How to Ride in Spurs

This rider applies her spurs correctly to effect a collected trot on her mount.

Equestrians commonly wear spurs to emphasize their leg aids. The leg aids -- usually pressing the heels against the horse's sides -- urge the mount to move off or transition from a slower gait to a faster gait. When spurs are applied, the horse feels a sharper urgency from the rider and pays closer attention to what the rider is asking it to do. The most common type of spur used in English riding is called the Prince of Wales spur, with a short, blunted end. Western spurs often come with long tips that end in star-shaped, pointed rowels. Learning how to ride wearing spurs so that you don't desensitize or physically harm your horse takes practice and experience.

Instructions

1. Step into the straps on your spurs, securing the bottom strap under the heel of your boot. Buckle the upper strap on the outside of your riding boot. Position the spurs so that they sit in the middle of your heel and the tips -- or rowels, if you use Western spurs -- point down. Do this for both legs.

2. Mount your horse, ensuring that the spurs don't touch your horse's flanks or sides when putting your feet in the stirrups.

3. Set your feet in the stirrups so that your toes are pointed forward in front of your shins and perpendicular to the sides of the animal. You may need to adjust the position of your legs so that the insides of your calves rest against the horse.

4. Press the sides of first your right, and then your left, heel into your mount's flanks to encourage a good, forward walk with steady pacing and a swinging motion in the animal's back and hindquarters.

5. Use your spurs by turning your calves so that the backs of your legs rest against the horse's sides and gently pressing the backs of your boots with the spur tips into the animal's flanks. Resort to applying the spurs only if the horse refuses to move forward or begins to slow down without listening first to your seat and leg aids.

6. Practice working your horse with spurs at all three gaits (walk, trot and canter).

Tips & Warnings

• You may need to practice keeping your toes pointing forward in your stirrups by sitting upright in the saddle and keeping your heels in a straight line with your hip bones and shoulders. Sitting back in the saddle and resting the backs of your legs against your mount's sides causes your toes to point out and your heels to turn in, forcing your spur tips into the horse at every step, writes five-time dressage Olympian Kyra Kyrklund in "Dressage with Kyra."

• Do not wear spurs when riding your horse if you do not have what is called an "independent" seat. An independent seat means that you use your body's core muscles to hold yourself motionless in the saddle without relying on your legs or hands to keep from falling off. Typically, this level of riding takes years of training and practice.

• Using your spurs at every step desensitizes the horse to your leg aids, warns top dressage rider and trainer Dane Rawlins in "Dressage Masterclass." He recommends only using spurs when you can maintain control of your leg while riding, a feat usually accomplished only by experienced riders.

References

• "Horse Illustrated"; Are Spurs for You?; Jennifer Nice; February 2007
• "Dressage With Kyra"; Kyra Kyrklund, Jytte Lemkow; 2003
• "Dressage Masterclass"; Dane Rawlins, Karen Ryecart; 2004

Resources

• The Scottish Classical Dressage Centre: Lesson 17: The Spurs and Double Bridle (Full Bridle)