Spurs…now there ought to a book written on them. To start with, most times if I’m on a horse I’m wearin spurs. One exception is the first couple rides on a new colt. Now just cause they’re strapped on don’t mean I’ll use em. The horse tells me that. But a lot of times I’ll be on different horses in a day and some need em while some don’t.
First my thoughts on the spurs themselves. There’s a lot going on in what seems like some simple steel. There’s different lengths, angles, rowels, bands, etc It all means something.
First let’s think about length. I’m not a tall fella by no means so I use a little longer spur. Reason for that is one thing I use a spur for is to get under the belly a little to get some “lift”. With my short legs a long spur lets me reach under there. A taller fella might be able to use a shorter spur and get his legs wrapped under a little to do the same thing. Think about what your legs are doin when you sit a horse. His barrel is round and the length of your legs and how you ride your stirrups changes things around. A shorter person might want shorter spurs if they don’t have good focus on their legs. Short legs end up in the middle of the barrel which puts the spur close to the horse and can accidentally get touched. Longer legs hang where the barrel turns back under allowing some room for “mistakes”.
Angles. I ride a pretty straight spur. That’s cause I use a spur to cue for the lope by laying my outside calf just a little back to get the horse set up. Then I’ll kind of turn my foot to touch the spur and get the hips set up for the correct lead. With more drop on a spur I feel like I have to roll my toe down to get the proper touch. Might not be right but it’s a feeling I got.
Rowels. I like a pretty mild rowel. Nothing fancy, I thinks it’s a 10 point rowel…enough where they’re kinda close together making it kinda mild. Most of the horses I ride don’t need alot of spur and the ones that do I just tolerate less from them and we get along good.
Bands, I don’t like a narrow band. just a mind thing I guess but they feel less stable on my boot. Course I always wear boots with a spur shelf on the heel so I guess I’m kinda wierd about spur stability.
Using em. I feel mostly a spur is to make a horse do sideways things. I almost never use them to cue for a walk or trot. Maybe a little bump to wake em up in the morning but not much after that. Unless a horse is really light sided I almost always use them to cue the lope. And saying “them” is kinda wrong as I cue the lope with one leg, usually the outside leg but I’ve seen a couple horse prefer the inside leg to get started on the right lead. Now some horses are so light they pick up the leads with just calf pressure (or boot tops as Mr. Vogt says) but mostly I use the calf pressure as a “warning cue” then roll the spur in to start the lope.
It drives me nuts to see barrel racers spurring like bronc riders. I don’t think spurs have anything to do with forward motion or speed. If they did wouldn’t jockeys wear them? They are merely a tool to help a horse understand cues in a refined manner and also give them direction sideways.
Ok now that I bored you to death with that. I don’t suggest hopping on Leo with the spurs. I owned a mare many years ago that was as broke as I ever seen. But if you layed a spur on her you’d better have rocks in your pockets so you didn’t get so much altitude when she threw you. He’d be better to be tried by someone who really knows how to use the spur and when to see if they are something Leo would like to incorporate into your program.
If you want to learn to use the spurs find a good thick sided horse that doesn’t mind them and is maybe even a little hard sided. Experiment with your leg position, pressure applied, etc. to see what responses you get.
And yes you can train without spurs. Sounds like you’re doing a darn good job of it now. Actually if you’re not careful spurs can become a “crutch” and you lose some deication to the proper use of your legs. So maybe in the long run you might be at advantage at this poit of the game.
Sounds like Leo will get over his bucking days without much effort. Seems his issues are more trust and rather rather than him being an outlaw. Actually that was the first time Bandit bucked when I was on him. I knew he was darn good at it because I’d seen him when we ground worked when he was younger. But I just wrote it off as a fluke thing (damn dog) and petted his neck and told him that was a pretty athletic thing to do.