Spurs of the Moment

Spurs are about motivation.  A well placed spur in the right haunch would get you where you needed to be, when you needed to be there, back in the old days.  But these days they tend to be less "working cowboy" and more "duded up tourist".

That's not to say that they aren't still used in ranching and rodeo but they've made they're way into the decor in a big way.  You can find several examples of that across the state, starting in the legendary Fort Worth Stockyards:

You can find this "big un" near one of the branches of the Texas Trail of Fame, in a little out of the way location near the Lewis & Clark star.  I don't have a lot of information on the "what and why" of this thing but it definitely fits in with its surroundings.

You can find these beauties outside of RT Bit and Spur in Gainesville and they're easy to miss.  The house/business is behind some trees as you come in to town so you have to keep your eyes open.

But the next one is easy to find as it's one of the many spurs that claims to be the world's largest.  It makes its home in Hico, TX, not too far from the fake Billy the Kid grave.  I didn't have a tape measure or a ladder (or time) so I couldn't investigate its world's largest claims.

And finally, since size matters not, I'll leave with with the l'ilest Texas spur and an assignment.  The next time you visit downtown Dallas' Pioneer Plaza you'll find, among the many cow statues, a few cowboy statues.  And on one of these statues you'll find this:

Your mission: find it, flick it and make your future kids and grandkids listen to the story of how you found it and flicked it.  What could be more fun?