New pockey things…

Wambli Ska

Spurs that is.  Hand forged and old time hand engraved (both sides) in Mexico!  Even the rowels are hand cut.  They weigh a ton but so much nicer than my old sets.

RugerFan

They do look nice

sakodude

I know nothing about spurs but that does look like nice work.

Diver43

Honest question.  Do people still wear spurs when riding?

Jayhawker

Diver43 said:

Honest question.  Do people still wear spurs when riding?

Some do...depends largely on the critter you're riding and the level of "communication" they require...

Wambli Ska

RugerFan said:

They do look nice

sakodude said:

I know nothing about spurs but that does look like nice work.

Thanks!  Like everything else, spurs are now mostly manufactured in china.  I have a set of plain ones made in USA but they are getting rare.  The Chinese use pressed imprinted strips of nickel silver that they then epoxy or solder on to spurs to make them fancy.   They do make some nice ones and I do have two sets of those.  They also have spurs if cast steel with designs cast right into them.

No one actually hand carves designs in steel anymore except for Mexicans artisans, and that is basically almost gone so I figured I should get a set while they are still some artisans available.

Wambli Ska

Diver43 said:

Honest question.  Do people still wear spurs when riding?

Jayhawker said:

Diver43 said:

Honest question.  Do people still wear spurs when riding?

Some do...depends largely on the critter you're riding and the level of "communication" they require...

Yep, what Scott said.  My horse was super trained and highly responsive AND he hated spurs so if you hit him hard with them he’d take you for a ride that’d MAYBE stop in the next county.  I never allowed other riders with spurs to get on him or he’d hurt them.

BUT I also trained horses that would ignore your cues until (they hoped) you’d give up.  Those required more assertive communications until they got better trained.

You also have to learn to use spurs correctly.  These are not meant to be instruments of torture.  They are a way to get a horses attention in a precise manner.

Contrary to popular belief the larger the rowel the less severe a spur is.  The little sharp pointy rowels are hell on a horses flank and we’d never let people use them on our horses when they were learning to use spurs.  But they also have their place in training.

Diver43

Thanks, I kind of figured spurs had gone out of style except when going to the country bar and saloon.

Wambli Ska

Diver43 said:

Thanks, I kind of figured spurs had gone out of style except when going to the country bar and saloon.

 
No, strictly for riding.  Spurs are really hard on furniture, stairs and floors.

A quick history lesson:  In the old days cowboys owned very little.  Basically if it didn’t go on your body or fit in your bedroll (bedding and luggage in one) you couldn’t have it.  Most of what they needed, like housing and food was provided by the outfit you worked for.

At the end of a drive or month if you worked a ranch, on payday usually they were given only a percentage of their pay to go into town.

Then, after a night (or two) of whores, whisky and gambling a sharp trail boss or ramrod would give the balance of their pay to the cowboys.

First order was to repair or replace anything essential you need for work.  Then if there was money left over buy some thing you could be proud of like a new scarf, hat, gun, spurs etc.  

As I said they didn’t own much so something that gave you bragging’ rights went a long way.  A nice pair of spurs gave the folks on the ground something to look at, admire, maybe even envy, while you rode by…

This pair is much closer to what you’d see riding down Main Street in the late 1800s that much of what’s out there today.

Freezer

Got it! Hubcap or rims 

Wambli Ska

Freezer said:

Got it! Hubcap or rims 

Basically yes!  Cowboy bling 😎