A quirt is a short

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

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 region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

. 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, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...

, 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 four 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 A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...

. 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, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

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 ring in certain types of

Western pleasure Western pleasure is a western style competition at horse shows that evaluates horses on manners and suitability of the horse for a relaxed and slow but collected gait cadence, along with calm and responsive disposition. The horse is to appear to ...

classes. A quirt is still commonly used by horse-riding herdsmen of

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

. 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.

In culture

''The Quirt'' is the title of a 1920 novel by

B. M. Bower Bertha Muzzy Sinclair or Sinclair-Cowan, ''née'' Muzzy (November 15, 1871 – July 23, 1940), best known by her pseudonym B. M. Bower, was an American author who wrote novels, fictional short stories, and screenplays about the American Old ...

Quirt Evans is the name of John Wayne's character in the 1947 film '' Angel and the Badman''.

References

{{Horse equipment Whips Livestock herding equipment Horse tack and equipment

In culture

See also

References