A spur is a metal instrument composed of a shank, neck, and prick, rowel (sharp-toothed wheel), or blunted end fastened to the heel of a horseman. It is usually used to refine the aids and to back up the natural aids (the leg, seat and voice aids). The spur is used in every equestrian discipline. There are rules in most equestrian organizations about spur use and cruelty issues.

Disciplines

Spurs differ between the Western and English-style disciplines. Western spurs tend to have rowels, and are designed to be used not by poking the horse, but by running the rowel across the horse's side. The spurs are usually longer, to accommodate the leg position of the Western-style rider, where the leg is held more off the side of the horse than in English-style.

English riders tend to use a spur that is shorter, as they merely need to turn their toe to activate the spur. Rowels are not as popular as a plain blunt end, although there are types that include a rowel-like end. The English spur should always be worn pointed downward, sitting on the boot's spur rest, with the buckle on the outside of the leg.

A dressage rider's spur tends to be blunt and shaped so as to give a signal but not cause pain for a horse. Their purpose is not to speed up a horse, but to give him accurate and precise aids in lateral movements or more complicated movements, such as airs above the ground. A hunter/jumper rider may use a flatter end, such as the Prince of Wales design. The fundamental purpose of dressage (a French term meaning training) is to develop, through standardized progressive training methods, a horses natural athletic ability and willingness to perform, thereby maximizing its potential as a riding horse. ... The fundamental purpose of dressage (a French term meaning training) is to develop, through standardized progressive training methods, a horses natural athletic ability and willingness to perform, thereby maximizing its potential as a riding horse. ...

No matter the discipline, it is important that a rider has a correct position before using spurs. A swinging or unstable leg may inadvertently jab the horse with the spur as the rider sits, irritating, distracting, frightening, or deadening the animal to the leg aids.

History

An iron prick-spur (13th-14th century) and an iron spur with eight pointed rowel (15th century).

The spur's use cannot with certainty be traced further back than Roman times. Early spurs had no neck, a prick being riveted to the shank. Prick spurs had straight necks in the 11th century and bent ones in the 12th. Rowels first appeared early in the 14th. The spurs of medieval knights were gilt and those of esquires silvered. "To win his spurs" meant to gain knighthood. Image File history File links Medieval_spurs. ... Image File history File links Medieval_spurs. ... The Roman Forum was the central area around which ancient Rome developed. ... The silver Anglia knight, commissioned as a trophy in 1850, intended to represent the Black Prince. ... Esquire (abbreviated Esq. ...