makes a useful back-up tool 'just in case'.

I can and will ride with spurs if I need them, but I rarely do. I'd probably put them on at a competition as a little extra if I know the horse is likely to back-off, and occasionally hacking for the same reason. If I get more advanced then maybe I'd need them more for refinement, but there's a lot I need to work on before I get to that stage!

 

[miss_c]

DEFFINATELY don't need spurs on Genie. I always carry a whip for safety, especially out hacking, but very very VERY rarely use it.

 

[lady_annabelle]

yes in the school annie is a right lil madam and refuses to move a whip has no use she just stands but with rounded short spurs she moves beautifully round the school because when she stops it helps my leg be more noticeble and i onli have to use twice in a lesson. but just use a schooling whip when hacking

 

[spookypony]

I used to wear spurs for one horse as a teenager, but haven't worn them in years. I'd want to fix my creeping right heel before putting them back on! I always carry a schooling whip, even out hacking, unless I'm not allowed to for some reason. The Spooky Pony was worried about it initially, but he's not bothered now. I don't think he'd be the right pony for experimenting with spurs just now!

 

[bex1984]

Yes, both. Pony can be quite lazy but seems happier when ridden with spurs - I think it is clearer to him that he has to do as asked! I don't use my whip a lot but I do always carry it in case he chooses to ignore my legs.

 

[tedster]

I dont use either as my pony is a sensitive lad and doesnt even like the whip when lungiing... he doesnt need either anyway

 

[floradora09]

I usually carry a whip on my NF, really to back up my leg but I always carry one when jumping because sometimes he needs an extra bit of oomph going into some of the jumps hehe! I occasionally ride him in spurs, normally if he's not going very well because they seem to wake him up and engage him more- over the summer i jumped in them as he'd been stopping but no longer need them to jump at the moment.

For a few months I also rode a nutty mare who napped, and I sometimes rode with a whip... but she changed so much it was hard to tell when it would do more harm than good, as she used to get really silly when i had it but sometimes when she napped I needed it! xx

 

[millitiger]

Pilfer- spurs for dressage at events.
spurs and whip for all jumping at events.

never have/carry either on him at home as not needed, don't even take a stick out hacking but he is 100%.

Millie- no spurs for anything yet but may start using impulse spurs for flatwork as she can be a bit 'marey' off the leg.
whip for all jumping and hacking as she is a madam!

 

[ISHmad]

Don't ride with either a whip or spurs.

 

[Flashbacksj]

Nearly always carry a whip... occasionally in the school on the flat i dont bother. My boy is pretty good off my leg...

At show (jumping) i carry a short whip... for the occasional sticky moment. and wear rounded spurs as it helps him to just react that little bit more when i need it.

 

[Kat]

I virtually always carry a whip, you can carry one and not use it but you can't use one if you aren't carrying one! The only time i wouldn't carry one is if the horse was worried by it or if I felt I needed my hands free - like this week when it was soooo cold that I was getting numb fingers despite two pairs of gloves. Mare, never really needs it so I left it on the school wall.

A whip can be so useful other than just for a smack or leg aid reinforcement. They can help with gates and undergrowth hacking, on a sensitive horse just touching them with it or tapping your boot can liven them up too. I recently avoided a naughty run out by laying my stick on the horses shoulder - didn't hit him or he would have ended up three fields away!

I use spurs occasionally for dressage and schooling of the horse responds better with them on.

Husband is the same always carries a whip occasionally wears spurs - always on the little coloured cob, as he is very tall on him and needs those mark todd swan neck spurs so that he doesn't have to lift his leg to give the aids.

 

[Ranyhyn]

I always ride with a schooling whip which I use to encourage drivers to give me more room.

 

[Erehwemos]

QR

I dont use either. When I was jumping I carried a very short stick but very, very rarely used it. Now I dont carry a whip at all, and have no need to use spurs

 

[Chex]

[ QUOTE ]
Don't ride with either a whip or spurs.

[/ QUOTE ]
Ditto this. But I only ride my own horse and going forward is not a problem! When I used to use a stick it just made him worse, he went instantly from being slightly reluctant to go forwards to point blank refusing to go anywhere. Stubborn.

 

[brucea]

Don't use spurs. A much respected instructor once said that there are about 5 people in the country with leg control good enough to ride in spurs, and you're not one of them. Like guns really, if you carry one then it becomes a solution...

Whips? Nope. I prefer a rope with a popper - it is much more visible. In any case many horses back into sticks. Again it is the gun illustration, if you carry one it becomes a solution...

 

[chestnut cob]

No to spurs though I always used to ride him in them. Stopped in the early summer and haven't gone back to them as I found I actually didn't need them when I started riding properly (before anyone jumps on me this is not a suggestion that those who ride in spurs can't ride properly etc etc... just that in my case, I only needed them because I wasn't using my leg properly and at the right time. Now I've sorted my timing out, I don't need them). Yes to a whip, out of habit. I do need one for schooling to remind him occasionally. Always hack with one though whether it's a short whip or schooling whip just depends on which one I pick up on the way out. Rarely jump with one, doesn't need it TBH.

 

[yeeharider]

nope thankfully dont need either