Is it common to bloody a horse while training?

I'm not sure where you are from or what training you are refering too but  no its not nor ever should be a common practice to have a horse bloody during training or during anytime of its riding for that matter.
 
Spurs made now days are not usually sharp and have rounded rowels so in order to bloody one up your talking about using some of the really old style or old bronc spurs before animal rights finally banded their use many years ago.  Where are you from?  Some countrys till use a fairly sharp roweled spur but as for a training method it would't acomplish much other than getting a horse into flight mode and causing them to be resentful and fearful.
 
As for the twisted wire bits, yes they are used widely but like any other bit, even the most passive bit can cause great pain when used improperly or in heavy hands.  Some bits are signal bits and are not even to be picked up on or engaged fully but simply by a flick of the finger to signal the horse where to go and how to do it.  If these bits were actually engaged with heavy hands or jerked on years of hard work would be destroyed.  I have seen some colts with red gums before from fighting the bit or from going into a bucking fit and the rider hanging on the reins to steady themselves.  Most of the time eather of those situations can be avoided with groundwork to prep the colt for the bit but thats not to say there are some rank horses out there too.
 
 

Spurs are a tool and just like any other can be abused. I had a horse I couldn't ride without spurs, because as a cutting horse she'd been trained with them, and if she figured out you didn't have any one, she didn't listen. All I had to do was touch her with them.
 
I do see people abuse horses with cruel bits a lot more often than improperly using spurs (though I have seen that as well, usually young, inexperienced riders who think they're "cowboys" but really haven't had a mentor to teach them)

Personally, I would never send a horse to a trainer that believed drawing blood was the only way to train...
The trainer I hired for Reidar used spurs but he never left a mark.  When I was interviewing him he gave me a demonstration where he took a milk carton full of water, kicked it with his heel (no spur on) and the thing exploded.  Then he took another milk carton and kicked it with his spur and the thing just skidded across the yard. 
Reidar is pretty dead-sided (breed trait) so I'm sure there were times when the trainer had to use considerable pressure to get the proper response but there was never even a hair out of place when he was done. 
Like Trainer101 said, there are some pretty harsh bits out there too, but if they're used properly they shouldn't injure the horse either. 

Oh dear god no! Beside the point of being abusive and emotionaly scaring the horse for life, you would break the horse's spirit. If you did that you would end up with a dead horse That horse would never trust another human being ever again...that can be very dangerous!

[quote=BadPonyTraining]

Oh dear god no! Beside the point of being abusive and emotionaly scaring the horse for life, you would break the horse's spirit. If you did that you would end up with a dead horse That horse would never trust another human being ever again...that can be very dangerous!


I'm with you. I've ridden with spurs all my adult life, and seen them used all my life, and I have yet to see anyone bloody a horse, in training or otherwise. It isn't done, unless it's some sort of freak accident/occurrence. And if I saw it, I'd say something, probably not very nice, though one of the things I have learned is that it's best to keep your mouth shut until you are absolutely certain you know what's going on.

If the horse is bloody, it's not training, it's torture. Period.  It damages the horse mentally, emotionally, and physically.

I personally believe that if you are making your horse bleed when training him/her....you are doing everything wrong.  If you are hurting a horse....all that is gonna do is get him scared of you and he won't work for you.  You have to show kindness and love to your animals and they will love you back and respect you.  But if you're hurting them...there is NO reason in the world to do training that way.  Spurs are ok but if your horse is bleeding because of it find a pair of spurs that aren't so hard on the horse. 

Horses that work out of fear i.e. bloody sides, are never as solid as ones that have learned through repetition and a slow hand.  You can correct a horse without drawing blood.