I have been recently looking for a more soft spur for my sensitive horse. I came across the Stübben Soft Touch Dynamic Spurs which quoted that they were for sensitive horses and had a soft touch. At first it was going alright and the spurs were actually nice because you could definitely feel when using them. I used these about 3 times and noticed that the roller ball on the spur was literally rubbing my ponys hair off! I went back to my sprenger spurs which are pretty hard to feel, but his hair grew back. I am still looking for spurs with a feel when using them and for sensitive horses.
Maybe try a spur guard instead? https://www.horseloverz.com/english-horse-tack/girths/english-girths/horze-elastic-belly-guard?gclid=Cj0KCQjw5fDWBRDaARIsAA5uWThjzcaK0KCzeS6EfMNgtmWS8Ox1svoqSwiHqKgMjYAq76SBkd_iyx0aArgiEALw_wcB
I dont think that would go well with my pony. He starts bolting if he even has a big saddle pad lmao…
I’m not sure what you mean by being able to feel the spurs. You can’t feel if they’re touching your horse or you aren’t feeling a response from your horse? Does he still have a winter coat? Maybe the ball is catching longer hairs and pulling them out.
IME quite often when I’ve seen people who’s horses have spur rubs they tend to clamp and grip with their legs. So the spur is always in contact with flank. Make sure your leg is relaxed when not trying to use spur.
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I cannot feel if they are touching the horse. He was clipped about 2 months ago. I also have been prioritizing trying to stretch my legs and not grip so im very sure it is not that.
This is probably not your issue, but it has been my issue in the past: Make sure your spurs are very very clean. If there is any kind of build-up (and it can happen in 2 rides), then you need to clean them, because the build-up makes them a bit sticky and causes them to drag on the hair, instead of sliding.
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Is he chestnut? I have seen a couple that have really brittle hair and get rubs easily. Coat conditioner on the area can help, as can making sure the spur and coat is clean.
No, he is black but gets a little bleached out in the summer. His coat is usually shiny and slick.
I have to ask, is riding with spurs required? I re-trained my mare to not need spurs and love it!
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I ride one that can be pretty dull (to the aids) and his coat was getting roughed up from my spurs. I took them off and rode with two whips for a week and now he’s light and in front of my leg and it’s much nicer. Plus I don’t feel like I’m torturing his sided. I hated that!
I think a whip on each side is key because It let me back up my leg as a lateral aid, which if the primary purpose of a spur. The forward should come from a calf bump, but if they’re ignoring a spur then you can be sure they aren’t listening to your calf either.
For starters, it’s a tough time of the year to be making any decisions based on rub marks. I have one mare that gets rub marks from everything that touches her while she’s in the winter-to-spring-coat transition phase. She has big naked spots on her neck where the reins touch whether she’s been in “real” work or just been hacked around on a floppy rein by my kid. She has rub marks from various spots where the blankets touch her, and she has rub marks where the rider’s leg goes. I won’t let anyone other than me ride her in spurs because even a slightly grippy spur leads to rubs/wounds super fast this time of the year (and not at all any other time of the year).
My point is that the first thing I would look at is whether there are other rub marks on your horse. If the answer is "yes,’ then it may be that any spur is going to create the same result. In that case I would go without spurs until the summer coat is in. If the answer is “no,” then it may be worth going to a non-movement-type spur. If you used the soft touch because regular spurs were too much, then it may be worth trying little short rounded spurs (https://www.smartpakequine.com/pt/rounded-end-spurs-2140) or the ones that have the “teeth” on the inside (https://www.doversaddlery.com/le-spur/p/X1-2501/).
It might be the season. My chestnut guy could get a little worn spot on his coat in one ride if it was in the Spring when his coat was not at it’s best. Any other time of the year, we had no problems.
Clean spurs, Showsheen on sides before every ride. Used to have to do this when riding one of Hilda’s greys otherwise he showed marks too.
I find rowels are the LEAST offensive to most horses’ skin, so I agree. I ride in smooth rowels (no jagged edges at all), or the little balls that roll almost all the time because my mare’s skin is super sensitive, and she gets spur marks VERY easily.
Is this the same horse that is now acting out when you use the whip (in your other post)? If you’re using both a whip and spurs on this horse, and the spurs are causing marks and the horse is reacting by little bucks to the whip, then you need to rethink how you’re using your aids.
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I took a look at my spurs and the reason why they were giving marks is because the roller ball was getting caught in his hair, not an aid issue. I am using a whip (just a tap) as he has a better response to it than even hard a kick without a spur.
I used to ride in pizza cutter rowels (the ones you describe with no jagged edges). Then I had a horse fall with me after a jump and I sliced open her side in those spurs as I came off. So just an FYI that though they seem relatively innocuous, they can cause a lot of damage unintentionally! After that I went back to the jagged-edged rowels because I think they are actually safer and “softer” than the pizza cutter style.
Mine are not sharp enough to slice anyone open, not a pizza or a horse :lol: In a bad drag and fall, any spur can slice up a horse though, that is true!
Rubber or silicone covering would tend to rub on hair.
I didn’t think mine were either! I don’t think any of those are actually sharp. I know any spur can do it, but I think the thin metal edge (even though it’s not "knife sharp) is much more likely to do that than most other spurs.
