Spurs have rubbed her again!

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I am getting really fed up now... Grace's skin is so easily marked and after I used the spurs for just 20 mins tonight (I hardly used them because she was quite forwards from my leg even when I was asking more of her) and she has rub marks which start swelling immediately.

Has anyone else had this problem?

She is a chesnut WBxTB and has paper thin skin unfortunately. My trainer has seen me use the spurs and has not commented on any misuse etc etc.
 
No, I think they are going to be a final option as I have tried everything from putting Vaseline on her sides before riding to finding some really short ones with tiny little rounded ends...

Have you used the Impuls ones madmare?

Does anyone know whether they are BD legal or not?

I only use the spurs for that extra lift... I have been instructed to work her now in a more elevated trot and the spurs just allow my leg to remain a little stiller and less 'active' so to speak. It's a shame because she gave me a fantastic ride tonight, some of the best trot work I have ever had from her
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OMG... Grace would have a complete panic attack I think
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But I will definitely give it a go... I will try anything at this moment in time. If anyone hears me mention buying another chesnut WB, please remind me of this post.
 
I haven't tried them myself, but I'm pretty sure they are dressage legal - I saw people wearing them in YH classes this year. You could give BD a ring.

If all your spurs are rubbing, perhaps it is time to give them a try.

My old mare had very very thin skin but I found that smooth rowels were good and didn't mark. Even the blobby end ones rubbed her sides. If impuse spurs had been around when I had her I probably would have bought them. Current horse couldn't give a toss what I wear!
 
I have tried the smooth rowel ones which she did have a mark from but only a slight one, but then tried the rounded blobby ones which seemed better but then the more I used them the more she seemed to have bald patches
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Her fur rubs off so easily, but tonight they had rubbed off some skin too (it seems worse when they get a build up of grease on from her coat towards the end of the session
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). I have a real nightmare with tack rubbing (her girth area is bald and she has an Albion one that is shaped and incredibly soft leather) so I should have known this would be a big issue. My IDxTB mare never has a problem with spurs, but then she is dark bay
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The bobble ones do mark for some unknown reason. I love my impuls spurs, they are everyting legal and my boy goes really well in them. Think you will find they are your solution.
 
hmm, not sure tbh!! Don't think there is one from what i have seen....have got the "proper" impuls ones and they are fab. The mark todd ones look identical from what I have seen.....
 
Becky, I am going to ask you to trust me on this one. Whatever spurs you use will probably cause the same problem but in varying degrees. The horse is obviously very sensitive & that doesnt suprise me as you say it is chesnut. You never mention that when you get the rubs she is more sensitive to the leg ie: causing discomfort. My advice to you would be simply sometimes this happens, the skin has just got to toughen up. The only way this will happen is if you continue in the use of the spurs (preferably during a non competition period) It will help if you apply some meths or something similiar but the long & short of it is it's a process. It will get better, then just go away. I have seen this happen many a time with breakers. People who know no better are horrified at the hard & sometimes sore looking mouth area. In fact it is just the horse's skin adjusting to the pressure of contact whilst getting a mouth.
Years ago we had a huge chesnut hunter that during the season would lose some condition & then the saddle would start to slip on the hilly terrain. We used a well fitting breast plate & OMG he looked like he had been scarred for life. I even called the vet out. He insisted we continue use & after a few weeks he had toughened up completely. With no further problems. Promise it will work out.
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I have a pair of the Mark Todd ones, I really do recommend you try them, my boy is a bit sensitive (not to the same degree as Grace by the sounds of it though!) and I've never noticed any marks at all. Because of the 'ball' action the area of pressure is spread slightly rather than the others which give a little poke in one place.
 
Thanks FRESHMAN.... I put meths on my dog's tail because she gets so excited and cuts it when in the kennels on the metal bars
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It does help, but she still cuts it occassionally. I will definitely try this with Grace though.

It is funny you should mention the mouth, when I started riding Grace (I rebacked her after no work since backing) and her mouth was an absolute mess! I was horrified because I am a very quiet rider in my hands, but because I had not ridden for a month due to Han being in foal, I started thinking I had become heavy. Then I wondered whether it was the bit (KK loose ring - there is a post about it on here somewhere) because when she had 3 weeks off with her abscess her mouth was a complete mess again when I started riding her.

My trainer has told me to ride in them every other session, so that is what I will continue to do. Hopefully, her sides will toughen up a little
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She is more sensitive to the leg when I have the spurs on, but no different at the beginning to how she is at the end when the rubs have appeared. It is awful because I think a few people are a bit horrified when they see them on her side as though I must be really digging them into her, which I know I am not. The following morning they are a bit swollen, but then she comes up like this with anything (fly bites, small cuts, injections etc etc).
 
You might also find it the time of year & their coats changing.
My 'chestnut' dressage boy used to mark in ordinary spurs. For the last 2 years I've been using rowls & a) he goes much better off them & more importantly b) they don't mark him.
However in the spring & autumn when his coat changes they do. He's been fine all summer & then last week i noticed after I'd worked him that the hair was missing & the site seemed a bit red.
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I'm working him without then for a few weeks (especially as I have area festivals at the end of the month & don't want to turn up with marks on his side!!)
So what i'm trying to say is your not alone, I used to feel terrible when i marked him to & also you may find if you work him for a few weeks without, once the coat has changed you'll be ok again.
Plus I def recommend rowls for sensitive skin as they move so i think they mark less. I was horrified when my instructor first suggested them but they are far kinder for my boy than normal spurs.
 
We've got an ex-racer that really marks, so have invested in the Mark Todd "ball" action spurs and a crop from the jockey club. Neither of them mark at all and are effective. The spurs are legal with at all competition apart from pony club as they are classed as "not fixed".
 
Maybe I'm wrong with regard to PC stuff, I know my friend whos just competed at the eventing finals wasn't allowed to wear them - apologies if I am.
 
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