I finally got to ride three times this week, and I am VERY tired, but it was worth it. The weather has been wonderful down here in NC, 60 to 80 F, nice breezes, and sunny. Well, it is nice if you don't have hayfever, luckily I don't. The horses are shedding gobs of hair, I spend as much time getting the brushes and curry combs clean of hair as I spend brushing the horse. I do not know if I could handle it physically if I had to do all the grooming myself, I am fortunate to have help.

It has gotten so warm that I've had to stop wearing my half chaps. My lower leg doesn't feel as stable, I miss the support that the half chaps give me. On the other hand I can feel my lower leg SOOO much better! My legs are not as steady as I thought they were, but now I can feel it when my spur touches to horse's side. This is good, I had not realized how much the half chaps had reduced the sensitivity of my legs. I wear spurs mainly so that my lower leg knows where it is (I use spur straps, don't know if it would work with slip on spurs), and now, without the half chaps I can feel it when the side of the spur touches the horse. I will have to recalibrate where my legs are, it is just one thing after another I have to work on for my goal of a secure, non-irritating seat.

The last few weeks I have been getting this message that using Prince of Wales (POW) spurs was RUDE. I am not talking of physical signs of discomfort, just a little quiet voice in my head. Now, I never jam spurs into the side of my horse, and I try to be as delicate as possible. I only use the POW spurs with Cider, and today, without my half chaps, I was able to use them even more delicately and Cider did not send the message of rudeness. I guess I was not delicate enough wearing the half chaps. Mia does not like the Prince of Wales spurs, the one time I used them on her Debbie took them off. So I got Waterford spurs for using with Mia, the ones with a big metal ball at the end of the spur, and she does not seem to mind them. Of course I do not get the crisp response I can get with the Prince of Wales spurs, I sort of have to use them as an additional leg signal, a "yes, I did mean that leg aid" type of encouragement rather than a "you better obey my leg aid" type of signal.

I had finally gotten some old horse books that I had read in high school, and in one of them, "The Art of Horsemanship" by Capt. Paul Holmelund, the writer states that the proper use of the spur is just to "ruffle the hair on the horse's flanks without actually touching the skin", and "The points of a good horseman's spurs are as sensitive as his fingertips." In another old book, "Reflections on the Art of Horsemanship" by H. J. Heyer, the author says that the leg aid should get the same reaction as when a fly lands on the horse's side. Holmelund favors roweled spurs with sharp points (English), Heyer does not describe his ideal spur. This got me thinking, could Cider (and Mia) think that the Prince of Wales spurs were rude because when I used them they did not feel enough like a fly? Could Mia be reacting slowly to my Waterford spurs for the same reason? After all a big metal ball just does not feel like 6 little insect legs.

So I hit my saddlery catalogues and the Internet to find out what types of spurs were available. Then I asked both Debbie and Shannon for their opinions. Debbie decided that it would be all right for me to try smooth rowel spurs (no teeth) on Mia but she did not think Mia would like the toothed spurs. Shannon said that she did not mind my trying both the smooth rowel and the blunt toothed rowel spurs on Cider. I use my spurs on Mia to try and get her to advance her hind leg further under her body and thus extend her range of motion. I use spurs on Cider to try to get her to flex more around my legs on turns because I never need spurs to get Cider to go faster! Both mares demand sensitivity and accuracy.

I am hoping that both the smooth rowel and the blunt toothed rowel spurs feel more like a fly landing on the skin than my POW and Waterford spurs do. This will be an interesting experiment for me, as I have never used roweled spurs before. I would not try this experiment wearing high boots or half chaps as my legs are not yet sensitive enough if I have leather between my lower leg and the horse's side. I just want a little more reaction from both mares without causing lashing tails, sour eyes and resistant rib cages!

I also want even more reasons to keep my lower legs stable, and believe me, wearing spurs on a sensitive horse really inspires you to keep your lower leg stable. My lower legs got stable finally when decades ago I had to wear spurs on a mare who either balked or bolted, without spurs she would just balk, and if I did not keep my lower leg stable and accidentally used my spurs she would bolt as fast as she could. Lucky for me that neither mare I ride now acts this way. My goal is to be able to use the spurs lightly enough so they do not feel any harsher than a fly landing on the horse's skin, just ruffling the hair and not touching the skin AND keeping my lower leg stable when I am not giving a leg aid.

Wish me luck. Rest assured if either mare becomes irritated with the new spurs the ladies I ride with will take them off, it has happened before and I am sure it will happen again. I LOVE having someone on the ground that can tell me immediately if I am doing something wrong. It makes me a lot braver to try new stuff that I would not try on my own because I would be afraid of hurting my horse. If the new spurs are accepted I may be able to use my lower leg a lot less strongly, therefore saving my energy when I am trying to ride in the summer time heat.

I do not know if I'll ever get my lower legs sensitive enough so I can use my half chaps again wearing any spur except the Waterford spur, the one with the big metal ball on the end of the shank. I will miss the stability the half chaps give me, but I'd rather have my horses happy with me, and I do not want to get any more messages of "YOUR BEING RUDE WITH YOU SPURS" from the horses I ride.

Have a great ride!