Annagain
Well-Known Member
I've always had very fizzy horses so have had no need for spurs, but am now riding my friend's 17.1hh gentle giant. He's a bit too gentle in fact and is very hard to keep together and keep moving forward. I feel like I'm constantly hammering away and he's totally dead to the leg whilst doing flatwork. Show him a jump and he's a different horse so this is for flatwork only.
His owner has always ridden him in spurs on the flat but I wasn't keen to begin with, partly as I never had ridden in spurs and partly as he's so big moving that my lower leg was a bit wobbly on him at first. Now that I'm used to him though I feel that spurs will help him be a bit more responsive and will mean I won't have to nag at him the whole time.
I've had a look online and had no idea there were so many different types! Can somebody help me work out which ones would be best for him please? I don't want anything too harsh as he's such a sweetie that he'll never complain and I don't want to take advantage of him while I'm getting used to them. Someone mentioned you could get ones with little rollers on them that are less harsh but I haven't seen them yet, anyone know where I can get them from? And how long a shank should I go for? (I assume the smaller the better?)
Also, are there different sizes - as in the bit that goes around your foot? I have very wide feet and ride Harry Hall Faros which are quite chunky.
His owner has always ridden him in spurs on the flat but I wasn't keen to begin with, partly as I never had ridden in spurs and partly as he's so big moving that my lower leg was a bit wobbly on him at first. Now that I'm used to him though I feel that spurs will help him be a bit more responsive and will mean I won't have to nag at him the whole time.
I've had a look online and had no idea there were so many different types! Can somebody help me work out which ones would be best for him please? I don't want anything too harsh as he's such a sweetie that he'll never complain and I don't want to take advantage of him while I'm getting used to them. Someone mentioned you could get ones with little rollers on them that are less harsh but I haven't seen them yet, anyone know where I can get them from? And how long a shank should I go for? (I assume the smaller the better?)
Also, are there different sizes - as in the bit that goes around your foot? I have very wide feet and ride Harry Hall Faros which are quite chunky.