Who DOESN'T use travelling boots?

I travel with them, mine is the biggest fidggit & manages to cut herself with them on. Hunting & that she has brushing boots, over reach & hock boots on as it saves time.
 
Mine travels nude. If he's been cold/wet, he can wear a rug, but that's very rare. He's not shod.

I've seen lots of horses really sweated up in all their gear, and doing ministry of silly walks as they step on sliding boots...
 
I travel mine naked. I don't even use a partition. A breastbar and a head collar. Very very occasionally if doing showing I MIGHT stretch to a tail bandage. I just drive slow.

I have a terrible traveller. He was my first horse and in typical first horse syndrome I used to travel him with everything possible on. Poll guard and the works. He used to collapse driving in a straight line. I gradually ditched everything including the partition and he improved. So I used the same method with all my horses
 
Mine has back boots on when travelling to a show to protect his white socks. I don't put them on for the journey home. I did the same with my last horse, although she had a habit of standing on her own feet so I used to put overreach boots on her too.
 
I always travel mine in boots because they both travel well booted up.
My reason for this is that I've seen a few nasty injuries done by horses not being careful where they place their feet and slipping off ramps damaging pasterns/fetlocks ect during loading/unloading (generally the ones who prat about) rather than during the journey, and i don't want that to happen to my boys even though they tend to load and unload fine.
I do think bandages are better but my guys struggle to stand still at shows so its safer and more convenient for me to use boots as I'm often on my own, although I do think boots are the lazy option ;P lol !!!
Generally i think its down to personal preference at the end of the day.
 
Travel boots were a wonderful marketing idea. The art of selling something to people that didn't know they needed something before it was invented.

I stopped using travel boots years ago having seen the damage they caused to one of my horses.
 
Nope I only like bandages but a combination of me being rubbish at them and horse not standing still makes this difficult, reminds me I might practise tomorrow! My horse travels well though, if I had one who trod on themselves like on of her buddies, I'd boot away! I do pop overreach boots on sometimes more because she has shoes on.
 
I also travel mine naked. I tried on boos once, and he refused to move, so haven't bothered since then. He just gets on with it. Strangely, all the horses on our yard that are difficult to load wear travel boots....
 
showingmadfilly said:
No way would I ever consider travelling without protection. I've been in an accident and I've also seen young horses cut themselves on lorries. Personally I think it's irresponsible to travel without but that's my choice. Past experiences mean I would never go without.
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This is the one thing I hate about horsey people - the disapproving looks I get when I pull the horses off the lorry without boots on, because they think it's irrisponsible, without knowing the first thing about my choice.

I hate travel boots with a passion, I lost my pony a few years ago after he kicked the hell out of the lorry and himself to get them off, he pulled his vertibre out of line and broke his leg - had to be pts.

I've travelled without them weekly now with many different horses for about 10years and never had anything more than a scrape, I'm a great believer in well travelled horses.
 
My difficult loader travels naked , by the time he's on the lorry/trailer his boots would be round his fetlocks flapping about causing more trouble!
My mare always in boots and rug if in a trailer ( she's ripped a rug coming out a trailer and I was thankful she was wearing it)
She does how ever practicly load herself and travels well.
 
I use them on my cob but thats only to keep her legs clean! she loads on and off like a pro.
The welsh D i didnt use them incase he took a dislike to them whilst travelling.
 
Where I used to work, my boss would go crazy if I wrapped any legs on used travel boots on any of her horses. She said it caused more harm than good and could cause the horses to panic as they would feel too restricted. I can see her point and to be honest we never had a single horse injured in the trailer even without protection the entire time I worked there and we were sometimes doing some very long haul journeys.

These days I usually just put hock boots and over reach boots all round on my horse and if it's going to be a very long journey knee boots too. I feel this offers good protection for especially vulnerable areas without him feeling too restricted or over heating.
 
I used to travel my mare unbooted; she a very good traveller and we don't go far but she got badly kicked in the winter on both back legs and now I use sports boots on the hinds only to protect them and give her support.
 
I think you have to evaluate each horses needs individually. Some of mine have had to travel in them or they wouldn't have any legs left, and others i wouldn't dare to. But i do HATE with a passion the people who judge you for your choice.:mad:
 
nix123 said:
I think you have to evaluate each horses needs individually. Some of mine have had to travel in them or they wouldn't have any legs left, and others i wouldn't dare to. But i do HATE with a passion the people who judge you for your choice.:mad:
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I agree with the above statement. I am soon to make a longer than normal journey with my mare who normally doesn't wear travel boots. I was pondering the travel boot idea but after reading through, I am going to travel her as normal with brushing boots and OR boots only.
 
I have a pair of travel boots that sit redundant in the tack room. I pop brushing boots on mine and they are far happier. It also helps that my trailer has a step, not ramp, to get in and small ramp off, as less chances to catch themselves on the edges of steep ramps etc.

IMOHO, I think they travel much more steadily and calmly without those great big things on!
 
no I don't-mine are all unshod now anyway. Old horse had shoes and just had overreach boots on for travel but not sure he needed those either. loan horse is shod and travelled in boots-as per owners instructions, fair enough. In all my years in Newmarket-never saw anything booted there either. I do use a tail guard though.
 
Totally depends on the horse/how long the journey is/how hot it is/is keeping clean important etc.
Old mare you would never have got them on her alive .. Current mare ive never travelled without boots!
 
We travel a lorry load (up to 8) of event horses weekly
Would never ever boot them up
With a few horses in a lorry, slipped boots can cause much more harm than good
Tail bandages only (and thats just cause tails are plaited/pulled and don't want them rubbed!)
Occasionally bandage legs on the way home if they have been clayed
OH has been known to refuse to carry booted horses belonging to others in his lorry as he feels so strongly about it
Have seen horse put foot through bottom of partition and then be unable to extract it due to bunched up boot while blood pouring everywhere...
 
I thought it was just me!!! I never travel my ex racer booted and have had so many comments from other people. My young horse when he's travelled also goes un booted.
 
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I normally travel with boots and it has saved my tb from injury - when we collected him from the sales (he was a bit of a rescue) he loaded no bother but absoltuly freaked on the journey back. When we got back we discovered he'd managed to break through the floor and had ripped the boots up on the wood but no damage to the horse (I will add the floor was sound but he did not travel well with a partition in, travelled fine without the partition tho)

I currently travel my mare without anything on her legs because she has a foal at foot and I figure it's much safer that she can feel where the foal is and she is barefoot so little risk from her standing on herself.

I will add that its so important to have good boots that fit well and are done up nice and tightly so they can't slip - I always walk them round to the trailer/lorry a reasonable distance because if they are going to slip then they will slip while walking the horse
 
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My pony recently had a short trip to make (4 miles!) and transporter said if he could express a preference he'd say not to and I was fine with that. One and only time I've travelled him a much longer distance with boots they seemed to cause more trouble being on and slipped down and you could see where he'd then caught his other foot against the bottom bits so did make me wonder about them. From now on I'd probably gauge it on the specific type of journey.
 
The only time my mare has ever had a problem travelling is when her travel boot slipped down and she was sliding about on it, this frightened her so badly she will no longer travel in a trailer. I now travel her in overreach boots and that's it.
 
I have imported many horses from Spain, Netherlands, Germany etc, and the transporters never bring them over booted or bandaged. I have dusty travel boots in my tack room that I used to use many years ago. I gave up when one of mine was stomping with his front legs, and the boots slipped down and got ripped up. I now travel all of ours without leg protection. Some of those thick fluffy ones must be unbearable on hot days.
 
Depends on where they are going, used to bandage and boot but now it does literally depend on where they are going and who is driving!
 
I never travel horses with boots or anything on, and any long haul transporters you ask will always tell you not to boot or bandage anything. I am the very proud owner of a Spanish horse who lost his tail as a result of a misguided previous owner thinking it was kind and prudent to put on a tail bandage. Wrong!
 
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