X 



SPURS 



THEIR USE AND ABUSE RELICS OF BARBARISM 



'NE spur in the head of either rider or mount 

 is worth a dozen in the heels when chasing 

 the fox. I confess I have a decided preju- 

 dice against the use of spurs, except as an or- 

 nament to a well-fitting boot. They have, I believe, done 

 ten times as much harm as good. They are used a hun- 

 dred times uselessly to once of real necessity. 



As a matter of fact it will be readily understood to fol- 

 low from the system of training and schooling herein 

 advised that the spur is a useless instrument. My idea, as 

 I explained in the chapter on Schooling Hunters, is that 

 nothing whatever should be done to flurry, distract, or 

 annoy a horse in the act of jumping, much less to injure 

 him, because he thus associates injury or annoyance with his 

 jumps, and dreads them or refuses altogether. The more 

 you spur or whip, the more you will have to. The prin- 

 ciple is wrong and thoroughly inconsistent with the proper 

 education of a hunter. The spur or the whip is a stimu- 

 lant, and, like liquor, the more it is indulged in, the more 



the need of it is felt. A horse can be driven through a run 



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