Spur straps are rare items of horse gear where we prefer synthetic over leather. We’ve long been happy with braided nylon spur straps because we don’t have to pull hard to seat the buckle into a hole and because they don’t crack like leather does when it spends too much time in mud.
There’s a new wrinkle out there now in the boot accessory world with the heady name of “Easiest Spur Strap Yet.” Despite the hyperbole, we have to agree. The strap stretches like nylon so it’s easy to find a hole and also to pull the spur tight against the back of the foot. It’s the easiest material we seen for threading into spur slots that come in a variety of sizes—often a strap is just too thick to fit. The rubber strap can be squeezed or folded so it will get into just about any spur space.
We also really like that there are two keepers, one each for above and below the spur so there is no excess strap flopping. The strap is also easy to trim with scissors in case you still feel it’s too long. Another bonus is that the rubber provides extra traction against the leather of the boot so the spur doesn’t slip down, even if there’s no spur rest on the boot.
The only negative we see with this strap is that it isn’t as shiny against a polished leather boot as either leather or nylon, but Armor All added to your polish kit fixes that. $10.95, www.bitofbritain.com, 800-972-7985.
