My trainer is also of the mindset that you should always ride with a spur (even if just the heel band and no point) and a stick. That being said, I’ve had her take my spurs off when my horse was too fresh. We start with them, but have taken them off a few times. Tell her you want to try without, its your money after all and at 1.15 its not like you’re a beginner. Just be respectful about understanding her point and the basis for it, but say you want to expirement just for your own edification.
My equipment changes as to which Horse I ride. My mare is ridden in spurs but no whip. When I ride my daughter’s pony I ride with no whip and no spurs unless we jump and then I carry a whip. My old horse I rode with a whip and at shows a whip and spurs, his new own rides him with nothing at all. I feel saying always ride with spurs is kind of akin to putting the same bit in every horses mouth.
So- your question to “is it necessary” - no regarding Spurs or crop. I grew up trained to always carry a crop, always wear spurs. There is that school of though out there (GM and many others) along the lines of - you have it if you need it and should have enough control that the horse doesn’t know they are there if you don’t need it.
Now that I am adult 
I don’t wear or use if I don’t need it. Any my mare does not. We have one that goes in spurs and a crop every ride. My kid who does eq rides in spurs and carries a crop.
So if you are with a trainer that requires it: Ask them.
I started riding with a new-to-me BNT. He’s been helping with training rides before I get on because I have wires in my knee that one is impinged on my quad tendon so I have a limited amount of pain free time He’s tuning her for me now and when I go in for surgery. We had the following conversation after he schooled her prior to me riding
Pro: You should carry a crop because she was sucking back across the center of the ring with me. Did you see my correction?
Me: I’d rather not but I’ll carry it if I need it. (my reasoning was I am having enough issues with aids with my bad knee/leg and didn’t want to add anything else to my hot mess).
Pro: Ok. I always carry one but I’m here to help you and you can do what makes you comfortable and we’ll work with it. (BTW- maresy didn’t need the crop with me and that was zero to do with skill). I thought it may make it easier for you.
I get his logic, I get he always carries one/rides in spurs. I understand why he thought it would be beneficial. It wasn’t in the cards for me that day. We had that conversation.
Pro doesn’t need me, he has plenty of clients. He seems to like me, he really likes my horse and pony. I am not too attached to the trainer so I could take it if he didn’t want me in his program for not abiding to the “always carry/wear”. I’m not against carrying/wearing but I don’t think I can be successful with my aids right now with them when I have other phyical issues going on. He thinks it will make it easier for me. Maybe next time I’ll try it but I felt comfortable in speaking out.
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Ok the problem is not you wearing spurs. It is that you are so reliant on them you can’t not use them. You need to distinguish between a correct calf aid and digging in your heel. If you took off the spurs guaranteed you would still be kicking with your heel unconsciously.
You need to have better control over your own aids so you aren’t reverting to the heel.
This is your own problem to fix.
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So clearly there are different training philosophies here, and I wouldn’t use the exact same but on every horse (mainly due to but size), but when the lightbulb went on and i understood what balance and a secure seat and educated leg really meant, i found i was a lot less fiddly with bits and spurs (could wear same pair all day on different horses, all wearing some type of loose ring snaffle), because I could fix most issues with my leg. I mean it took YEARS of dedicated practice to get a leg like that and in the meantime i did fuss quite a lot with different bits and spurs… I just didn’t know what I didn’t know until I learned well and truly how to balance myself and my horse.
Relevant to this, I found hot horses actually needed MORE leg than a quiet or less sensitive horse. But a leg that was tactful and “on”, lightly and without hurrying or annoying them, all the time so they didn’t overreact (ie “get hot”) when leg pressure/aid was applied.
It’s something i would have a conversation with trainer about, not do passive aggressive things in lessons — I feel like at that point there’s a lack of respect/trust in that relationship. I didn’t always agree with my trainer(s), or fully understand their reasoning for certain things right away, but I can’t imagine how much trouble I would’ve been in if I did something blatantly not allowed to give trainer something else to get mad about or distract from the issue.
To just answer the basic question.
Obviously spurs aren’t always necessary to use since even if you wear them, you only use them when needed which might be never in any given ride.
As far as always wearing spurs, I don’t particularly follow that. But I do think that it should make no difference because if you are at the level to wear spurs you should be able to never use them inadvertently.
I agree with this, but per the OP the horse gets “fried” when she uses her spur instead of just more leg. The OP is “over-reacting” (not sure if that’s the right way to say it) by using spurs instead of more leg. Clearly the mare is protesting. I doubt it has anything to do with thin skin or color, but instead it’s more of a WTF reaction from the horse.
OP, if you are using a spur when you shouldn’t, that falls under an uneducated leg. I ride my mare in spurs every ride because when I need them, I need them. I do not however use them every ride. There is a difference between wearing and using when it comes to spurs.
And I second whoever said you should look into a new trainer.
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I can’t say “yes” or “no” to the specific case of you riding spurs on this particular horse, but I will say that I am of the mindset that not all equipment, training approaches, riding styles, etc. works for every horse and/or every rider. I fall in the camp of starting with a set program and then adapting. Use the traditional approaches but allow room for adjustment and experimentation. In this case, many traditional horsemen and women follow the rule that you always wear spurs and carry a whip when mounted. I personally am not of that mindset, but if I know a clinician or instructor prefers this approach then I will happily follow suit. I do not agree with those that wish to put horses in a “box” or make all horses conform to a set program.
I believe it was Jimmy Wofford that always emphasized taking away an aid before adding another (and I am sure many other trainers in all disciplines also share this outlook). If your horse is quick, take away the spur and/or crop before you add more bit.
yeah, this is what I’ve been saying? Though I don’t recall saying anything about horse colour or thin skinned. It’s not an uncommon problem. I’ve goosed a horse with spurs before instead of closing my leg properly. Learned to work through it and further educate my leg — it’s not like that is a one and done deal. I think nearly any time there’s a riding issue, going back to basics helps more than fussing with tack and keeping it as simple as possible is preferable to bitting up or adding more equipment. However if the client is resistant I can see why a trainer might do this to offer some sort of fix.
I really don’t like the word “always” because really not much applies to EVERY horse. I don’t see why wearing spurs is important. My OTTB acts like a good if I carry a crop and he’s very forward so I’d never need one. I’d be upset if my trainer required it. However, no trainer does everything you want so if you like everything else about them, I suppose you could get your horse to work through it.
@retiredhorse. The OP brought up color. I didn’t explain well. I agree with what you say about hot horses, however I do not think this horse is hot. The horse becomes “hot” when the OP gooses her with the spur.
Also, the fact that the trainer can’t see that’s whats going on gives me pause. I’ve goosed my mare over fences before when I have completely fallen apart. My mare promptly protested on the back side bucking and taking off. That reaction doesn’t make her hot. That’s me sucking and unable to jump with spurs.
I think there’s always a gap between “should” and reality. Every horse should learn to accept a spur and a whip, but I don’t think that then means they will be able to be used in every situation.
My mare is a perfect example. She is naturally either stone cold lazy to the leg (mostly when flatting) or hot and running through the hand (mostly when jumping). I’ve learned that my best odds of getting a nice, consistent performance from her involve not fully address the laziness to the leg like I want to, because if I do, she will use it as an excuse to get hot and strong when jumping. She should learn to do both things equally well - stay off the leg on the flat and off the hand when jumping, and trust me, we work on this every.single.day.
But the reality is that it will probably always be something she struggles with, so I’ve learned to get a bit non traditional when addressing it. For example, I won’t use a spur if I’m going to jump during the ride. But I do carry a stick because she has a much better reaction to the stick. If I want to address the laziness off the leg, I will do so in a specific way - do a ride where all I do is walk and trot and work on sharpness. But I don’t canter because that sharpness will work against me cantering and turn into a fight. If I want to address sharpness to the leg during a ride I want to jump, I will do so laterally, with a lot of leg yields off both legs, because that helps her accept the leg and make her move off of it without asking for more forward.
Etc.
Obviously the end goal is to end up with a mare who accepts all the aids better, and it’s a continual progression. But I’ve also had her for 7 years, and I know she’s a quirky difficult mare. My best chance of success with her is to be flexible and creative when addressing issues. Any time I’ve tried to pull out the textbook with her it backfires in a major way.
Long way to say I’d work with your mare in a similar way. I’d put spurs on and just walk, practicing gently applying them and working on her staying relaxed. Or I’d wear them during a trail ride but not use them. Etc. And then I wouldn’t use them when jumping or when she tends to overreact.
I’d also practice becoming more disciplined in not using them unintentionally…that really should happen once in a blue moon. If it’s happening once a ride or something, you need to work on breaking your habit asap.
I will wear at least a small spur on just about everything. The exceptions are the ones that get too dull and sour to them in which case sometimes you have to remove them and start all over. It took having a mare like yours for me to learn (having learned to ride on a pony that needed a rowel and a stick at shows) how not to use them. It will teach you to be more mindful of your leg aids. And this will require mindfulness at first until the hot horse leg position and control becomes as much muscle memory as the use the spur leg position.
However, as a trainer, I do not hesitate to remove a spur from a student who is gripping with their heels and pissing off the horse, even if they might need a spur some of the time. They have to fix their leg before they get the spurs back.
Due to my MS, every year when it got hot my riding teacher would eventually take off my spurs.
Since I bought a pair of the Spursuaders, which were developed for use on thin skinned sensitive TB mares, and my riding teacher has not taken my spurs off for the summer since I started using the Spursuaders.
I still have to use an educated leg, but when my legs get unsteady the horses do not mind as much when my leg gets wonky and I accidentally “goose” the horse, they sort of shrug and suggest that I learn to ride better.
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I’ve had several horses that I showed without spurs. One horse I would flat with spurs and remove them for jumping. I didn’t wear spurs ever on the other horse. Another horse I initially rode with spurs, and when it didn’t go well I removed them. As our partnership grew, I added them back in later. The way I see it, if you don’t need them, don’t wear them. While I understand that everyone should be able to ride in spurs without using them and that it is good to have them in case you need them, I personally don’t see a problem with not using them if things go equally well or better without them.
I like a hot horse. It’s my forte’. I, like another poster above, smother my hot horses in leg and teach them that my leg means relax. If I touch my horse with a spur and they get fried, I have more work to do. But that’s just me. I wouldn’t consider a horse “finished” if they can’t tolerate a spur. My finished show horses have a gazillion leg cue buttons. If I don’t have a spur, they can’t differentiate between them all.
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If she doesn’t need spurs then don’t ride with them. Does the trainer own the horse? Does she pay the bills for the horse? No? Then stand your ground and say no spurs if you feel you don’t need them.
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I personally wear spurs on every horse and pony I ride. Including the hot ones. I have collected many pairs over many years but feel far more secure wearing them always as opposed to not.
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No they are not always necessary.
I have a forward thinking young horse and usually I will show up to my lesson with them on (very short nubby ones) ride my flat then depending on his mood; remove them for jumping. I have never been scolded for that from any trainer.
In my world - I am an amateur rider… I make mistakes and poking a spur on an already forward thinking horse is not what I want to do.
I show this horse without spurs and have been doing just fine with it. I feel more secure in my leg knowing I cannot poke him by accident. Not sure if you can see in my profile picture here I am not wearing spurs.
My trainers will ride him in spurs always and he is okay with them. I leave that part up to the professionals.
I think this is something your trainer should be open to and work with you and your horse on. If not; that’s not a trainer I would really want to ride with…
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Yes on this… it’s not a natural response either… I feel if the car is speeding down the street why should I push the gas pedal???
But found with my forward thinking guy it’s like a hug; I am here and we can communicate. Oh and I cannot forget I have hands 
I also read something once that made me feel a bit bad and stop riding from my knee because of this -
“If you are constantly pulling your lower leg away from your horse they are thinking - when and how hard is that thing coming back”?
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