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Western Spurs For Sale On
 !
Below you will find hundreds of Western spurs, new
and used, for sale on eBay. Spur straps are almost always sold separately. If you would
like to shop for spur straps, you'll find a huge selection of
Western spur straps here. Please scroll down for a brief history of spurs.
A Brief History of Western Spurs
While there is much speculation
about the earliest forms of spurs, a great deal is not actually known. Many
historians believe there were very early forms of spurs made from wood and/or
bone. It was not until spurs were made of metal that their history became
somewhat easier to trace. Metal spurs were believed to have been used by the Roman
Legions of Julius Caesar (who lived from 100 BC to 44 BC), and spurs from the
2nd Century BC have been found in the famous Etruscan
tombs of Northern Italy.
Early spurs did not have rowels
like the most well-recognized Western spurs do today. Instead, they simply had
one prong and little or no neck. Spurs with rowels are believed by most
historians to have originated in France or Spain in the 10th Century AD, but
roweled spurs, for whatever reason, did not come into wide use until the 14th Century.
Spurs came to the Americas with the Spanish, dating back to the conquistadores
arriving in the 1500's. In those days, the spurs that would eventually evolve
into the modern Western spur worn by cowboys had a rowel that was 6 to 8 inches
around. Appropriately enough, it was called "The Espuela Grande" which means
"The Great Spur." Over time, spurs made their way to what is now Mexico and the
United States and became more refined for the newly emerging lifestyle of the
Vaquero, and a little later the cowboy.
The modern Western spurs worn by cowboys and cowgirls have been used as much
for displaying artistry and fine craftsmanship as they have been for a riding
aid. Western spurs are frequently decorated with names, brands, initials, a wide
range of symbols, engraving, inlays, or other ornamentation. They can come in
colors, with large rowels, small rowels, and no rowels at all, or in virtually
any other variation the rider would like.
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A customized Western
spur with the name "Levi." |
Another customized Western spur.
This one has the name
"Sam" and a "Bar MX" brand. |
Spurs - Fun Stuff To Know
During Medieval time spurs became a recognizable way of determining a man's rank or status.
- A knight would have spurs made of gold (a knight was a man, usually of
good birth, trained in chivalry and fighting skills).
- An esquire's spurs would be made of silver (an esquire was a young man of
good birth who aspired to be a knight, and who attended a knight).
- A man-at-arms' spurs would have been made of iron or brass (a
man-at-arms was a soldier who lacked the social status of a knight).
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