The Spur Question

[Rick Smith]

(01-25-2018 09:40 AM)L Verge Wrote:  I'm sure one of you cowboys/cowgirls knows ... what effect does it have to ride with just one spur?

I was hoping that either Wild Bill or Rick Smith would pick up on this and comment. Bill is an Arizona cowboy and retired farrier, and Rick's family raised Thoroughbreds and rode to the hounds. He's an expert horseman. Know-nothing me just assumed that riders who wore spurs always had them on both boots.

Laurie,

I don't know anyone who rode wearing only one spur. The spurs I wore in the hunt field were of a style called Prince of Wales spurs; silver, short, & blunt. Spurs are used not only to goad a horse to move faster, but also to get his attention, much as a riding crop is used for the same purpose. I have another pair very much like the Prince of Wales, but they have a small, blunted rowel. I never used these, as I preferred the others. Seems to me that using / wearing only one spur would present two problems. First, that you would look odd, since even in the hunt field you want to be dressed appropriately and second, goading with one spur would be limiting, since spurs are also used to help give direction, not only to signal a need to move faster.

Rick

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Rick sent me this image. He writes, "It is of one of my spurs on my boot. The Prince of Wales spur is just like this, but with a blunt end."