I’m looking for some spur advice. My warmblood is pretty forward in the show ring, he loves to jump and goes right in, picks up the canter and looks for his course, but is unbelievably pokey at home, to the point to which my trainer has to growl at him from the ground to get him to canter most lessons unless I have a dressage whip (I know this is totally ridiculous…). If you point him at a jump at home or if I lesson with a friend, he is more happy to get moving. I have struggled to figure out what spurs might help though sometimes I think he is better without them and that it is simply better to use a pony kick… I think that most times my leg does not touch his side at all with the spur because I am so short and despite having to leg him A LOT, there has never once been any sort of disturbance to his side (rub, sweat mark). My leg is pretty steady and the horse requires basically no rein because he is so slow except for basic steering. Does anyone have a recommendation for a spur for a short person that is hunter legal? Thank you!
I’m having trouble visualizing how your leg would not be touching your horse’s body at some point below your saddle, if the saddle fits both of you correctly. Surely your lower leg must be in contact with your horse’s body although since you don’t have great length of leg it may not be very effective. I would start out with a small Prince of Wales spur but every time you use your leg, if he doesn’t respond promptly, I would follow that up immediately with a sharp smack with your stick. If you carry a dressage whip, you can use that as an extension of your leg as well, or even use it to tap the hindquarters periodically to remind him to keep the hind end going. Usually if they learn to anticipate that if they don’t move off your leg promptly they can expect a smack with the crop they will hopefully become more responsive. Trainer growling to get him to canter is not an acceptable training method IMO. 
As a fellow nugget human I am a little confused here. I have to be super careful with spurs because my legs are short so my leg is usually always in contact with the widest part of the horse below the saddle, especially on large warmbloods. I usually wear my spurs low so that as long as my heels are down I don’t accidentally use my spur. Also I flat ride my hunter with a dressage whip daily, most of the riders in my barn ride with dressage whips to flat. I only carry a normal crop to jump.
I completely agree with BAC, if he is that difficult to canter he needs to become more responsive to you. How can you expect him to do his job over jumps, if you can’t get him to listen on the flat? I am also short, but my horses are more narrow and forward jumpers. I still have a small POW spur on for lateral control, and occasionally even jump with a stick. Ride with all the tools you may need. If you don’t need them, don’t use them.
Thanks to all for the feedback, it is helpful. I am not reluctant to use spurs for some ideological reason, it is that I am having trouble getting the spurs to literally connect with the horse. Reading your posts, I am wondering if this is in part an ill-fitting saddle. I literally have to turn my toe straight out to get the spur on. The horse is a petite warmblood (fine-boned, if you can call it that) and 15.3. We have several horses in the barn that are winners at shows, but that are pokes or even jerks at home. Not sure what this means. Thanks again.
You might want to look into the Spursuader spurs at www.spursuader.com. The flat disc is angled a little bit inwards so I do not have to turn my toes out as much when I use it.
AND if I accidentally touch the horse with the spur it is not painful for the horse.
I am not sure those would be considered “hunter legal/conventional”.
Generally speaking, you should have the opposite problem if you are short. This does sound like it might be a saddle problem. Where on your leg does the flap end?
I wouldn’t consider them conventional either, but from OP’s description, the horse is forward enough in the show ring when he is jumping, but sluggish on the flat at home.
I share some of your pain, and some not so much. I am 5’4" and wear short height boots (I have SHORT legs). Because my legs are short, they are nearly impossible to not have them in contact with the horse as my leg comes to the middle of his barrel. My boots have a spur channel that rubbed him raw because of leg placement. I’m not sure I can help you there as I have no idea how your legs don’t touch the horse when shorties like us tend to have our leg fall at the widest part of the horse’s barrel.
But I can hep you with motivating your guy. Like your horse, my guy is pokey at home, and peaks at shows. I also ride him with a dressage whip at home, and even jump him with one from time to time. He can be a little pokey at home, and to motivate him we warm up with transition work - lots and lots of transition work. Trot to canter, canter to trot. Walk to trot. Sitting trot to extended trot. We also get him moving off my leg with leg yielding and alternating shoulder in and shoulder out. We get him focused and paying attention and the key here is to get him moving off your leg. We do not go to any jumps until the horse is responding to me and my leg. This is crucial.
Sometimes I post the canter a little bit to get him moving along. Sometimes I sit deep and drive him forward. I’ve found that I get a lot further by sitting back and deep than by using my legs. I make sure not to lean forward at all - that really is the sign for him to slooooow down.
Once he’s respecting my leg we move on to jumps. I added dressage training this year, which has really taught me how to use my aids and understanding how my body impacts my horse’s movement. It was tremendously helpful. There is so much you can do with your body rather than just expecting a spur to resolve the issue. Best of luck!
I was responding to “…a recommendation for a spur for a short person that is hunter legal?”
I am 5’3 and do feel like I have this problem, although more on some horses than others. It’s hard for me to really turn my leg enough to get my spur into the horse (although it’s an issue for me mostly when jumping bigger courses on a horse that doesn’t have much of an engine naturally.) At shows I ride in the Le Spurs for jumping and swan necks for dressage (so not suitable for hunters) but at home I use a dressage whip instead.
Another short person (5’1") chiming in, who rides a lot of bigger horses/warmbloods. I don’t normally find that I have the problem of my spur NOT touching the horse, more often I find that I unintentionally give them rubs. I do many of the things above to try and prevent them, wear spurs super low, etc… I also ride with a dressage whip frequently on the flat so I don’t have to use as much spur, and I find this creates a much nicer more responsive horse. Definitely agree with other posters, check your saddle fit for yourself and make sure it’s not putting your leg too far forward or putting you in a chairseat, which will result in your leg not being nearly as effective or in the right position. Also lots of transitions in your at-home flatwork, keep the horse on its toes and responsive to you.
Good luck!
I am short (5’) and sometimes feel like I have this problem on my horse because she is a bit narrow, so there is not a lot of barrel there under my leg. I have to really concentrate on the feeling of wrapping my legs around her to ensure that my legs are really on her side and not just hanging down into empty space.
Also if you don’t already, I would try putting your stirrups down a couple of holes when you are flatting seriously (vs.doing a brief warmup before a jump school).
Sorry I didn’t notice the part about hunter legal.
I know that I’m way late to this thread, but WOW have I never found somebody who seems to be going through the same exact thing as me!
I also have a horse that is sooo lazy on the flat (dressage whip + spurs!) and I noticed that shortening my stirrups a bit helped connect my spur to his side (I wasn’t seeming to make contact with him at all!), that and keeping the spur a bit above the spur rest helped a lot. Also, this kind of spur works wonders: https://www.doversaddlery.com/le-spur/p/X1-2501/
I’ve definitely been in a position riding a horse where there was just six inches of space between my ankle and his belly. The saddle didn’t fit well for me, though perfect for him, and he was very round, so my leg just hung off the edge. It sounds weird but it was true.
He was my trainers horse and we ended up “retraining” him in the first ten minutes of my weekly lesson to respond from a lesser leg aid. We backed it up with the whip A LOT until he got it, and once he got it, it was super.
I don’t see an issue with carrying a dressage whip if you need it while schooling.
My first thought would be better flatwork with more transitions and lateral work to make him respect your leg more.
I am average height (5’4 and a bit) and I’ve found that I can ride some horses that are pokey for taller riders more forward because my leg is shorter. I haven’t had issues with not being able to get my leg on since I started riding in more close contact style saddles with flatter seats.
Ok I am an adult who is under 5ft so I can say this…there is so much else to change before your spurs I dont even know where to begin.
