Spurs. Do or don't?

TheEquineOak

TheEquineOak

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I do have a pair but have never really considered using them.

I girl on my yard struggles without them, her horse rarely goes off the leg. She recently had a lesson with our riding instructor who told her that using 'correct' aids and a schooling crop is more beneficial when teaching a young horse to understand and react to aids.

My young horse also struggles to come off the leg. I think this is more to do with him trying to take the micky out of me...not because he doesn't understand what I am asking of him. This girl suggested using spurs but, I've never used them and have never really thought about using them.

Do you use them to get your horse of your leg? Are they just a quick fix? YO strongly disagrees with the use of them so I got a bias answer from her!!

Thanks :D
 
As long as you have a secure lower leg and are taught how to use them correctly then I would say they are better than having to keep kicking and nagging at a horse.

Children under 14- no to wearing spurs. Sorry.
 
Muchadoaboutnothing said:
As long as you have a secure lower leg and are taught how to use them correctly then I would say they are better than having to keep kicking and nagging at a horse.

Children under 14- no to wearing spurs. Sorry.
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That should be fun... I would want a lesson to learn how to use them correctly and my instructor hates them :D I know my horse was ridden in them previously - he goes perfectly for my OH without them though :(
 
It depends really if you want to get acute messages to your horse, you can ask direct questions more accurately with them. You don't have to get severe ones just small ones that will help get a reaction from your leg aids.

Transitional work is good to get the horse off the leg, walk-canter/ Halt to trot failing this and he is dead to your leg you might as well give it a go, they are there to support your leg aid, you usually don't have to use them that much and find yourself using your calves more, they can be used as a wake up reminder - for when you put your leg on it means "move forward"

I tend not to use them they are a last resort for me, I prefer using a firm tap with a schooling whip failing my leg not working.
 
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I wear them, I think as long as you lower leg is good enough that you can wear them but not necessarily use them then it's OK. I have them so that if one of mine is being particularly lazy then I have them as back up after I use the nudge-kick-stick method.
I also find that my mare is a lot more respectful when I have them on, even if I don't use them.
 
By rights you shouldn't be using spurs unless your horse is moving off your leg properly without them.

It's like the bit really, I wouldn't use one until the horse is working off your seat. Bits and spurs should only be used by competent riders well schooled horses.

When folk start jabbing horses in the mouth or in the flanks, its no substitute for riding ability or schooling the horse properly.
 
Children under 14- no to wearing spurs. Sorry.[/QUOTE]

I have to disagree with this,although always did agree with it.
My son .who is younger than 14 now werars them on his horse.His horse,who he hunts lacks manners whilst standing still,and he is dead to the leg in this situation,so spurs have really helped.His lower leg is very still,and has been taught to use them properly.
Having said that,when my son rides anything else,i take his spurs off his boots.
In the right place spurs really help.
 
i wear spurs for jumping mostly, taz isnt the most confident when it comes to jumping bigger than about 80cms as we had a bad fall in 2009, i would loose my balance if i had to really kick him into a fence but when i have the spurs on its the tiniest nudge about two strides before take off and then he's fine, shouldnt need them this spring as have been working without them over the winter, i do occasionally use them for schooling as well if i plan on doing lateral work, i feel they change the way i ride completely as i have to focus more on keeping my lower leg secure.
 
Spurs are for refining the aids rather than driving horses forwards, so no, I would never use them for a horse that was lazy or slow off the leg. The best way to treat that problem is never to nag with the legs, as horses just become immune to the aid. Lots of transitions is the answer. When giving the leg aid, ask nicely at first (a gentle squeeze) then if the horse does not immediately react, then apply a big strong boot wth the leg, or another squeeze backed up by a tickle with the schooling whip. It depends on the horse what works best (I prefer the former), but I guarantee that the horse will be moving forwards from the squeeze alone after a minute or so. You have to be consistent and resist the urge to kick every stride and keep your legs still between giving the aid.
 
Thank you everyone for your replies.



Wagtail said:
Spurs are for refining the aids rather than driving horses forwards, so no, I would never use them for a horse that was lazy or slow off the leg. The best way to treat that problem is never to nag with the legs, as horses just become immune to the aid. Lots of transitions is the answer. When giving the leg aid, ask nicely at first (a gentle squeeze) then if the horse does not immediately react, then apply a big strong boot wth the leg, or another squeeze backed up by a tickle with the schooling whip. It depends on the horse what works best (I prefer the former), but I guarantee that the horse will be moving forwards from the squeeze alone after a minute or so. You have to be consistent and resist the urge to kick every stride and keep your legs still between giving the aid.
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Wagtail I completely agree with this - my riding instructor tought me to use the 'ask twice' then use the schooling crop on the third attempt. Exactly what you have just suggested.
From the looks of things I very much doubt I'm competant enough to wear spurs yet. I have been happy hacking for years and have recently (within the last 4 months) started to learn to ride 'properly'. I doubt my leg is secure enough
 
I have to say that I believe that there is no such thing as a horse either being dead to the leg or hard mouthed. What in fact is happening is that the horse is simply ignoring the request, either from the leg or hand, causing the rider to up the anti in order to get the desired result.

We have all seen folk nagging away at horses with their legs, kicking with every stride. Of course the horse feels every kick, but it has learnt to just ignore.

Similarly with a bit. The horses mouth cannot become dead to the pressure from the bit, it feels everything, but once again is ignoring the rider.

The result in many cases is a much stronger bit or spurs.

Everyone, loves a push button ride, from a responsive, obedient horse. It's not magic that these horses are like that, someone has put in the time and effort to achieve this result. Accepted that every horse is different, and the push button horse can sometimes be trained very quickly, but others take lots of work effort and patience.

Spurs and strong bits are for the accomplished rider and well trained horse at the top of their game, not an attempted short cut to this level using pain and discomfort.
 
AndySpooner said:
I have to say that I believe that there is no such thing as a horse either being dead to the leg or hard mouthed. What in fact is happening is that the horse is simply ignoring the request, either from the leg or hand, causing the rider to up the anti in order to get the desired result.

We have all seen folk nagging away at horses with their legs, kicking with every stride. Of course the horse feels every kick, but it has learnt to just ignore.

Similarly with a bit. The horses mouth cannot become dead to the pressure from the bit, it feels everything, but once again is ignoring the rider.

The result in many cases is a much stronger bit or spurs.

Everyone, loves a push button ride, from a responsive, obedient horse. It's not magic that these horses are like that, someone has put in the time and effort to achieve this result. Accepted that every horse is different, and the push button horse can sometimes be trained very quickly, but others take lots of work effort and patience.

Spurs and strong bits are for the accomplished rider and well trained horse at the top of their game, not an attempted short cut to this level using pain and discomfort.
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Well said. People are too quick to get a gadget.
 
Spurs are really to be used to get a very accurate aid across generally to a well schooled horse rather than a youngster or one who isnt going off the leg...when indeed i think your instructor is probably correct about correct aids and a tap to get horse forward. They need to worn by someone who has been taught to use them and also is able to wear but not use all the time so need to have a very good lower leg position.
I used them on my veteran when doing dressage with him and i used them on my loan horse when schooling and hacking but as a back up he was no good with a crop and would actually try to kick me whilst riding so i had the spurs for when he spooked on the road and wouldnt go forward with normal leg aids I could give that extra incentive, it is not how they should be used but after much deliberation it was decided that was the safest option!
 
I think that spurs are ok on a slightly older horse as you'd think that a younger horse would be dulled to your leg if you use spurs right from the start. However I don't agree with using spurs on a fizzy horse that really doesn't need spurs used on it!!
 
For me, spurs are for refining aids and lateral work. If you horse is dead to the leg, you put spurs on and he will soon become dead to those aswell.
I found that exercises such as, asking the horse to really "trot on" down a long side then on the short side make him "come back" to you then repeat again. Loads of transitions and of course squeeze and if h doesn't listen; then a firm smack with the whip to say "oi listen!"
I've found that people almost get "lulled" into constantly nagging and kicking a horse, so you need to be disciplined, don't let him con you! :)
 
Spurs should not be used as a "go faster" aid. Spurs, if used correctly should, in fact, produce the opposite effect. A spur used correctly will cause a contraction of the abdominal muscles (think of how your own muscles would contract if someone pokes you sharply in the sides). The effect of this muscle contraction (assuming that the spurs are used correctly) is to lift the back, via the abdominals, hence bringing the horse more under himself and aiding collection. I'm not the most eloquent of people, and I'm sure that somebody can explain this far better than me.

So, I personally would only prefer to see spurs only ever used (if at all) on a horse/rider combination who are ready to work at those levels of collection.

As a go forward/go faster aid spurs are the wrong answer. I agree with Wagtail's advice above on getting a horse to move forward.
 
I think they can be useful with horses who don't understand what you mean when you tap them with a whip- our horse understands the whip to be a form of punishment/ something to make him go faster. This is from his racing background, not us, I might hasten to add.

In their last lesson, they had a new instructor. She put spurs on my sister as she felt that Reg was ignoring my sister and doing his own thing. Once A was wearing the spurs, Reg instantly responded to any aids she gave far quicker and with far more enthusiasm- she hardly used them, but they were there for when she needed to. However, she has been bandying the idea of using spurs round for a while now, but didn't want to until she had the permission and initial supervision of someone who was more experienced than her.

As for children under 14- what exactly happens at 14 that means they suddenly become able to use spurs? I know lots of under-14s who use spurs (with full permission from our DC) who are confident, capable young riders. I'd far rather see them using spurs than an adult who has no lower leg control or doesn't understand how to use them properly...
 
i use spurs for serious schooling [ as opposed to mooching around the menage] & solo hacking but its mostly because i have quite severe carpal tunnel in both hands & find it very difficult to manage a whip & the reins - so the ask/tell options are not open to me
 
I'll go completely against the grain here -I use spurs on my pony all the time - hacking, flatwork, jumping. He is not a super-well schooled horse and I am not going to claim to be a good rider. He is a lazy little monster who responds much better when ridden in spurs - he almost seems happier and I am certainly much happier as we don't have to argue about things...I ask, he does (mostly!). Every horse is different and reponds differently, and needs riding differently.
 
Well, after all that, Arnie was unbelievabley responsive in the school today.

He went first time I asked and listened to what I asked him to (except when I asked him to do lateral work which he finds boooooring)

Again, thank you everyone for your replies :)
 
I've been brought up in the "spurs for experienced riders, on well schooled mounts to give refined aids" school of thought. My instructors have always had quite strong opinions about it, but perhaps that's because for RI the request might often come from lazy people on leg-unresponsive school ponies. The real solution I've been taught is transition work, coupled with ask twice then tap behind the leg with a crop. Turning away for a month or more can also help "leg dead" horses who've become bored of their work. If the horse goes perfectly for your OH and he doesn't wear spurs presumably, then I don't see how spurs could be the answer necessarily.

Here's to luck being better, and Arnie being in that responsive mood more often for you then!
 
I dont personally think riding all the time in spurs is benefical particualrly when your using them as your horse isnt responsive enough, i will only really use spurs in competition if the hrose is feeling a bit numb or if im doing a lot of lateral work as i find them helpful with my horse then, the rest of the time i think its better to teach the horse to go off your leg and then you can just use spurs on certain occasions and get the full effect rather than all the time and the horse then ignoring them too
 
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