Travel boots - yay or nay?

alainax

alainax

Well-Known Member
Joined
21 April 2010
Messages
4,503
Location
Lanarkshire
Visit site
Hello!

Im taking a young horse to a show on sunday, he boxes ok, a little unsteady/anxoius - but he evens out when the tailers moving.

I have a full set of Mark Todd travel boots, which i had on him today. After an initial kicking his legs around and walking like a cat on a hot tin roof, he got used to them and walked as any other horse would.

A friend suggested that they should be put on a young horse when travelling as they can make them more unsteady as they are thinking about where to put there legs to get balanced and the boots will stress him more and potentially unbalance him.

However, my horse in the past had done himself an injury by standing on himself in a trailer and ive always used travel boots since.

What do you think? Do the pros out way the cons? or am i being over paranoind and he'l be ok withou them??

Thanks.
 
Can't advice from an experience stand point, but on my nervous pony who doesn't like full boots anywhere near him and who doesn't travel very well in general, I just use overreach boots on both front and rear, with brushing boots all round. He's happy with this and travels well enough, certainly not stressing or falling over.

How about doing some trailer training with him before the day - take him out slowly with the boots on and with someone in the back with him who can observe. If he isn't happy the person can let you know before it gets out of hand, and you can remove the boots and then see how he travels.

Have just read that through, and its all a bit pointless really, but thought I'd post anyway!

Good luck with it.
 
Hi

Personally I would put travel boots on any horse whether young or not and if the boots are fitted properly then they won't cause any problems, if you are worried then you can always use travel bandages. But would really urge you to use something as i have seen what happens when you travel without anything on and it's really not worth the risk believe me!! :)
 
buntybaby said:
Hi

Personally I would put travel boots on any horse whether young or not and if the boots are fitted properly then they won't cause any problems, if you are worried then you can always use travel bandages. But would really urge you to use something as i have seen what happens when you travel without anything on and it's really not worth the risk believe me!! :)
Click to expand...

Yeah thats the view i have on it, better safe than sorry. Thanks.
 
Angelbones said:
Can't advice from an experience stand point, but on my nervous pony who doesn't like full boots anywhere near him and who doesn't travel very well in general, I just use overreach boots on both front and rear, with brushing boots all round. He's happy with this and travels well enough, certainly not stressing or falling over.

How about doing some trailer training with him before the day - take him out slowly with the boots on and with someone in the back with him who can observe. If he isn't happy the person can let you know before it gets out of hand, and you can remove the boots and then see how he travels.

Have just read that through, and its all a bit pointless really, but thought I'd post anyway!

Good luck with it.
Click to expand...
Thanks for you reply. He's fine with the boots on, doesnt freak or anything, was just walking funny to start with ( as most do!)

We did trailer training today, just on and off, up and down the road. We didnt put the boots on, But i really think he would be fine, :o
 
Another one who doesn't use travelling boots. Bandages on the way home for support and brushing boots with over reach all round on the way there.

I think the risk of a horse hurting itself from thrashing following a boot slipping is far greater than them thrashing in the first place.

None of the polo/hunt horses I've had or worked with ever wore them, and my babies and eventer/show jumpers don't either.
 
Hmm now i dont know what to do!

Definatley not bandages, but i do have over reach boots/ brushing boots and even medicine boots he could wear.
 
It is amazing how many bad loaders improve when they're travel boots are taken off. I agree they are horrible things. Most horses seem to find them uncomfortable.

I do bandages, and over-reach boots if they have shoes :)
 
fumanchu said:
nay....

bandages or nothing.


travel boots IMO are the spawn of the devil
Click to expand...

I totally agree. except i would use brushing boots and over reach boots if a young horse is already used to wearing them rather than nothing.

Travel boots just dont fit snugly enough and give the horse something else to worry about. i dont use them on an old horse let alone on a youngster!
 
I dont use any boots at all...I have seen one or 2 nasty accidents with young horses who have thrashed about and got the boots caught under their feet.....

Luckily, my horses have substantial legs and I dont feel they need the extra support.....
 
hmm ok, well he only has shoes on the fornt, and wear a full set of brushing boots out riding(so hes used to them)

So will over reach boots on the front and all his brushing boots all round be enough protection for him?
 
alainax said:
hmm ok, well he only has shoes on the fornt, and wear a full set of brushing boots out riding(so hes used to them)

So will over reach boots on the front and all his brushing boots all round be enough protection for him?
Click to expand...

Yes, sounds a good idea. if he has shoes on you should definately use over reach boots- the coronet band is the most vulnerable part when travelling
 
Personally I would always use travel boots or bandages. Was always a huge fan of travelling bandages but do think travel boots have moved on a huge amount and generally fit and stay in place very well. And I put on overreach boots too
 
Maisy said:
I dont use any boots at all...I have seen one or 2 nasty accidents with young horses who have thrashed about and got the boots caught under their feet.....
Click to expand...

That's exactly what happened with mine last yr - i've never seen a horse freak out so much in my life and it was just horrible. I would never use them again.
 
fumanchu said:
nay....

bandages or nothing.


travel boots IMO are the spawn of the devil
Click to expand...


Short, concise and to the point :D

I like the look of travel boots :). I have a few sets of very nice ones... Dizz gets in a tizz; stands on them and manages to being the hind ones down, then she has a major stropping session, so now she travels in Professional Choice leg wrap thingies (can't think of the name of them), and over-reach boots. Far happier horsey :D.

I stand and admire my pretty boots gathering dust. Hm. I wonder. Maybe, with a bit of tweaking, they'll make good cushions :D
 
Going against the grain here, but I use travel boot on all my horses and have never had any problems. I have used them on horses from 3-30, and all have loaded and travelled well (except for 1 who would fall over in the trailer, but was fine in the lorry, so nothing to do with the boots!)
 
I use boots in front and bandages behind - I use them even for a five mile journey. ONCE I decided to leave them off my old horse who was only going a short distance and travelled so well. Blow me he cut himself on the coronet band.
 
Rollin said:
I use boots in front and bandages behind - I use them even for a five mile journey. ONCE I decided to leave them off my old horse who was only going a short distance and travelled so well. Blow me he cut himself on the coronet band.
Click to expand...

My tbx did that, hence why i bought the boots. he was perfect ever since he had them.

I would hate for this baby to injure himself, hence wanting him to have the utmost protection.
 
I use travel boots on all my horses and, providing they are the right size, have no problem with them. I just like the idea of the hocks being protected against the trailer ramp and the travel boots are less restrictive than hock boots. If you do decide to go down the line of brushing/over-reach boots, I would also put over-reach ones on the hind feet to prevent any injury to the coronet bands etc.
 
Now i dont know what to do :(

I Like the amount of protection the full travel boots give, and they fit him well ( i tried two sizes) He doesnt go mental with them on so i would think they would be ok.
But now that a few of you have said that you dont use them - i dont know what to do!
 
My horse hates his travel boots - and travels worse in them. He can deal with the front boots but not hinds, so I usually end up bandaging the hinds and booting the front :)

Funnily enough, he travels in the trailer with no partition fine with hind boots, I think he likes a wide base for the hind boots.

I dont travel him home from an event in travel boots as he generally has ice tight on so is wet!
But if going somewhere local ie. within 30mins he just wears his boots for schooling/jumping instead :)
 
Bet you didn't think this would be so controversial!

Reading through the posts it really seems to depend on your horse. Personally I always use travel boots as I think the protection is better. You have to be an ace with bandages to be sure they are absolutely right and an even tension throughout. Plus you can't protect the hock.

But there are some horses who are harder to fit with boots than others. You have to have well fitting boots and they can't be done up too tight on the leg. I'm sure there are many horses who travel better without boots.

I am slightly wary of using brushing type boots though. When you buy boots the packs very specifically state that they are not suitable for travelling in because the pressure on the leg is wrong. Horses have a passive lymph return. Brushing / tendon etc boots rely on the leg being in work to combat the pressure of the boot and drive the fluid back up the leg. If they are standing this won't happen and you are looking at a recepie for filled legs. But having said that I'm sure huge numbers will come back and say they compete at top level and always travel in brushing boots without problems.

Follow your instinct and don't worry about what anyone else says I guess!
 
I never bandage or boot any of mine to travel and find a tail bandage is the only thing ever actually needed. Bad loaders tend to need to be "surprised" that they are going somewhere, i've got a really bad loader and best way with him is to wash and plait night before and then travel everywhere tacked up, so he thinks your just going for a ride in the morning. Boots and bandages are a no no, as soon as they come out he's off! Most travel boots tend to slip down, annoy the horse ect. We only travel one of our hunters in back boots purely because he ****s everywhere and gets it all down his legs and tail, therefore tail is rolled up and legs are well covered!
 
Mine all travel with nothing on their legs if they are on their own, and four over-reach boots (ie back feet aswell) if they are in together. As above, coronet is most vulnerable area and often boots/bandages either don't cover it at all or gape at the front, leaving it exposed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top