A quirt is a short
whip associated with the
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...
. It often has a braided leather lash.
The falls on a quirt is made of
leather
Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning (leather), tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffal ...
, usually cowhide. The core of the quirt can be a leather bag filled with lead shot; the main part including the handle is often made from braided
rawhide, leather, or
kangaroo
Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...
hide and is usually somewhat stiff but flexible.
The old-style horse quirt is still carried by some Western horsemen, and this style of quirt is 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. Rather, it is an effective tool to slap or goad
cattle
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...
from horseback.
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. The ''romal'' was primarily used as a noisemaker to slap or goad cattle. (The handle made it too slow and of the wrong length for use on the horse.) This combination of ''romal'' and closed reins, today referred to as "''romal'' reins" or "''romal''-style reins", is seen primarily in the
horse show
A horse show is a judged exhibition of horses and pony, ponies. Many different horse breeds and equestrianism, equestrian disciplines hold competitions worldwide, from local to the international levels. Most horse shows run from one to three days ...
ring in certain types of
Western pleasure classes.
A quirt is still commonly used by horse-riding herdsmen of
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
. They can be highly individualized. Most are braided rawhide attached to a carved wooden handle or to a handle made from a segment of a stout tree branch. Others are only braided rawhide, with a loop at one end that serves as the lanyard.
Quirts were also used by some staff at
residential schools to punish students. The severity of such beatings included broken skin on the bodies of
First Nations
First nations are indigenous settlers or bands.
First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to:
Indigenous groups
*List of Indigenous peoples
*First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...
children.
In culture
''The Quirt'' is the title of a 1920 novel by
B. M. Bower.
Quirt Evans is the name of John Wayne's character in the 1947 film ''
Angel and the Badman''.
See also
*
Crop
A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. In other words, a crop is a plant or plant product that is grown for a specific purpose such as food, Fiber, fibre, or fuel.
When plants of the same spe ...
*
Whip
References
{{Horse equipment
Horse tack and equipment
Livestock herding equipment
Whips