quirt

Above me a dark rider was whipping his pony with a quirt in an attempt to hurdle the bales.

She was carrying a quirt, and she started to raise it, then let it fall again and dangle from her wrist.

She had picked up the quirt and was twirling it around her wrist and smiling at him.

She brought the quirt down, slashing it across his cheek, and he tried to step back.

She swung the quirt again, and this time he caught her wrist and pulled her out of the saddle.

`` That quirt -- I ought to use it on you, where it would do the most good.

The girl tapped the quirt impatiently against her knee and glared at him.

He saw her hand start to work down the leather thong toward the handle of the quirt, and he grabbed her wrist.

A set of romal reins, featuring a quirt at the end of the romal

* A quirt is a short, flexible piece of thickly braided leather with two wide pieces of leather at the end, which makes a loud crack when it strikes an animal or object.

Quirts are occasionally carried on horses used in western riding disciplines, but because the action of a quirt is slow, they are not used to correct or guide the horse, but are more apt to be used by a rider to reach out and strike at animals, such as cattle that are being herded from horseback.

Riders are allowed two different styles of reins: 1 ) split reins, which are not attached to each other, and thus the rider is allowed to place one finger between the reins to aid in making adjustments ; and 2 ) " romal reins ," which are joined together and have a romal ( a type of long quirt ) on the end, which the rider holds in his / her non-reining hand, with at least 16 inches of slack between the two, and the rider is not allowed to place a finger between the reins.

A quirt is attached to the end of a set of romal reins

A quirt is a forked type of stock whip which usually has two falls at the end ( like the tails on some tawses ).

Sometimes called a riding quirt, horse quirt or a dog quirt.

The falls on a quirt are made of leather, buffalo, or cow hide.

The core of the quirt is usually a leather bag filled with lead shot, the main part including the handle is often made from braided rawhide, leather or kangaroo hide and is usually somewhat stiff but flexible.

The old style horse quirt is still carried by some Western horsemen and this is the style of quirt seen in the early Western cowboy films.

The quirt, due to its slow action, is not particularly effective as a riding aid for horses, though at times it has been used as a tool of punishment.

In the vaquero tradition, a quirt with a long handle, known as a romal, was attached to the end of a closed set of reins.

* a quirt

* Romal reins: a rein style from the vaquero tradition that incorporates a closed rein with a long quirt at the end.