I use boots on all three neds. Do find they have to be done up tighter than the padding would appear to allow though, otherwise they slip down.
Am thinking of changing to pads and bandages for the Dizzy one as she gets very stroppy if anything slips down her hind legs. Should have seen the mood when her Equichap things slipped down
Id prefere to use banadges, but, once we have arrived where ever, theres no way he would stand still long enough to get them off, let alone get them back on to come home lol, therefore i have to use boots x
Depends on the horse and the length of the journey etc.
If a horse really dislikes boots/bandages then I will travel them without. For normal trips to shows then I use boots. If traveling greater distances then I prefer to use pads and bandages for more support.
Both.... as I have both but not 3 of each...if that makes sense?
Boots are easy but can slip down no matter how well I do them up, pads and bandages I are more likely to stay up, but I always use with o/r boots on fronts. As someone else said, they don't give hock protection though.
I will always use something though after the time my vet told me to stop faffing and just load, she'll be fine.....yeah as she decided to spin off the ramp and scrape her leg down the side of the ramp skinning it......
Interestingly enough, horse transporters wont allow anything on the horses legs when travelling from ireland-scotland vice versa - they say the legs heat up too much and are liable to slip and could cause horse to fall!
I travel mine without boots or bandages - as Only Me says, their legs do tend to heat up (too much I find). However, I do use boots to load one of my boys, as he is a pain in the backside to load and often kicks his shins against the trailer ramp when he's trying to avoid going in. So the boots protect him at that stage, but I take them off again as soon as he's loaded.
My gypsy cob loads and travels well. He has stable wraps on - to keep the hair clean when travelling. Ditto old Cairo. If not showing, they go bare legged.
When Farra came down from Scotland to Essex, Eric Gillie said unless they were bad loaders or travellers, they prefer to travel horses with no boots on, so she came down with nothing on her big hairy legs.
Fleur my WB hated travel boots but was not the best loader, so she had over reach boots all round and brushing boots and knee boots just in case she caught herself.
My TBs travelled better in brushing boots, so I gave the travel boots to a charity.
bandages for me, my horse seems to prefer the extra support of bandages (plus when I bought him was told to bandage instead of boots and he came from my instructors yard so I trust her judgement)
I use bandages on my mare as i cant find any boots that will fit her and if they slip at all she gets very upset. That said, i dont use them for very long jurneys due to over heating.
I use boots - but if the horse really didn't like them would use bandages. My mare has been difficult to load in the past and even broken the sraps on boots whilst loading so I dread to think the damage she would have done if she didn't have them on. Thankfully now she loads easily, but still use the boots, especially if travelling with another horse. they can slip slightly but I always do them as tight as possible, and put them on higher than normal so when she moves they settle into the right position.
My yearling won't have anything when he is taken out this summer, but will get him used to having things on/around his legs for when he is older.