I share a horse.. and he is really lazy at times.Do you think spurs would help and which type blunt or rowel??

Question

I dont know if spurs would be cruel.. but he just needs omething to wake him up?? please tell me what you think ??

I wouldnt want to hurt my horse..but he is lazy pretty much all the time.. and when he isnt lazy he is reli exicted..and is hard to ride.. i would not want to be cruel please help????

Answer 1

This sounds like the wrong horse for you. I would suggest looking for a different horse to share or lease. Being slow and unresponsive, then being over-excited and un-rideable are signs of a green horse: your horse is probably more untrained then lazy.

Spurs and whips are extra "aids" for your horse. They are not answers for a lazy horse. Spurs are suppose to be used for advanced movements, not to encourage a horse to move faster. As for the whip, if you don't know how to use it correctly, dont use it at all. When first using whips and spurs, always have a trainer present to ensure correct use of these aids.

Answer 2

As someone already said, try using a riding stick first, he may just be chancing his arm with you. a couple of good cracks (this is NOT cruel) behind your leg should give him a bit of a wake up call. Failing that, start with small "bobble" spurs, these should have a round ball like end, and only be about a centimeter long. these can be used safely, as they won't hurt the horse or "deaden" him to your leg.

Look at his feeding program too. make sure that his feed intake, and the protien content is equitable to the kind of work you're asking the horse to do! try putting him on a higher energy feed.

Also, it may be a long shot, but i think it would be a good idea to have a vet take a look at your horse, if he is consistently lazy, he may have a low haemoglobin (red blood cell) count. there could be something worrying, like if he has stomach ulcers he wont want to go forward as he is sore. Is he finishing his feed? this will tell you also if there is something wrong or not.

actually, now that i think about it, DO get a vet to take a look at your horse, and maybe take blood samples, i realise this is expensive, but since you're sharing the horse, costs can be split. that way, if there's nothing wrong then you KNOW it's the horse just being lazy and stubborn, rather than using spurs, sticks etc, and the horse is in pain.

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

I lease a pony, and before, he used to go REALLY fast, but he has turned into a litle western pony. his owner told me i could use spurs on him if i wanted to. I used ENGLISH spurs, not the western spurs, and they semed to have done the trick. they dont have rowels, they are like little nobs. They dont hurt him at all, and im a beginner when it comes to spurs, and they arent that bad, half the time i forget their on!! I would try english spurs before i go to the western one. hope that helped

Answer 4

I would say try using a whip first if you haven't already. Just giving him a swat on his butt or right behind your leg when he's not responding should wake him up. plus a lot of leg. If you do decide to use spurs get smalls studs that are kind of rounded at the ends their not as harsh. but you have to be careful that your not hitting him with them contantly. only when needed. the only bad thing with spurs is if you use them too often the horse may become dead to the leg even worse than he probably is now.

Answer 5

Use whichever ones work for you.....sparingly. As for the whip idea, it's just a good way to have something in your hands when you need both of them, and it will cause your horse to shy.

Answer 6

If you use spurs properly they are not cruel. I use spurs when riding, or should I say wear them. You can ride with spurs and not use them.

Answer 7

I consider spurs very cruel and the def won't be suitable for your horse coz you say he can be excitable and hard to control-imagine how much harder he'll be to control with spurs. Rather do stimulating exercises that don't bore him and if worst comes to worst use a crop or dressage whip to speed him up. Rem the trick is to get the horse to want to do something-not be forced to.

Answer 8

I live on a farm with horses.He might be getting lazy if u r riding him/her at least three hours after the horse lunch. And don't ride the horse for more than three or four hours.Arrange time for him to rest his legs.

Answer 9

no i think that you should not use spurs on him i think that any kind of overly cruel treatments should not be used.

i think that he knows that he is the boss and that if you want to gain that special relationship with your horse then show him who is boss.

Answer 10

Sounds like he's taking advantage of you more than being lazy.He might be overridden,too.Some horses are overly sensitive to spurs so start small and blunt if you do decide to use them.