10/30/2026
Which is better? Quirt or Spur?
โงโงโง๐๐ก๐ข๐๐ก ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ? ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ซ?โงโงโง
Vaquero Purists believe hackamore horses should work almost exclusively off quirt and rein cues. Modern trainers believe horses need leg cues and hardly use quirts. The irony is that the horses of the past pale in comparison to the modern horse, who knows quirt, leg, and rein cues.. Knowledge is power, after all.
๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ/๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐
When a horse is being started and is green, he should not be ridden with spurs. In that stage of a horseโs training, the Vaquero Purist is right. The horse should, instead, be cued with reins and reinforced with a quirt. Properly exposing the horse to a quirt is easy in the modern age due to all the groundwork the equine world has been made aware of.
Spurs shouldn't be used at the start for at least a handful of rides because they can easily cause brace. Brace is like a malignant cancer, it spreads through the horseโs entire body. That brace can quickly reach the head/neck and cause problems in the hackamore. The quirt does not have this problem because of its in-and-out nature. It acts similarly to how bumps and releases are so quick that they disguise the riderโs strength.
๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐
Once the horse is rating, stopping, and turning nicely, he should be taught leg cues. These leg cues are best taught by proxy, using a quirt simultaneously. An example would be applying light outside leg pressure during doubling while tapping the horseโs outside hip with a quirt. Within a few rides, the leg cue should be utilized as the first cue, with the quirt acting as a reinforcement. Still, the rider should not use spurs. A quirt is more than enough to get what is needed for a green horse.
The horse should slowly be weaned from the quirt as he takes to the leg cues. A keen rider will ride without spurs until it becomes necessary. This point may come soon for specific horses and later for others. In either case, the rider can consider using spurs once they are at that point. This way, the horse knows how to yield his body to the riderโs legs while being entirely new to spur pressure. The rider preserves so much softness in the horse that its lightness is a cut above the rest when the rider starts using spurs. By this point, the spurs hold the horse accountable, offer finesse to cues, and add finishing touches to the maneuvers.
Written by Johnny Flores, AQHA Professional Horseman
๐๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ต ๐๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ถ๐ฅ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
818-939-1338
