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Feedback from "The Gift of an Average Horse"
No...that is not my spur in the PDF photo...some stock photo they used in the article!
I frequently get asked about the use of spurs. Do I use them? When are they appropriate? Should someone always use spurs? Will spurs make a horse dull? Hopefully, this article can shed a little light on the subject.
There are two important things to know about spurs; first — a spur is nothing more than a motivator and second, and this may be a surprise to you, spurs won’t fix your forward motion problems.
A motivator is something that encourages your horse to make a change in its behavior. Other common motivators are halters, bits, your legs while mounted and so on. We use these things to communicate with our horses, to cue them as to what it is we’re asking them to do.
For instance, when you’re leading your horse and you want it to stop; you’ll put some backward pressure on the halter. When the horse stops moving, you release the pressure. In this case, the halter is the motivator that delivers the cue to the horse. The release indicates to your horse that it has done the right thing.
If you’re riding your horse and you want more speed, you’ll first motivate by squeezing or bumping with your legs. When the speed you want is achieved, you stop the pressure. The motivator here is your leg.
But what if you want to be more precise with your request? Imagine pointing with a wave of your hand to indicate a general direction versus pointing to an exact location with your finger. That’s where the use of spurs comes in for me; they add a higher degree of accuracy in communicating with my horse because I can have more cue spots in a smaller area. They also can motivate a horse that knows what I’m asking, but is bent on being sluggish or reluctant about responding. It’s an added incentive when that spur pressure is removed.
But spurs aren’t the best answer for all horses. Consider this scenario:
Employee One arrives at work early every day, happy to be there and ready to perform a good day’s work.
Employee Two goes to work every day, but is often the last one in the door. Although slow to get going, once on the job their work can be generally good.
Employee Three gets to work late and misses entire days regularly. On the job, this employee performs poorly. Repeated reprimands have little or no effect. As time goes on, this employee does less and less each day in an effort to find out how little he can do and still pick up a paycheck.
Figure out what type of “employee” your horse is, and then find an appropriate motivator. You can’t take away your horse’s food or water (a form of paycheck), but you can take steps that an employer might take in setting consequences for inaction.
Both Employees Two and Three need to be reminded the basics of their job. If your horse falls into either of these categories, it has somehow learned that ignoring your legs is an acceptable answer. Resorting to spurs in such cases will only make your problem worse and you could even end up training your horse to ignore your spurs. These horses need to go through some of the same steps that a young horse goes through to learn forward motion. This includes everything that must happen before a horse’s first ride such as groundwork, voice cues and moving forward using a dressage whip or something similar. Then, the same lessons need to be reinforced from the saddle.
A few horses in the Employee Two category are clear about what you want but they’re slow in responding. While spurs can be of some use here, you’ll want to make sure you review the basics before you give them a try. Make sure the problem is their laziness and not their confusion about what it is you’re asking.
So when are spurs appropriate? Spurs can help to motivate your horse effectively ONLY after the horse has a thorough understanding (training level) of what it is you are asking them to do and is willingly complying (Employee One characteristics). As your horse progresses to greater levels of training, less and less pressure is required to communicate a request. Spurs, rather than being a harsher cue, can actually be gentler. With spurs, a concentrated point of light pressure can communicate what would require more pressure from a larger surface such as a heel.
When used correctly the horses don’t really mind spurs at all. The key here is “used correctly.” It is important for you to know your own limitations. Don’t use spurs if you know you might jab when you don’t intend to. And remember, using spurs when your horse doesn’t understand is like talking louder to someone who doesn’t speak your language; it doesn’t help.
Side bar:
- If you have never used spurs before be sure that your horse understands that your legs mean go forward. Test this by using only your leg cues to ask your horse to walk, trot, and lope (no voice cues, whip, etc.) If your horse can’t pass this test you need to do some retraining.
- If you have never used spurs before start with the small slip on kind. This style is small enough that you will be less likely to unintentionally spur your horse. If your legs are shorter you may always need shorter shanked spurs because your foot is closer to the horse’s barrel. If you have longer legs that hang past your horses barrel you can generally get away with longer shanks because your legs are less likely to be bumping your horse’s sides.
- Using spurs will not cause you to always need spurs. Just as any other training goes you can make a horse overly dull or overly sensitive to any cue because of your timing and release.
- Not all horses need spurs. Evaluate your reasons for wanting to use them and if you are not sure look up an AQHA Professional Horseman in your area for personal advice.
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When I talk about teaching a horse to bow, the two comments I get most frequently are “I have always wanted to!” and “Why?” When I was younger, I tried to teach my horses to bow using a carrot as bait. I had some success with my mare, depending on her mood, and the method worked even better
on my food-motivated gelding. Still, I never could get any consistency, and I always needed food … and a hungry horse.
A few years ago, I once again became motivated to teach a horse to bow, but now my motivation was not “just for fun” any more. I was riding my horse bareback, and I seem to have lost the ability to jump as I
have aged. I wanted to be able to mount anytime, anywhere. My answer was teaching my horse to bow.
Bowing is just advanced groundwork. I always recommend that
horses have a solid understanding of respecting your space and giving to pressure, and that they have been thoroughly sacked out to many objects.
To learn to bow, your horse needs to be particularly comfortable with ropes around his body and legs, and must back willingly with either halter or bridle pressure.
I practice bowing at the end of a workout while I am cooling the horse down – usually for about five to 10 minutes each day. The amount of progress is largely determined by consistency and a horse’s level of trust.
Teaching the bow is a two-step process:
1. Bow With the Rope, and
2. Hold Up Your Foot.
While I am teaching my horses, I practice a little of each step every day, but you can also teach Bow With the Rope thoroughly and then move to Hold Up Your Foot.
This month, we’ll discuss Bow With the Rope, and you can practice it. Next month, you’ll learn how to ask for Hold Up Your Foot and put it all together for a bow.
Never tie a slipknot! We are using the rope to reduce backnot to tie the leg up or to force the horse down.
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I have a 4yo blind gelding. He is halter-broken and is very quiet natured and eager to please when working with him from the ground. I believe he can see some things, as he maneuvers around our 64 acre pasture with the other horses very well. When I'm leading him and we approach an object on the ground I halt him and give light pressure downward on the lead, and he'll put his nose to the ground to investigate before continuing. I've led him across a variety of terrains, and he follows the other horses through gullies, into the creed, and all around our wooded areas and fields. Our farm is a working farm, so he is accustomed to other horses, cattle, rifles firing, dirt bikes and 4-wheelers, tractors, logging equipment, etc. To date nothing has frightened him.
My question: I'd love to begin riding him, just at a walk, just on our farm in familiar territory. I was at one time an avid rider and have handled many horses with a variety of temperaments and issues, but I'm now in my 40s with five children so I have little time to trailer to other places for lengthy rides. I just need quiet time with my equine friends. My veterinarian says Stitch is healthy and sound. I have placed a saddle on his back, girth in place. His feet have been trimmed, no issues there. What's your opinion on riding this beautiful horse, and do you have any suggestions for starting him -- should I continue as with any young horse, or do anything special?
You might ask why in the world I'd want to even attempt this, but it's just a personal issue, my belief that an otherwise healthy, active young horse should have a purpose in life just as people need to be needed. Stitch was brought to me in a rescue effort by a young lady who knew his owner and the owner planned to euthanize. My vet recommended she call me, and Stitch arrived a few days later after a 200-mile trailer ride (owner surrendered ownership).
I admire all you do and trust your judgment completely. If you have any suggestions, please consider responding.
Thank you!
Paula C.,
Tennessee
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Paula,
I know this won’t exactly be the most common issue but I did find your question interesting. One of the reasons I found it interesting is because the ANSWER is an interesting theory. For me an interesting theory is one that can be used in many areas of life.
Here are the theory’s. #1- Maybe there is no right or wrong answer here. #2-Look at managing your risk.
So Paula, in your case #1 there is not a direct right or wrong answer in my opinion. So most of the answer comes from #2- what is the risk, are you willing to accept the risk, and what is the best way to manage the risk.
Riding any horse is risky. Actually just this morning I had a horse fall on me.
I was riding Popcorn in my well groomed outdoor riding arena and when I made a sharp turn to the right (teaching Popcorn to accelerate during a sharp turn) when his feet slipped out from under him and he went down on his right side. I curled my legs to try to avoid the fall but found that he was already laying on my right leg. I curled up and said a prayer that my foot would come free as he stood up (prayer answered!). Riding can be risky. I wasn’t going much over a regular lope.
So riding can be risky. You will need to factor in additional risk because of your horse being blind, or partially blind.
I had the chance to work with a horse that was 90% blind in one eye and around 60% blind in the other. Even those numbers are hard to determine because it was also discussed that it was light and shapes more than clear sight we were talking about. This horse got along in the pasture by touching another horse to follow along. The horse was halter broke and led well although she wanted to touch you all the time. Groundwork went OK and I even saddled and rode a little in the round pen.
That is when I decided the risk was passing my comfort zone. I had three young kids and the horse was much less confident when away from other horses. The toughest was if the horse did spook, which was not often, but when she did she was unaware of what she might run into (wall, round pen, falling over things on ground) I wanted to be honest with the customer about the amount of money he was spending and if it was a good investment. We decided to stop where we were at.
I think the horse could have been trained for something. It would have taken extra time and lots of judgment to keep both horse and rider safe. And that is what you need to consider here. The risks to yourself and your horse depending on the situations you choose.
Hi Stacy,
 I did not grow up on horseback and have over the last 14 years jumped in with both feet. I have ridden, shown and started cutters and have spent the last three years riding and am now trying my hand at starting reiners.
I have read Bob Loomis's book, The Art of Reining, Sandy Collier's Reining Essentials and have just received and watched your video series.
I have encountered a problem with my colts and thought you could help. When stopping my colts they seem to catch their toes before they get set and slide.
Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
Franklin A.
Thanks for writing Franklin,
That is actually pretty normal when you first start teaching a horse to slide. Two thoughts that come to mind are the footing and the shoeing. If you are using a farrier that does reining horses you are probably all set in the shoeing department. If not then hopefully you are using a farrier that is willing to call others as well as study and learn. There is an art to shoeing reiners.
As for the footing… I generally have to make changes to my footing when I am teaching my colts to slide. When I have an older, trained reining horse they often can slide on a variety of surfaces. I think this is because they have learned how to balance their hind feet-taking advantage of the ‘trailer’ (the part that sticks out behind the shoe).
Part of the learning process is often times the horse putting too much pressure on the toe. This causes the toe to cut downward into the ground and then the foot stops sliding. The easiest way to help the young horse is to ride ground that has a very hard base for awhile.
Often times in the summer months I spend most of my time riding in my outdoor arena. This allows me to let my indoor get a little harder packed and I purposely don’t drag it quite as deep. The combination of the shallower ground with the hard base makes it difficult for the horse to drive the toe down even if they don’t balance quite right.
As they get more practice they figure out on their own that it is more comfortable when they are in a specific position but that takes time.
Check out your farrier work, try a harder base, and let your horse practice. I bet he will figure it out with that combination.
Stacy Westfall
 Dear Stacy,
I rescued Stormy, a 5-6 year old Arabian gelding in January. He was so starved I could see every bone in his body. With help from the Pawnee County Humane Society where I board him,he has gained back much of his weight.
I don't know all of his history, but what I do know is...he was seized in Nebraska, because he was starving, and rehabilitated by a horse rescue group there. He was purchased by a young man in Kansas as a gift for his girl friend. They knew nothing about horses or their care. The relationship ended shortly after that, he lost interest in the horse, and moved away. Stormy was loosing weight and being abused by three teenagers who were supposed to be taking care of him.
Adam, the former owner, had Stormy picked up, by a friend of his, to board him. What he must have suffered there I can't even imagine.
I found Stormy listed on a free classified web sight, and went to look at him. What I found just broke my heart. He was standing in the corner of a tiny, manure filled pen with no shelter. His water tank was frozen and he was being fed what looked to me like straw. His head was down, he had pressure sores on his hip bones, he could barely stand, and his feet looked like he was wearing ski's.
... Click Here to find out what Stacy has to say.
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All my life I have wanted a horse, but I wanted a horse I could ride. At age 53, I knew I didn't want to start with a colt, but this horse looked like he was 30 years old. But I couldn't turn my back on him.
I contacted Adams sister and told her how I found the horse. She wrote up a contract stating if I removed him from the property he was my responsibility. Adam agreed.
Throughout the rest of January, and most of February all I did with him, was feed, brush him, and get his feet trimmed. I haltered him on nice days and lead him around a little, and he seemed like a quiet horse, but he really didn't have any ground manners. Unless I had a bucket of food, he didn't seem to notice me at all, and would just walk right over the top of me. I have been trying to work on ground manners, but really didn't have much of a program. I also have ridden him a couple of times, but it was like trying to ride a horse that was trying to go every direction at once.
I don't know anything about training a horse and knew I had problems to overcome so I ordered your 8 video set and am waiting for it to arrive.
Now here is the really scary problem. Yesterday I was trying to work him in the round pen. I work with him every day. All I was asking him to do was to walk around the pen then to change direction without the lead rope. We have done this before, and he had been alright. He really prefers to go one direction, and will put his ears back when I direct him to go the other way, but yesterday he ran at me, shaking his head and striking out with his front feet. I had to yell, through up my arms, and actually hit him with the lounging whip to keep him off me. As it was he only bumped me with his shoulder when he tried to veer away. He ran around the round pen several times, than came at me again. He didn't try to get as close the second time, and after I chased him around the round pen awhile he settled down and approached me calmly. It took every thing I had to let him approach me after what had just happened. He stopped so I could pet his head. When I stepped forward one step he stepped back one step, then when I stepped back he came forward keeping his distance, just like nothing had happened. I stopped as soon as he did this, gave him his supper and put him back out in the pasture for the night with his friends.
The man who owns the property where Stormy is boarded, trains hunting dogs, not horses. It was his suggestion to get your training videos, so we could watch them together, and establish a training program for Stormy, and his horses.
I talked to a friend of mine, who has trained horses, and who helped me rescue Stormy. Her suggestion was to cut back his Purina Strategy by 1/3, and see if that might help him to be a little calmer.
Do you have any suggestions, or should I just leave him alone until I can get him with a trainer. I do know of a great trainer I just don't know how long it would be before he could take him.
Thank you for your time,
Glenda E
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Dear Glenda,
It sounds like you have done a great thing helping this horse. I think that the DVD’s and your friends help should go along way.
Having said that you could also be experiencing some of what I experienced when I was in my teens. A friend rescued a horse, similar conditions, and you could tell the horse had been abused. Long story short-the horse recovered but as his weight went up so did his energy level and all of his problems were magnified.
He had been head shy when he was thin but with weight and energy he was head shy and angrier. His energy was also up and he demanded more work and was more of a handful than he had appeared to be when he was thin.
We worked with him for over a year. He became an OK horse but didn’t fit the program of having multiple, inexperienced riders using him so he was sold. He needed a special home where he could fit and the place I worked was not that place.
He did find a good home. Keep in mind you may do all this work and still decide in the end to help him find a great home. The choice will be yours as you move forward. Stay safe. Horses are very big and very strong.
Thanks for writing,
Stacy Westfall
Westfall Horsemanship
 Colt Starting Time!
It is that time of year again. Just after Thanksgiving is over many young horses around the country get their start. That is true here at Westfall Horsemanship, also.
If you have been visiting the site for very long you may remember little Chloe, the first foal of Roxy's, who was part of a major 'Name that Foal' contest a couple of years ago. Time sure does fly! Now it is time for Chloe to get started under saddle. She has been here for about two weeks now and she has been doing great.
I started with all of the steps shown on the Basic Groundwork DVD. Now that I have been through those I am using the techniques shown on the Starting Young Horses DVD. The nice thing is that they go together and that means that each day I am reviewing the steps done in the ground work as I am moving forward. She has been saddled now about five different day, has been carrying the snaffle bit for about ten days (while I work-not in the stall) and she is getting pretty consistent in understanding what I want.
Today was the first day of ground driving. Because of the preparation of tarps, flopping the stirrups, and bending while standing still and moving things went well. I did some bending and standing still while jumping next to her today. I will do it again tomorrow putting more weight on the saddle as I use it to jump. Today she figured out how to keep her legs spread more so she wouldn't loose her balance while I jumped. I'll keep you updated...especially if you write in and say you want more!
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Well, now I have taken Chloe through all of the steps in the Basic Gro undwork DVD as well as the Starting Young Horses DVD. This means that she has been sacked out with balls, tarps, stick & string, tarps on lunge whips and things dragging near her. She was sacked out standing still and sacked out in motion (important for emotional control). She has had the saddle pad on and I have made it fall off, same thing with the saddle, all to teach her how to respond correctly when something falls from her back (just in case :) She knows how to lunge over and around things, how to turn both directions, how to disengage her hind end and how to come to me when I back away. She accepts the bit and the saddle. Was accustomed to the cinch because of the use of a rope before I saddled her. She can bend and stand still and she can bend and move...and she knows when to do each because of the use, or lack of, leg pressure.
Chloe also learned to ground drive. She can walk, trot, and lope while ground driving. She can turn right and left and trot figure eights as well as reverse directions. You can toss a small tarp under her feet (tied to a lunge whip) and she has stopped striking at it. You can wrap the same tarp thing around her hind legs as she trots and she is quite about it (many kick a lot).
And all of this was done before I mounted the first time.
By the first ride so much was done that the ride was easy! Now I am walking, troting, and loping on her. The first day I walked each direction a few steps. The second day I walked and trotted both directions. Repeated this on day three and four and then I added loping. I don't ride long. More time still goes into the prep than the acutal ride. I double check the things listed above to find any 'holes' that may have developed in the training. You would be surprised at how the horses will sometimes have a little memory loss and suddenly be surprised by something (tarp, ball, etc) just because they are having a bad day.
Can an iPod be used as a horse training tool? I think it can! Right now I am waiting for my iPod to download my latest Dave Ramsey (Financial Peace) and Dan Miller (48 Days) podcasts.
I don't think that I will be putting the iPod on the horse anytime soon, but I do believe that it does help me as a rider. Some days I find it harder to take my time. Especially when...
Log into the members 'blog' section to see the rest of this post as well as the last three 'members' questions Stacy answered.
A good friend of mine is a long-time equine enthusiast, and many years ago gravitated to mules as his favorite mount (we are in the 60+ year set). At supper last night he posed a question: "What is the importance of training a horse to BACK out of the trailer?" He said he'd asked trainers and owners alike but never got a good "reason" for this practice. His mules step out front first...and he figures if the trailer is wide enough to turn in, then front first is fine...and if they're in a narrow or crowded trailer, they'll figure it out on their own. Your comment on this would be appreciated. Regards, Paul
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Paul,
Thanks for your question. I agree and disagree with your friend.
He has stated that he turns his animals around in the trailer and allows them to come out forward. I also do this…sometimes.
There is nothing wrong with turning them around if it is possible. In a straight load trailer this is often not possible. Also the last horse on a slant load doesn’t have much of an option (I have never seen one able to turn in that spot). Because I recognize that there are times that turning is not possible I teach my horses to back out on cue. This makes it less stressful and more predictable as well as safer. I have seen horses that were too big to turn well inside a trailer that have slipped and fallen in a mad scramble to turn around.
I most often allow the horse to turn if possible. The exceptions to this are if I know that a horse tends to jump out instead of step out and the ground is slippery for example on snow or pavement. This means that I need to know my horses tendencies.
Hope this helps!
Ride with Faith,
Stacy Westfall
BowWith the Rope
TO TEACH THE HORSE TO GO DOWN ON ONE
knee to bow, I use a saddle, bridle and a long rope. Mine are 15 feet. You need to either tie a non-slip knot, such as a bowline, or use
a single hobble strap around the pastern of the left front leg.
Pressure on the rope will over-tighten the loop and, at the very least,
become uncomfortable to your horse. The rope must be long
enough to go from the horse’s pastern, up over the saddle horn and
back down to your hand.
Never tie the horse’s leg up!
strain,
your hand, but it is hard on your back and an awkward position. We
want this to be a positive learning experience.
Outfit your horse as shown in Photo 1. Accustom your horse to
having a rope around his leg by wrapping a simple loop around the pastern and, while holding the rope off the ground, lead the horse around with the halter and let him experience moving with the
rope on his leg.
When the horse is comfortable with this, use the rope
to pick up the horse’s hoof and then release it. Do this
until the horse is relaxed while you hold his leg up with
the rope. He may experiment with swinging his leg or
attempting to put it down. This is where having the rope
over the horn (as in the photo) is helpful. Don’t take a
second wrap on the horn or your ability to release won’t
be immediate and the horse may feel overly constrained.
If he ever panics or seems stressed, go back a step and
slow down.
Once he is comfortable with having his foot held up with
the rope, introduce the idea of leaning backward. While the
foot is up, pick up on the reins and ask the horse to begin to
back up. The horse should lean ever so slightly back, as seen
in Photo 2. When he does, release the leg and let it come
down while giving him your end cue.
An end cue is key. I use an audible “kiss” or cluck. This
is the cue for the horse to stop doing whatever it is that
you have asked him to begin doing – in this case leaning
back with the foot up. Teaching an end cue is part of the
secret to keeping the horse in the bow until you decide it
is time for him to get up. Without the end cue, it is his
decision when he ends.
Two important tips during this stage: First, by using
the bridle, you can put your right rein on the other side
of the horn and keep the horse’s head straight in front of
him, and second, don’t rush here. This is the most tempting
time to ask for more and more and more. If you do,
you will set your horse back, because instead of trusting
more, he is likely to panic and think you are laying him
down to serve him for a meal!
Over several sessions, progress to where the horse is
comfortably and willingly leaning back farther and
farther (photos 3 and 4). You will notice that during
the process of the horse leaning farther back, he will
begin to compensate by moving his hind legs back
into a stretched-out stance. It is important that you
take your time because the horse needs repetition to
figure this out.
One of the best signs that your
horse is figuring out what you want
and is considering lying down (that
is another lesson) is that when you
pick up the leg, he spontaneously
sticks his nose on the ground
(Photo 5). This shows that he is
thinking about “down.”
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