What kind of spurs do you usually ride in, if any at all?
Why did you choose that type of spur? (ie. hammerhead versus tom thumb, etc)
What is your favorite brand of spur strap?
Stainless steel 1/2 inch (?) rounded spur with leather straps.
The leather straps are easiest to clean. I don’t know what brand they are. I have had the same spurs and spur straps since I bought my first pair of spurs.
Depends on the horse, but typically either the short necked rubber balled ends, the big roller balls, or the smaller rollers with the black liner around the boot part with the longer neck. I like the roller balls b/c they are softer but I get the same reaction. The stubben ones with the black spur body I like for horses I have a hard time getting off my leg, because I can keep my leg in the right position but still reach when I need them. The shorter ones are for horses that dont really need the spur, just need an occasional reminder to move over.
I buy cheap leather straps for home to school in. I have a very nice pair of welsh spur straps for when and if I ever start to show again. I want to put jewels on the keepers though.
I have little 1/4" POW spurs, short necked rubber ball ones, and these nifty flip-up ones that are either 3/4" or 1". All my spur straps are cheap nylon ones.
http://www.horsesrus.com.au/products/flip-n-go-spurs.html
The little ones are from when I was just learning how to use a spur (still my go-to set, my horse is normally pretty responsive to them). The rubber rollers were bought on a recommendation but I hate how they fit. The flip spurs were found for $5 at a consignment store–I like them a lot but they’re kind of bulky.
1" knob ends
I have Prince of Wales in various sizes but my favorite straps by far are Hadfields. I have several pair in black and brown (to match my brown paddocks and half chaps). I like quality no matter how small the item and am willing to pay for it, but what I like best about Hadfields are the double keepers to keep the strap ends neat. I think they are about $30 or maybe $40 a pair and last forever.
I love rolly-ball spurs! Not actually sure that the official name is for them lol. But they’re big enough to encourage my horse when he needs it, soft enough that he’s not bothered by them, and because they roll, they don’t leave marks.
I start out riding everything in a tom thumb spur and then decide from there what I will do for future rides
Jin spurs, smallest one they have, with their nylon/Velcro straps. Very light weight.
1" flat ended spurs with leather straps because I have short legs and an inherently lazy horse that I encourage to jump higher than she’d probably like to if she was able to choose.
Every horse is different, though. If you’re exploring options for an unfamiliar horse, I’d start with something rounded or with a rolly ball on the end. It’s much more pleasant to have to get off to get bigger ones than be bucked off to get smaller ones.
I have a massive collection of spurs from itty bitty nubs to rowels, but I ride everything in a Stubben roller ball spur now–have them in a couple of lengths. Nylon straps don’t fit in them very well so I use leather but I’m not real picky as to brand of strap. I do use child size leathers for my tall boots because the newer leather sock fit makes the regular length leathers far too long.
I ride almost everything in a set of blunt-ended 3/4" spurs that used to belong to my mother. I started using them because they were in the basement and I didn’t have to buy them. The horse I had before Tip was hot and sensitive and I learned to be very good with the use of leg. If that’s too much for the horse, I just plain don’t use the spur.
I also have a set of roller balls that I use for my guy after he’s just been clipped. Usually I’m taking off a Shetland’s worth of hair (even if I just clipped him a month ago…) and his sensitivity is, uh, much improved. :lol: But the real reason for the roller balls (which I think are vulcanite- not the Stubben kind, anyway) on him is that he will get a little rub from my other ones when he’s been fresh-clipped.
Leather straps. No patience for getting dirt out of the other kind.
1/4-1/2" prince of Wales or rounded knob spurs usually do the trick for me! 
Enough to get the horse’s attention and enhance your performance without resorting to the more obvious, such as the stick, but not too much as to where the horse freaks out at the brush of a spur against his barrel.
My reason for asking is I recently broke my spur strap, and I would like to also replace my spurs which I have had for years.
They are this style:
http://www.doversaddlery.com/prince-of-wales-spur-lds/p/X1-2519/
And I would like to replace them with something like this:
http://www.doversaddlery.com/stübben-seq-rowel-or-hammerhead-spur/p/X1-25202/
But I am unsure of what sort of different effect they may have and it got me thinking to why different people choose different types of spurs.
I am also having a hard time finding a quality leather spur strap.
I use leather spur straps, and pretty much permanently have 1" POWs on my boots. My TB is lazy and needs them, and will not tolerate a whip, so I push them up when I ride him. My WB doesn’t care about spurs, so I let them ride low on my boots and use a dressage whip most of the time. But they are there if I need them- I ride everything in spurs unless the horse is known to be super-reactive to them or something.
I have some hammerhead spurs, like you show in the second picture, and found that most horses hated them, for whatever reason. I’ve used the blunt end ones, the roller ones, and all sorts of variations and I’ve gone back to the Prince of Wales because it does the job in more situations than not.
[QUOTE=iJump;7507879]
My reason for asking is I recently broke my spur strap, and I would like to also replace my spurs which I have had for years.
They are this style:
http://www.doversaddlery.com/prince-of-wales-spur-lds/p/X1-2519/
And I would like to replace them with something like this:
http://www.doversaddlery.com/stübben-seq-rowel-or-hammerhead-spur/p/X1-25202/
But I am unsure of what sort of different effect they may have and it got me thinking to why different people choose different types of spurs.
I am also having a hard time finding a quality leather spur strap.[/QUOTE]
That second set of hammer head spurs is a much stronger spur than the prince of wales style. I love my hammer heads for my gray horse, but he’s a slug.
If you want really high quality spur straps, call Bobby at Fort Bend Saddlery.
http://www.fortbendsaddlery.com/
I have a pair of beloved spur straps that Corky originally made in the early 90s and that bobby replaced the leather on this year. They carry a variety of buckles and use quality leather for a very nice strap. After you choose the buckle, the actual strap is really not any more expensive than a regular pair. It’s the buckle that can cost!
I love my soft touch spurs (rolly balls). They don’t bother my overly sensitive horse, and I can ride just about anything in them. Still searching for my favorite spur straps. Right now I have cheap black leather ones that like to curl.
I have a whole host of spurs, but the pair I now use 99.9% of the time are the knob spurs. I feel they work well on every horse I ride. They are long enough that I can use them without a big move, enough that my backward horse respects them when I use them, and gentle enough that they don’t rub sides, though it is typically is not a problem for me.
I prefer to use a good-quality leather strap.
I use the Spursuaders, and the super-finicky mares I ride don’t seem to mind them at all when I use them. These are the only effective spurs I’ve worn riding that my riding teacher has not taken off of me when my legs get worse in the summer heat. The tail swishing is GONE, the dirty looks from the mares are GONE, and they are a great comfort to me when I get up on a strange horse since I can get the horse’s attention without irritating the horse.
[QUOTE=Jackie Cochran;7508812]
I use the Spursuaders, and the super-finicky mares I ride don’t seem to mind them at all when I use them. These are the only effective spurs I’ve worn riding that my riding teacher has not taken off of me when my legs get worse in the summer heat. The tail swishing is GONE, the dirty looks from the mares are GONE, and they are a great comfort to me when I get up on a strange horse since I can get the horse’s attention without irritating the horse.[/QUOTE]
I was just at a Bernie Traurig clinic and he was telling someone that they need to get these and he was shocked that I knew what he was talking about!
