Take Off Your Spurs to Deepen Your Seat
July 31, 2009 by Jean
Filed under Horse Training Tips
When you use spurs every time you ride you begin to depend on the spur to cue your horse. Which while this is not a bad thing it can become a crutch instead of an aid. As they are meant to be.
I’ve found that by taking off my spurs ever so often, I strengthen my legs and my seat. This helps me to drive my horse up under and into the bit with my seat, thighs and calves rather than just sticking a spur in their side.
As my body gets stronger then I can use a softer cue to get my horse to do what I want them to. They like this better and so do I.
As an amateur rider, my balance is not always what I’d like for it to be so with the spurs I find that on occasion I’m hitting the horses side with my spur when I don’t really intend to. This causes them to start and creates uneven movements, when I want smoothness in all the horses gaits.
I’m practicing by taking my spurs off about every 4th or 5th time I ride. I want to see what the difference will be for me and my horse.
I’ll keep you posted.
