Re: Whips and Spurs in Endurance

["DeSoto Saddle" <desotosaddle@voyager.net>]

Kat,

You could not have put this issue in a better light! Well said and 100%
right!

Marilyn Horstmyer
DeSoto Custom Saddlery
(231) 775-5612
desotosaddle@voyager.net
----- Original Message -----
From: <guest@endurance.net>
To: <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Sent: Thursday, September 21, 2000 12:28 PM
Subject: RC: Whips and Spurs in Endurance


> K S SWIGART   katswig@earthlink.net
>
>
> Let's get one thing straight here, in the AERC, whips and spurs
> are not disallowed.  In FEI, only "spurs are prohibited" (and a
> stupid rule if ever I heard one).
>
> And if the AERC ever passes such a rule, I will stop riding
> endurance.  I consider spurs to be an absolutely essential
> piece of safety equipment and will not go out on the trail
> without them.  As far as I am concerned, a rule prohibiting them
> would be as dumb as "helmets are prohibited."
>
> The effect of spurs is to enable the rider to give clear, concise
> and deliberate cues to the horse (assuming that the rider knows
> how to use them properly).  They are not intended (nor are they
> effective) for making a horse go faster (if they did, then
> jockeys would wear them in the Kentucky Derby).
>
> The FEI, of course, understands this completely, which is why
> they allow dressage, event, and show jumping riders to use them.
> They understand that they are an invaluable tool in getting a
> horse to place its foot more precisely where the rider wants it.
> Assuming that the rider knows how to use them properly and has
> enough control over his lower leg in order to not accidentally
> spur the horse (which will have the opposite effect of just
> confusing the horse and making it more likely to ignore the
> rider's leg aids).  They also enable the rider to get his "heel"
> on the horse without removing his knee.
>
> Most of the time while going down the trail, the horse is
> perfectly capable of figuring out for itself where to put its
> feet, and the spurs have little or no use.  However, there have
> been plenty of instances where the horse is not paying attention
> to where it is putting its feet, or doesn't see something that
> the rider sees, or some unexpected disaster occurs and a well
> placed and well timed spur will keep the horse (and rider) from
> going over the edge.  The consequences of a misstep in dressage
> is a low score, the consequences of a misstep in show jumping is
> a downed rail, the consequences of a misstep in endurance could
> be equally as disasterous as the consequences of a mistep in
> the cross country phase of eventing--injury or death to both
> horse and rider.
>
> The fact that the FEI has passed a rule banning spurs for
> endurance riders suggests to me that either a) they are more
> concerned about appearances than they are of the actual safety
> of horses and riders or b) they are of the opinion that endurance
> riders are a bunch of intermediate riders who don't know how to
> use spurs properly and therefore should be banned from using them
> because they are more likely to use them improperly.
>
> Whips, like spurs, can be used both properly and improperly and
> rules banning them would be equally as silly as the one banning
> spurs.  And sanctioning organizations (where ever they may be)
> are stupidly naive if they think they can stop endurance riders
> from over riding and/or abusing their horses by taking away
> their whips and/or spurs.  People who are going to over ride or
> abuse their horses cannot be stopped by taking away tools that
> are valuable riding aids for the rest of the horse riding population.
>
> So far, the AERC understands this, and has refused to pass idiotic
> rules about not using whips and spurs.  And they already have
> rules against abusing horses, so riders who abuse their horses
> with whips and spurs can be disqualified in the same way that
> riders who abuse their horses without them.
>
> kat
> Orange County, Calif.
>
> p.s.  If I had not been wearing spurs when Marla spun around on
> and went down on the paved road at Swanton, they would STILL be
> scraping bits and pieces of both me an her off the tarmac.  As it
> was, I was able to quickly change her direction of motion, push
> her hindleg underneath her and get her to her feet with the
> single application of the spur on her right side.
>
>
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