Tail bandage warning!

Cortez

Cortez

Tough but Fair
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To all of you who use tail bandages for travelling; beware. This my (relatively) new horse who lost his tail after a five-day journey from Spain to the UK. His well-meaning owners put on a tail bandage for "protection". He was left with a 2 inch stump and no protection from flies for the rest of his life; be VERY careful and only use a bandage if it's absolutely necessary, and for short journeys only!
 
That's a shame but TBF, if they had applied it correctly in the first place that would never have happened and over five days I would have expected the transporter to have taken it off either altogether or re-applied correctly. If they didn't I'd almost be having them up for neglect, it's no way a genuinely experienced horse transporter would have treated the horses in their care - not if they were any good of course.
 
I have always bandaged for travelling, including continental imports back in the day ... As with everything, serious damage can be done with bandage ... and without bandage. In this modern age I use a tail guard rather than old-fashioned tail bandage -
 
I disagree with the other posters. From experience, even with a correctly fitted bandage, if the horse rubs its tail , even slightly, the bandage can move out of position and stop circulation. My boy had a bruise/scab on his tail for ages.
 
It was a very well known and experienced international horse transport company. The shipment was delayed by bad weather (this was several years ago now). Shame because the original purchaser of this horse didn't want him after he lost his tail - but good for me because I now have him!
 
5 days with a tail bandage on?!! Poor lad :( 'Well-meaning' or not, I'd be livid!
As someone who was looking into having a Luso imported, it would not have even crossed my mind to tell them not to bandage it for the journey over - to me its common sense not to! A stark warning, and I'll bear it in mind, so thank you for posting :)
He is still absolutely stunning! What a gorgeous colour. Its a real shame about the fly protection though; I suppose the remaining hair on his stump may grow back to a decent length to give him a bit of a fly wisp? Such a shame that you've had your excitement over the arrival of your gorgeous boy marred by this.
(I spent a bit of time rewording my reply, I didn't want to say "OH NO! Poor you! Oh my god!" When you are probably thrilled to bits with your new lad. Similar to a friend who's baby was born with a birthmark, and people kept saying "oh I'm so sorry" :eek: - she was quite rightly, very upset with people comiserating over her lovely new baby!) X
 
There is absolutely no reason to use tail bandages, tail guards do a better job in terms of protection and don't cut off the circulation

I have no idea why people still bandage unless to protect plaiting.
 
Laura-C said:
5 days with a tail bandage on?!! Poor lad :( 'Well-meaning' or not, I'd be livid!
As someone who was looking into having a Luso imported, it would not have even crossed my mind to tell them not to bandage it for the journey over - to me its common sense not to! A stark warning, and I'll bear it in mind, so thank you for posting :)
He is still absolutely stunning! What a gorgeous colour. Its a real shame about the fly protection though; I suppose the remaining hair on his stump may grow back to a decent length to give him a bit of a fly wisp? Such a shame that you've had your excitement over the arrival of your gorgeous boy marred by this.
(I spent a bit of time rewording my reply, I didn't want to say "OH NO! Poor you! Oh my god!" When you are probably thrilled to bits with your new lad. Similar to a friend who's baby was born with a birthmark, and people kept saying "oh I'm so sorry" :eek: - she was quite rightly, very upset with people comiserating over her lovely new baby!) X
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No, I got him from the owner who imported him, and I got him BECAUSE he had the short tail - the original purchaser didn't want him after he lost it, and he's come to me because I do historical riding demonstrations at heritage sites, so he is the most perfect Baroque horse EVER.
 
Cortez said:
No, I got him from the owner who imported him, and I got him BECAUSE he had the short tail - the original purchaser didn't want him after he lost it, and he's come to me because I do historical riding demonstrations at heritage sites, so he is the most perfect Baroque horse EVER.
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Lucky you and lucky horse its a perfect match !!
To add to my post we used no tail bandages and if a horse was being imported like that one we used to ask for their shoes to be removed and they traveled with no leg protection.
 
(Have just seen your reply about you not being the original purchaser - to be honest it wouldn't change my mind I was them, I'd still want him but would want a decent chunk of money refunded!)
 
Sorry, my phone is on the go-slow so I can't keep up with the replies, lol!
Lucky you to have found him, and him you! He's gorgeous :) x
 
Jen_Cots said:
There is absolutely no reason to use tail bandages, tail guards do a better job in terms of protection and don't cut off the circulation

I have no idea why people still bandage unless to protect plaiting.
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Absolutely!

A Velcro type padded tail guard does the job just as well, and can be unfastened if the tail is plaited. I usually pull mine down to remove it just like you would with a bandage, and the tail still looks just as neat (if not plaited).
 
Funnily enough, there was a horse on the IHDG a few years ago where the same thing happened. In his case, he travelled in the opposite direction. Wonder if it was the same company? I seem to remember he was an appy.
 
My friends horse also lost his tail in transit TO Spain. She was livid as you can imagine and sued the company. He manages fine without it so don't worry. Just sad it was lost in the first place :(
 
MAny years ago saw the same thing in Guernsey - pony had been transported there by ship and owners had bandaged the tail - bandage too tight and the tail died.

Transporting companies here in NZ will not allow boots or bandages as the legs get too hot in them and they cause problems. All the racehorses are travelled without protection and I've not used anything on mine now for over 20 years and not had any injuries.

I have a lovely set of travel boots I won many years ago and they have had more use at Pony Club exams than on journeys.
 
dumpling said:
I disagree with the other posters. From experience, even with a correctly fitted bandage, if the horse rubs its tail , even slightly, the bandage can move out of position and stop circulation. My boy had a bruise/scab on his tail for ages.
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I used to use a tail bandage for travelling my mare all the time with no drama, however one day she came out the trailer with the bandage kinda messed up as if she had been rubbing her tail! It wasnt on any tighter than usual and I was aware of the damage that they could cause.....I took the bandage off and assumed all was well, she had only been in the trailer for about two hours. Three days later my wee mare was a very very poorly wee horse, she had a terrible sore under her dock which was very infected. My vet managed to save both her and her tail but I think I was very lucky! Four months, three and a half thousand pounds, two weeks in the vet and endless dressings later my wee mare was fine, she always had white hairs and a wee kink in her tail though......

I will never ever use a tail bandage again and none of my friends will either x
 
What a handsome boy!!

My pony used to rub her tail if it was bandaged or if it had a guard on so I ended up not using one and she was fine without!
 
I've travelled a few horses to and from oversees using two top companies, and they have always advised not to bandage, rug or put travel boots on - for the horses safety and comfort.

It's a shame no one told the owners of the poor horses - but then again to me thats pure common sense!
 
I used to travel horses long distances and never used bandages or boots, and all the transport companies we used would ask for shoes off, no boots, no bandages for long haul transport (this was in the US). Horse is fine without his tail, he's a very patient fellow and just ignores flies now, but I make sure he is well dosed in flyspray and he wears a fly rug most of the time when out. He's a lovely, lovely boy who has had a rough time in other ways too, but he's safe now :-)
 
What a stunning horse, you must be delighted with him.

re, bandaging and booting, I always wonder why, in this day and age, people still wrap up their horses like Christmas presents for traveling.

The old adage 'less is more' is certainly true.
 
Five days!?!?!? I'm not surprised his tail fell off!

I have also heard that some transport companies insist that horses travel un-bandaged and un-booted, for obvious reasons.

There are horse owners out there who obviously never attended pony club, so many don't seem to know how to correctly use and apply a tail bandage (infact, any bandage). I remember 'the rules of bandaging', seem many never knew them in the first place, let alone forgotten them!. What I have also noticed is how strongly elesticated some tail bandages (not mine, friends') are these days.

Sorry, but the likes of this will not put me off using tail bandages, been using them since childhood with no problems, as no problems will occur if correctly applied and removed after a couple of hours. And no, a tail guard will not do the same job of making a pulled tail look super smart!
 
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