Travelling horses with no boots or bandages.

kerilli

kerilli

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I used to be fantatical about booting or bandaging, but a few weeks ago i took Katy's travel boots off and her whole legs were white with sweat, so since then i've travelled her with naked legs, as i'm more worried about 'cooking' her tendons! afaik the racing fraternity don't usually boot or bandage, and i never have done with youngstock. i drive carefully and don't chuck her around, and she arrives with nice cool legs. (i was told the exertion of travelling is about the same as trotting... is that wrong?)
anyway, am i mad to travel her with naked legs? i really can't decide what to do in future...
 
An old boss never travelled with boots, also depends on your partition arrangements, she now uses front boots.
I travelled mine home on sunday without boots on as it was so hot.
In a perfect world i travel mine with back boots and bandages in front, boots to protect hocks and they have white hocks!!
 
Nope, not mad at all.

Our three all travel with naked legs, or at the very most their brushing boots on as one is particularily hard to boot up when out at parties. Decided to do this after speaking to the trainer they came from - all exracers - who doesnt boot anything up for anything. Funnily enough my mare cut herself twice when in travel boots but hasn't had any problems when travelling without. think they cause more hassle than thay are worth.
 
I'm sure I readand LG article stating that she doesn't travel with boots or bandages, although I could have made that up!

I often think about travelling Hen with leg protection, as I too am paranoid about cooking legs, but his have never been hot when I've taken them off and he often stumbles round left turns.
If he was to travel with no leg protection I would probably put over reach boots all round, as the majority of the damage to his travel boots is around the coronet band area.
 
I don't travel my youngster with them as he isn't accustomed to them and I figured it would make him fret more?
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Likewise Mum never travels her hunter with them on, but this is because he wouldn't stand still to have them removed at the meet and wouldn't stand still to have them put on afterwards either
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I would probably use boots/bandages if I was travelling with another horse as our IW510 has a rubber flap at the bottom half of the partition so the horses *could* inadvertantly stand on eachother but otherwise I don't
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I just travel my sports horse in what he is competing in, overreachers, tendon boots and feltlock boots. saves time once in there too !!!!
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I like to put on overreach boots on all 4 feet as I see coronet treads as being the most likely (and instantly laming!) injury to occur, I hate travel boots they just cause accidents and injury when the horse feels restricted in them, and find you are more likely to get a sweaty and bloody mess with them than without!
 
Not mad at all! We used to Travel Molly in massive travel boots but when Tia was younger we never travelled her in them so eventually just stopped travelling M in them too and never started with Tia. they just get hot and sweaty legs with them on (esp Tia who is a sweaty betty at the best of times!)! Neither of them move an inch in the lorry and actually travel better without them as they get less sweaty etc.

We do generally travel there with brushing boots and over reaches on front and back but thats more so it is easier when we get there than anything else!
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My only worry with travelling without boots is if they stand on themselves. Its rare a horse goes down on their knees/hocks its the pastern coronary band arena that’s most venerable - which is why when I see people putting on boots they pull them up over their knees and hocks leaving the pastern/coronet area exposed *confused*

If its really hot I will leave legs naked but put on overreach boots instead.
 
I don't boot or bandage - they wear over-reach boots to stop them pulling their shoes off by accident but that's it. They both travel well though.
 
I just put my boots on to unload as I have had a horse lacerate her tendon sheeth on the bottom of the ramp as she stepped off very close and itad got sharp from stell shoes on it all of the time. I also load one of mine in them as she is such a div and choses to load up the side of the ramp rather than from the bottom and sometimes catches her legs!
 
I have heard that a lot of the shipping companies won't put boots on for long journeys. Friend of mine brought her horse over from Hong Kong and he was shipped without boots. And someone else I know in Canada nevers boots up for 12hour journeys!

Guess it depends how your horse travels. I do use travel boots, although for short distances will just put "work" boots and overreach on to save time at the other end!
 
On the advice of the shipping company I have just travelled my new horse all the way from Holland without any traveling kit on and he does not have a mark on him. Few scuffed hairs on his tail. Do not think I will use travelling kit again
 
I don't put on boots to travel. Had a horse had a horrific accident as a boot slipped down and it sliced it's leg open as a result of trying to get it off...never again.
 
Never used travel boots since last mare kicked side out trailer after panicking when travel boot fell down.(hole in trailer). SO i only use brushing boots and o.reach boots! wub be worried if i didnt use anything TBH. A prev mare came out of a lorry with badly cut legs yrs ago when i didnt put boots on,was out of action for wks and very sore!!!! So brushing boots are just my preff!
 
No you're not wrong, you have to go with what suits the horse the best, one of my horses hates travel boots, he used to panic in them and sweat whilst he was travelling, without boots he's fine and travels normally as he's calmer. occasionally I may travel him in bandages as he doesn't mind bandages but more often than not I travel him without. My other horse on the otherhand would probably cause himself damage if I travelled him without boots! they are all different.
 
I dont use boots or bandage his tail, but recently ive had problems travelling him.. so now i've bought an equitrek and been playing with it all week.

last night i put a tail bandage on him and took him for a drive. when i got home i put him in the stable while i parked the trailer - literally 10 minutes.. when i got to the stable he was soaked with sweat and it was really touch and go whether i had to cut the bandage off. poor lad. will never boot or bandage either of them again.

ps. he travelled beautifully in the equitrek.. thank god.
 
The other point re boots - I had an incident a couple of months back when my mares boot must have slipped but the trailer started snaking (whilst travelling at 55mph on dual carriageway, eek) and when I pulled over to check one of her front boots was on the floor with all the tabs ripped off. can only assume she lost her balance whilst trying to kick it off and nearly sent us into a spin. Scary wasn't the word for it
 
I dont bother with travelling boots, reason for this is I get paranoid that they're going to slip down and cause trouble. I think if your horse travels well they aren't really needed.
I do put on overeach though just in case my girl tries to stand on her own foot or her foot goes under the middle partition.
 
I guess I wouldn't risk it although there is certainly a gap in the market for breathable travel boots! I forgot to put overreach boots on Poppy in the lorry the other day (she gets bandaged to travel as can remove boots!) she then trod on herself and I had quite a nasty cut. So really wouldn't risk it.

Also however carefully you drive there are other idiots on the road that may mean you have to break suddenly.
 
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On the advice of the shipping company I have just travelled my new horse all the way from Holland without any traveling kit on and he does not have a mark on him. Few scuffed hairs on his tail. Do not think I will use travelling kit again

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I, too, was told not to boot or bandage by the professional guy who moved my horses. He told me it was more trouble as horses get hot and agitated, moving around and stamping. ALso trip was three days and it would have meant taking them on and off every time they were unloaded for the night. They were fine when they arrived after 1400km and getting on and off the lorry three times. I think if I was to move them myself FB would have over reach boots all round as he is a bit of a klutz.
 
One of ours travels with boots on. The other one was so bad with the back boots and would stamp around in the lorry so we just took them off. This was not an easy decision as this is a horse that broke a splint bone competing XC. Since we have taken the boots off she travels so much better.
 
Well I would personally recommend boots.
One of my friends was loading her horse and it is the easiest thing to load. 16.2hh fully fit eventer and her 3 year old sister could load it. She was going out and as usual it was plodding up the ramp slipped slightly and sliced its tendon in half on the side of the ramp :O.
So this is why I won't travel without them
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I used to work for BBA for short time and if the horse had boots or tail bandage on when we pick it up they were taken off. every horse went naked,Never had a problem while I worked there.My horses just travel in a tail bandage and any boots they compeat in.
 
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