When you go to war

Another thing I asked Clancy last week was "Sometimes he goes well without spurs. Should I always be wearing spurs, and carrying a whip?"

Clancy gazed at me in response, then said "Apparently Franz Mairinger once said, when you go to war, take all your necessary equipment with you."

There's not much point in leaving your dressage whip at A, and running into a problem at C, thinking "my whip would be really handy right now". You need to learn to ride selectively - use your calf when you need to, use the spur when you need to, and use the whip when you need to. And don't let your spur or your whip interfere when you're using your calf.

Needless to say, I mount up with spurs and whip today. I use my spurs a fair bit, and my whip only twice. But I am really glad both are there when I need them.