Ballpoint Spurs

[Coeur_de_Cheval]

I am searching for some ballpoint spurs for using at IHSA shows (so it will be on a wide range of horses). My legs are fairly short (29/30" inseam) and I have a eventing background so I tend to only use spurs on the horses that they strongly suggest them on as I have a couple horses that have to be ridden with a lot of leg. I’m not sure what else (just personal preference?) makes a difference in selecting spurs?

Ideally, I would not like to spend a lot on them as I really won’t be using them very often. I don’t have a lot of experience with western spurs and I don’t really know if there is anything I should be looking/looking out for. What should I be looking for/any suggestions on good options?

[Plumcreek]

Look in Schneiders’ catalog www.sstack.com

Notice the length of shank when looking at western spurs, as many are made for long legged riders and have quite a long shank to reach up to the horse’s sides. Schneiders’ has many reasonable solid and rolling ball spur options. Given your shorter legs, I would avoid anything with rowels, although the cloverleaf rowels are probably the least sharp.

[Bluey]

I expect you already know this, but just in case you don’t, short people with short legs need short necked spurs, because just the slight change in ankle position will already have the spur touching the horse.

Most uses of spurs are as a signal tool, to refine our leg aids.

Some use them thinking spurs will make a horse move on, but that is not the purpose of spurs, because when you touch a horse with spurs where our leg puts spurs, the horse will as a reaction curl their body around them, not move away from them or move faster, the contrary, it slows them down.

That is the principle that some ran with and made into the “spur stop” western pleasure horses learn.

We can teach a horse to respond to spurs any one way we want to, even to go faster.
That then is not a good use of spurs, but horses will learn any one cue we teach.

Spurs are best used by someone with a steady leg, so they don’t poke a horse here and there as the leg moves, the horse then needing to learn to work thru those annoying, inconsequent aid signals.

I would say, at an inseam of 30" and less, the shorter the spur neck, the better for you.
I expect you have coaches for different disciplines where you are?
They can advise what the regulations you will be showing under require and what they recommend.

[La_Gringa]

Western spurs are not used in the same way as English Spurs. Shorter ones are better for shorter legs true… but your western spur should never be used to “poke a horse” as the English Spurs do. A western spur should be rolled on the horse’s side… as gently as needed to get the response. For my horse I used them primarily to move her from side to side in the gate when Ranch sorting…
I never actually need them to make her go faster… just to respond quicker when cutting/sorting a cow, in blocking it.

A ball spur should be used much the same way… a simple roll up the side, not a jab. English spurs jab into the horses’s side. Longer spurs are for longer legs so they can actually reach the horse’s sides at all.