spur advice!

IndieandElsie

IndieandElsie

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okay so in the school at my yard my horse can be slightly lazy as she gets bored in the school (she's 6) and i want to purchase some spurs but i dont want to make her dead to leg? she doesnt need any leg at all when jumping in the school/hacking/shows so i will only be wearing spurs to school her and i'm worried it will make her unresponsive when i take them off for jumping and shows etc, so please give me your thoughts and some advice on which spurs to use! thank you :D
 
I only use my spurs for lateral work, even then its just a touch. I wouldn't use spurs for a lazy horse as in time the horse will just get used to the spurs. If the horse is behind the leg then I do this - Ask the horse with a squeeze of your calves, if no response then ask again exactly the same but this time back up your leg with a schooling whip, remember to give with the reins. Then go back to the begining with a light squeeze and if the horse goes forward give a big praise.
 
cannot carry a whip on her she is terrified of them and bolts, she is not lazy as such just her responce is much slower!
 
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Sounds like some careful desensitising work with whips might be useful. In the meantime, you need to insist on an instant response to your leg aid by using a light aid and following it up if necessary with a progressively stronger one until you get the desired response. Then leave her alone until her motivation drops off, and repeat. Always test with a light aid first. You are aiming to get her to the point where you just think forward and she goes, and then takes you along without further work on your part. If she is really behind the leg you may need to use a strong leg aid, and spurs would be inappropriate in such a situation, particularly if your lower leg is at all unstable. Do plenty of transitions, always allow her to go forward, even if the response is more than you expected, and be ultra-consistent.
 
Spurs can be useful for refining and enhancing the horse's schooling, but if she already dislikes schooling, wearing spurs could just make her even more resentful.

Make schooling fun. Include poles on the floor if she likes it, keep her mind busy. Transitions between and within paces, lateral work, and frequent breaks to let her chill out on a long rein.

If you do want to wear spurs it would be better if you introduced them under the guidance of a good instructor. :)
 
we've had several proffesionals out to attempt to de-sensitise her to whips but due to abuse in her past they were all unsuccessful and i don't want to ruin 3 years of hard work that i've put into her by scaring her so whips are a no-go.

My instructor recommended spurs as my leg is very stable and it's kinder to give a little nudge with the spurs every so often than very strong leg aids so i've just purchased some extremely blunt 3mm spurs and we'll see how it goes.
thanks anyway!
 
Thank you for the reply.

Any thing related to jumping such as poles she gets far too excited and won't work sensibly so we cannot include them in schooling sessions. My instructor recommended spurs for lateral work as she does not move away from the leg without extremely firm/ persistant squeezes which does not look great when doing a dressage test lol.
 
My horse is really strong & forward going but every so often he'll get a bit lazy about doing things properly, eg he's very obedient but he just won't quite put enough effort into things like lateral work but can't carry a whip in the school as it just upsets him. No idea why though as I've had him since a 2 yr old(he's now 16) & even a light flick causes mass hysteria! (take a whip when hacking & it doesn't bother him, wierdo!) anyway I use spurs in the school on an occaisional basis for a few sessions, just to get him listening then can leave them off for ages. I've got small pow spurs & some roller ball spurs.
 
if i use a whip on my horse he panics, yet he can be a little bugger and will test you (very pony-ish andalusian) so i invested in some small round spikey spurs that spin, rather like cowboy ones!!! they look painful but are actually softer than the metal pointy ones that jab ..... and he is a different horse!!! now when i feel him hesitate / nap / slow down, i gently tap him with them and he moves forward happily .... and i always thought spurs were cruel !:)
 
whizzer said:
My horse is really strong & forward going but every so often he'll get a bit lazy about doing things properly, eg he's very obedient but he just won't quite put enough effort into things like lateral work but can't carry a whip in the school as it just upsets him. No idea why though as I've had him since a 2 yr old(he's now 16) & even a light flick causes mass hysteria! (take a whip when hacking & it doesn't bother him, wierdo!) anyway I use spurs in the school on an occaisional basis for a few sessions, just to get him listening then can leave them off for ages. I've got small pow spurs & some roller ball spurs.
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that is exactly what my mare is like, she does what i ask but not quick enough or with enough effort, i'll try those spurs, thank you so much!
 
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