British Whips, Crops and Bats
If there is one thing the British are famous for it is their bats, crops and whips. These can be specialty items or functional equestrian tools.
Bats look like long flexible spatulas. These can be made out many different types of material including nylon, leather and rubber. The classic ones simply have a square paddle at the end. Many have something called a Roma Spiral shaft which is easier for gripping. Some of them come in wild neon colors with plastic shafts or glittery shafts. Novelty ones are shaped like animals, or most commonly like a human hand.
British Equestrians are also known for they crops. The crop is a slimmer with a tiny leather end. It is a baton with a loop for hanging around the wrist, a shaft and then a narrow soft tip. These too can be bought in many different novelty styles and colours including pink, teal, black, orange, lime, red green and blue. A version of these is called a Quirt. They are “Western style” bats that have a shaft made out of braided nylon or leather and some horses just respond better to them.
Another classic British riding accessory is the Doggin Bat. This is a spring steel flat bat that is covered with leather. A loop keeps it around the wrist. This is a stiffer kind of bat and they usually are about seventeen inches long and between two and three inches in length.
A very glamorous equestrian object that looks great during shows is the Horse Hair Fly Whisk. These look like large whisks. The end is made out of horse hair. These come with a wooden handle and a loop and are only about 15 inches long. This does not really do much but genuinely brush the horse about the buttocks a bit. It does not give the horse a good slap like a bat, crop or Dogging Bat can.
No British rider is seen without a high quality equestrian bull whip. The best ones are made completely out of very heavy braided leather. They can be black, dark brown or tan or a mixture of all three colours. Some very high quality whips have wooden swivel handles.
Whips also come in different lengths and like many equestrian objects some are meant more for show. The most practical length is between eight or ten inches. Only very showy horse trainers tend to use a whip that is of more glamorous longer length.