This episode is dedicated to that iconic symbol of all cowboys and cowgirls: the boot spur. Mine never come off my work boots. I check them in my luggage when traveling and as soon as I get to where I’m going they go right back on. They are a part of me and my culture. There are some mixed emotions about spurs and so today we will be going over many questions I’ve got about them. Whether you need spurs, don’t need them, and what purpose they serve.

Key Takeaways

First off, no. You don’t need to have them. At a base level, they are just an extension of your heel. They let me communicate with just a little less effort to whatever horse I’m riding. With the smallest movement, I can give a subtle message to the horse, and I like to be as soft as possible when doing so.

Here is my response to those who may think they are cruel and could hurt a horse. The truth is they are only as harsh as the person using them. They aren’t sharpened like knives. Now, for the inexperienced user or someone not in control of your emotions, you bet they can be brutal. Even what you think would be a mild bit can be abusive if used incorrectly or with too much force.

The bit and spur don’t have any intelligence. They don’t think whatsoever. That said, for new riders spurs aren’t necessarily a great idea. As you learn to balance correctly you often use your feet and hands to stabilize, putting a lot of pressure on the horse. This is why you want to give new riders the most mild bit you can. Same goes for spurs. You need to have proper body awareness before strapping something on that could hurt the horse.

For me, spurs also stand for a bit of mastery over my own horsemanship. It helps me to know that I don’t “need” them, since as I’ve progressed I use less and less of my hands and feet. I’ve learned to give my horse signals in other ways and with more of my posture.

Again, where you release is what you teach. If you’re always kicking and pounding with the spur, then the horse is less likely to listen to you when you apply a gentle pressure. They’ll tune everything else out until that amount of force is applied.

Spur selection. You need to think about the size of your leg length and the horse’s barrel. Say you’re riding English on a large horse and your legs aren’t that long. Your spurs are going to rest right on the widest part of that horse. It doesn’t make sense for your to have long shanks then since there will be a lot of pressure on that horse’s midsection. For Western riding on shorter horses often a longer shank can be useful.

Essentially, you should only use spurs if you don’t really need to use them. You have to be keenly aware with how you are using your spurs and the subtleties of what things you can communicate through them. They are tools of refinement, not aggression.

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