Travel boots or not?

willhegofirst

willhegofirst

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At the end of May we will be moving, and my lad will have a four hour journey to his new yard, in the past when travelling him, not more that an hour maybe ninety mins I have just put brushing boots on him. I do have a set of travel boots, the ones that come up over the knees and hocks, but they are very stiff, he has never worn them and I feel they might be more of a hinderonce than a help. So what do people use when travelling their horse for a long journey.
Thanks in advance😊
 
I use thermatex leg wraps and over reach boots on mine, my cob wasn't too happy in 'proper' travel boots and spent his first journey in them killing them.
 
I'm generally not a boots fan - they are overused and the function often misunderstood. Travel boots are the exception. Well - leg protection for traveling anyway; boots or bandages. Some horses do better in bandages (or leg wraps) than boots - but do put something on him. The function of leg protection in travel is both to protect the horse from standing in himself - although they rarely do that when moving as they have to brace - but more importantly to save the leg in an accident. Brushing boots only protect the inside of the leg from being struck by the other one. They won't protect the tendons or the joints in the event of a sudden stop or something more catastrophic.
 
I prefer to bandage for long journeys, much less chance of them slipping and causing aggravation to the horse. Mine hates travel boots with a passion!
 
Nothing apart from a headcollar, with perhaps a poll guard for a big horse.
Have travelled extensively and also driven for a living at one point, always preferred naked horses as much less to go wrong*. Ask any of the professional transporters and they will say the same :)

*
rugs and sheeets = too hot/cold, can slip.
boots = can slip, or aggravate horse, can also be too hot on a summer day, or too hot on a stressed traveller
bandages = not everyone puts them on well, can over tighten, can cause pressue if left on for too long.
All the above can be a problem, especially on a very long trip with overnight breaks.
 
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As Fuzzy Furry says, if you were to employ any of the professional transporters (Gillies, Pedens) to do your four hour trip they would not be wanting the horse to have anything on its legs.
 
since buying our horse box and driving my horse myself I no longer use travel boots, she's a perfect traveller but there is more stomping around when she has the boots on so i no longer use them, when I'm going for a lesson down the road i travel her in her jumping boots more out of convenience and sometimes if we've had a hard session i'll put her magnetic stable boots on and she travels fine in these - any other occasions and she's naked apart from rugs if needed
 
I used to travel them in the full stiff boots. Previous horse managed to ruin a set! They seemed to hinder the ability to move the legs in a normal manner for balance. I found the most common injury was from one foot trodding on the other when re-balancing ( happened to both my previous geldings, 10 years apart, in the same style of boots). So now I go for a set of over reach boots on the front and back, with some cool air wraps on the legs for minor brushing type scuffs.
 
I travel mine with nothing bar over reach boots. If I'm travelling with another horse I'll always put wraps and bandage on.
 
The Fuzzy Furry said:
Nothing apart from a headcollar, with perhaps a poll guard for a big horse.
Have travelled extensively and also driven for a living at one point, always preferred naked horses as much less to go wrong*. Ask any of the professional transporters and they will say the same :)

*
rugs and sheeets = too hot/cold, can slip.
boots = can slip, or aggravate horse, can also be too hot on a summer day, or too hot on a stressed traveller
bandages = not everyone puts them on well, can over tighten, can cause pressue if left on for too long.
All the above can be a problem, especially on a very long trip with overnight breaks.
Click to expand...

Agree with you. I travel with nothing but a headcollar.
 
I use premier equine stable boot wraps ( as I find the over the hock and knee boots very stiff and horses doesn't like them) or I bandage. I personally wouldn't travel with nothing as I traveled a friends horse this way as they requested cut his leg badly by standing in himself.
 
The last two times my boy traveled we were going to Leahurst and he was ataxic. The first time he wore knee boots, his stretch and flex boots and over reach boots on the way there. Nothing on the way back (or the second trip for a follow up) as he still traveled really well.
 
My cob travelled from Somerset to Ireland in a shared load last summer. After looking into it I went for completely naked and he was absolutely fine. He has very hairy legs though, and is unshod.
 
I do put boots on mine and he is fine but when I first started travelling him, I bandaged. He had done little travelling after coming from Ireland as a 3 year old so stressed a lot when we started. I also found bandages a little cooler. We go out quite a bit so it is for my convenience, although the boots seem to generate a lot of heat and even when it is freezing, he is rugged really lightly when travelling.
 
Mine always wear full travel gear regardless of how long or short the journey, and even have them put back on at shows if standing back on trailer inbetween classes. I cant control what other road users do and like mine to be protected as best I can. Ive also seen some horrific injuries received by travelling without boots on and horses lives saved by having boots on. We also had a referal sent to us for a horse who was stood on the lorry between classes without boots on and got bored and managed to get his leg into the living and had the door blow shut on it, when he pulled his leg back he degloved his pastern and scraped layers of bone off. He was pts. He would probably been ok if had travel boots on.
 
I would say it depends on your horse. I always use travel boots but my horse isn't bothered by them. If she were, I would use bandages or similar.
 
Mine travel in brushing boots, but mainly because they both dislike travel boots and I think it tends to make loading more of an 'issue' when they are wearing them. Completely down to personal preference and the individual horse though.
 
Mine have travelled boot free for years. The big guy never travelled well until I took everything off, and the little man is beautifully balanced. Now trying to persuade the lady who is handing over ownership of her horse to me next week, that I’d prefer she was naked. I’m hoping my transport lady will insist on it anyway. Difficult one. 🤔
 
I always understood that travel boots were initially designed for wooden horsebox - so they wouldn’t get huge splinters if they kicked a hole in the wall.
Now other materials are used for horsebox construction, the risk is much lower, so unless you have a specific reason maybe not as they can cause as many problems as they solve?
 
i use a&j fleece boots if i need white legs to stay clean, brushing boots if just going to an arena hire etc. I have travelled home from plenty of shows with naked legs, when they wouldn’t stand still long enough😂
 
Baggs my retired lad always wore brushing boots and over reach boots 1) cause he wouldn't stand still at wherever we were going long enough for me to put them on, and 2) he detested travel boots and would lie flat on the ground like a bear skin rug (I have a photo somewhere of him doing it!) if I tried to put some on him.... never got to the bottom of why he hated them so much and it wasn't worth stressing him out about it.

My friend swears by travel boots and they've saved her horse from some nasty cuts when leaping around coming off the lorry, so they deffo have their uses :)
 
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