Cavalli Connections » The lifelong pursuit of classical riding.

Spurs Are Earned

I have a confession.  I am almost 28 years old…and I’m not allowed to wear spurs.  That’s right, my Mother won’t let me!

Are you done laughing?

My problem is that I have ridiculously high arches and for some reason it’s the hardest thing in the world for me to keep my toes pointed dead straight forward.  My ankle collapses to the inside and my toe turns slightly out.  So it would be incredibly irresponsible of me to strap on a pair of spurs until I can get this problem fixed because at the moment, I wouldn’t be able to limit my use of the spurs to exactly when I meant to use them.  I’m working on it!  I even have those stirrups that have the hole for the leathers slightly to the inside so the outside of the stirrup hangs a tiny bit lower and helps your leg “wrap”.

Spurs are meant to be a refinement of the aids.  To be qualified to wear spurs, a rider needs to have complete control over the independent parts of his/her body.  I find that most people don’t know this.  Many people who choose to wear spurs do so because they want to shout with their aids, i.e. smack their dance partner upside the head (if you’re confused, read my last entry).

Put another way, too many people use spurs for the opposite reason that they are intended.

If your horse isn’t listening to your aids, the first thing to consider is if you are being clear with your aids.  Secondly, are you asking at the appropriate time?  Can the horse respond to your aid at that point in his stride?  Thirdly, is the horse ready for what you are asking him to do?  Does it violate the training scale?

Perhaps your horse has had a rider that constantly nagged him and he became “dead to the leg”.  Horses like this can be extremely frustrating to ride, but remember it is never the horse’s fault that he wasn’t trained correctly.  Your job is to be incredibly patient and help him through the re-training process.  A reminder with the whip following a non-response to your whispering aid is much better than repeating the aid over and over until you’re dripping with sweat and your horse is thoroughly frustrated.

A good rule of thumb is that if you can’t do it without spurs, you shouldn’t do it with spurs.  (Hmm, kind of sounds like that comment should have been modified and included in my Harsh Bit entry!)

The problem is that there are millions of riders out there who don’t know this and countless numbers of horses are taking the hit for it.  Spurs should be something you earn, when a trainer who is qualified to know tells you that you’ve reached the level of control and expertise necessary to wear them.