spurs......or not

elle

elle

Horsey Girl
Aug 3, 2000
258
0
0
38
staffordshire (midlands)
freeserve.com
hi everyone

i just want to know if anyones got any alternatives to spurs, i'm gonna start having a few lessons on my horse of the lad who broke her in, the only thing is though shes is ver lazy and he thinks i will need spurs.

i odnt want to use spurs though, i dont feel that i'm delicate enough with my legs to use spurs and i odnt want to hurt my horse, but o nthe opposite wave lenght i odnt want to hurt her by kickin her to muchwhen im trying to get her to move.

She does respond well to a whip but i dont really believe in using a whip unless i absolutly ahve to, to be honest i'd rather use a whip even thought she doesnt like it instead of spurs.

Does anyone have any ideas? i'll be grateful for anthing at all.
 
I would definately advise using a crop over spurs. Unless you feel advanced enough, and think you could use spurs. I guess thats up to you and your instructor to decide.

If you do decide to use spurs, try using the ones with the balls on the end. Nothing sharp, but most people say that the 'ball' spurs work very well.
 
Not. Absolutely not.

Are you 150% sure your horse is lazy? A lot of horses get labelled lazy when in fact we're the ones who are inadvertently holding them back, by not absorbing their movement correctly and going "with" them, or by confusing them with unclear aids, or by confusing speed with impulsion and trying to nag them out of their natural rhythm. I really would take a long hard look at your riding, and the reasons why you think your horse is lazy, before resorting to spurs. If you've got it wrong, you can only do a lot of harm by using them.
 
I wholeheartedly agree with Ros, leg aids are totally new to a newly backed horse, they're feeling alot of new sensations, plus trying to work out what your aids mean and at the same time trying to balance you and themselves.

I backed my 4 yr old earlier this year, she was very slow to begin with, I've found riding out with another horse has helped her a great deal, she's relaxed and started to swing along and is now beginning to listen to my legs. I did have a problem with her a few weeks ago, when I took her into the paddock to do some gentle schooling, I started by long lining her for 10 minutes, then got on, she point blank refused to walk away from the gate, bouncing her back end (tiny bucks), as I got abit more insistent she bagan to back - knowing this was an argument I didn't want to be in, I halted, relaxed, asked a small circle in the gate direction, then got off. I rode her out the next day with a friend and she was great.

I then took her to my instructors place for a couple weeks, we worked her alot inhand, then longreined her, but making her work, lots of changes of rein, over poles, through a labrinth, in and out of cones, you name it and we did it. We also concentrated on keeping her straight, and going forward. She has a tendancy to bend to the right, we kept a contact on the outside rein, asked for the bend with the inside and flicked the inside rein off her side for the leg aid. All this helped her enormously, there were times when she got quite grumpy, so we asked her to do something she was good at then asked again and this worked every time.

I've decided not to 'school' Breeze in a schooling environment for a while, but just hack out which she enjoys. She'd be amazed at just how much schooling we've done and she hasn't realised.

I'd be a little dubious of this lad, you never know he may have confused her by using his legs too strongly when he started her. I also wouldn't kick, have nice relaxed legs, lift your thigh out a little then let your leg flap against her side, another is sort of pedal your calf and inner heel gently, keep your lower back, seat and hips relaxed and soft, have a gentle elastic contact on the reins you want to just feel the mouth, have no sag, but no drag, be encouraging and praise, praise, praise. I would definitely recommend hacking out with another horse, mine was more forward going and relaxed within 10 minutes
 
There is no way you should be using spurs on a recently broken horse! Spurs are meant to used on a well schooled horse to enable the rider to give very finely tuned leg aids. They are NOT for making a horse go faster. Young horses are often reluctant to go forward, they lack confidence in themselves and their riders. Also they sometimes physically cannot go any faster without losing their balance and they need help to do this.They need gentle encouragement and lots of praise when they do respond correctly.
 
Unless you can be 100 % sure you can control your legs, even when things go wrong then use a schooling whip. It only a small tap from the stick, it's not a full blown whack you need to use.

If, for instance the horse shies, or becomes difficult can you be absolutely sure what your legs are doing, I can't, that's why I only wear them for dress classes and on very well schooled horses who are less lightly to play up. If you grip up and give the horse a nasty dig in the ribs, no matter how unintentioned it was, you may get yourself launched by some horses. If you over use them you will get the same effect as constantly thumping her in the ribs all the time.

If she's young get her to understand how to move away from the smallest cue from your leg without spurs first.
 
Now this is coming from an old cowboy who you might think was born wearing spurs. In fact, I have never set steel to horse flesh in my life. Never needed to. If I have a horse that needs more encouragement to move forward than my heels, legs and weight shift can do, I'll use a short, wide popper or crop. Now don't get me wrong. Spurs can be an effective tool on the foot of someone who knows how to use them. But more often than not, they end up doing more harm than good. In the case of your horse, I would try leg aids and a crop instead of spurs. Happy Trails!
 
You dont need to kick a horse to get it to move. So if you are worried about hurting it that way, then dont kick it. Squeeze with your legs. Also, spurs are not for everyone. You have to have an indepentant leg, one that is still, and you first must be educated on how a spur works, how to apply the pressure, and where to apply it. But beofre you go to spurs or a crop, try squeezing with your legs, or give little soft kicks with your right leg, then your left, then your right, then your left... You are not kicking the horse to the point to wear it hurts, but just a little nudge. Eventually the horse will get annoyed with all this tapping, and as soon as it moves more forward quit with your legs right away. If that doesnt work, I think a crop would be better. It is easier to use, and in the proper hands, it is safer.
 
Ask your self....how attractive does flailing legs look?

A small tap with a stick is so much better.

If everything turns to manure you can always drop a stick, spurs are stuck to you;)
 
i dont think spurs are very nice things . there was a story in horse and pony, and a showjumper using spurs made the horses side bleed, so no i dont think u should use spurs. With lazy horses, i find that a schooling whip is best as u can keep contact on the reins as well as using the stick . and if all else fails u could get someone to stand near u with a lunging whip .


hope this helps
 
Please don't use spurs on a youngster. Also please don't use spurs if your legs are suspect. Two reasons for not using spurs on your horse. Give her a chance to learn and stay willing. Patience now will reap dividends later. Likewise kick kick kick is a very good way to teach a horse to switch off. Ask nicely once. Tell once then reinforce with a schooling whip behind your leg. Nothing aggressive just a definite I have asked you nicely I require your cooperation NOW. Having said that if you meet something she is not sure of I would give her time to assess her surroundings and find her own confidence rather than going straight for leg and whip.
We were lunging one day and the muck heap lorry arrived, complete with hydraulic grabber on the back. Conn stopped, looked at this huge noisy monster, and assessed it. I stayed where I was in the middle of the circle and talked to her. After a minute or two she decided that it needed keeping an eye on just in case but it was not about to get her, so she she could carry on as required. One ear was listenng to me and t'other was glued to the MAJOR MONSTER just in case.
Good luck
 
I have to agree with everyone. I've heard stories of people using spurs on a frisky young horse, and as the get older, they start 'needing' harder and harder spurs. If its a young horse, I would give it a chance. I'm not sure if you ride western or not, but if you do ride western, you could try giving him a slap with the reigns too. Just use it as if it was a crop. Thats what I do, since Western Riders 'can't' ride with a crop. I do sometimes, but not in shows or anything.
 
Please don't use spurs on your young horse! No point me repearting reasons why! I use spurs on my pony for cross country but my legs are pretty still and I have found they are the only things that work on her (across country that is) she is 11 and well schooled but across country I find the spurs just give her that bit of confidence needed to take on a jump rather than wimp out at last moment. I didn't think they'd work and I know that the same wouldn't happen for most horses.
 
hi, thanks everyone.......it turned out i nthe end ididnt need spurs anyway, i had a lesson on her on saturday and she was fine, she took a bit to get going but after she was fine, i was jumoing very small fences on her and she was brill, i was really pleased with her compared towhat she was like when we first tried to break her.

I did use a schooling whip but only as a little bit of encouragement before the jump which seemed to work well. As for my legs its not they flap around so much its just that sometimes i feel i do kick a bit hard which is what i was worried about, luckily htough my horse is now learning to respond to voice aids really well so i only needed to use my lega as reinforcement for my voice aids.

the only thing i found wrong was that she was hard to get into canter but i undersatnd taht will come as she matures and is ridden more.

Thanks agian everyone.
 
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