What are the pros and cons of various modes of protecting a horse’s legs for shipping a short way ( 10 miles or so)? Travel boots, standing wraps, or nothing? I have read about these-- and people seem to have strong opinions about what is best and worst. I have mainly used standing wraps before, and even (dare I say) nothing at all for trips around 25 miles or less. I am contemplating taking my project horse to a show in a few months which is nearby-- he is an OK traveller, looks about a bit anxiously but nothing outlandish with kicking, etc when travelling.
The best protection is shipping wraps–bandages over quilts all the way down over the coronary band. Next best would be shipping boots. And the least protection is nothing. I had a bad shipper once and would always wrap; I currently haul in a stock trailer and never wrap, and only once in a while use shipping boots. It all depends on how you feel. If you are the ultimate in cautious, wrap. If you don’t want to wrap, but want some protection go with boots. If you aren’t worried, go with nothing. I do have to state, though, that I had once horse that reacted badly to wraps or boots on his legs–kicking out, etc. For him it was better to go with nothing.
I always ship in wraps unless it’s a very short trip.
Depends on the horse and your comfort level. I was always taught to use boots or bandages. I usually use shipping boots for most trips, sometimes just galloping booots for a short trip if I’m in a hurry to tack up and ride. If there are multiple horses in the trailer I always use some kind of leg protection.
I will say though that million dollar TB yearlings and mares are shipped bare legged. There’s more risk of a yearling getting tangled in wraps trying to kick them off. This goes for short local trips and long distances. For all the many TBs I shipped or unloaded, they never had a scratch on them. I would note though that these were all with professional shippers, box stalls or partitions fully to the ground so no horse could ever step on another.
It is rare that I bandage or boot for shipping. I would have to have a specific reason to do so. Problems with horses kicking DUE to the wraps or bandages are huge, getting them half off as you are driving down the road if they slip, causing more problems than they solve. That said, my horses are usually barefoot these days, and that is helpful to safety. I think that treading injuries are probably the most likely injury to worry about. A set of bell boots, especially if the horse is shod, are helpful, and are unlikely to cause problems in their use. For long ships, pulling shoes is helpful, especially hind shoes.
I used to bandage and/or boot to ship, as a kid, four decades ago. But I got over it.
Long haul shippers,Brookledge,etc want them bare legged. For myself on my GN I prefer shipping boots generally. Leg wraps when done need to come from knee or hock to down below coronary band and were the standard til really good boots came out, such as Woofs or Lendes.
If the serious professional shippers prefer bare legs, that’s good enough for me. Almost. We have a stock trailer, so I use bell boots.
I like boots because they’re easy on/off and fairly durable. I always boot/wrap for short distances (couple hours or less). For long hauls, bell boots only.
Around the corner (10 min ride) we go bare legged. Same with the “get him on the trailer for the emergency vet ride”!
long trailer ride (1 hr to 12 hours) front legs are wrapped. My guy kicks at back wraps so I leave them off! Now my trainer does our shipping so stops frequently to check but if we were to use a long haul shipper we would use whatever they wanted (many using box stalls like them bare legged especially if they have an overnight rest stop)
Usually I ship naked or with bell boots. I’ve been thinking about beginning to wrap though, mostly for the loading process since my boy is a bad loader.
I typically ship with boots, unless hauling a long distance, in which case I might switch to wraps. I prefer boots because they are quick and easy. I do a lot of short trips (30 minutes or less) and taking 3 minutes to pop on some boots versus 15 minutes to wrap makes more sense!
I’ve seen what can happen without protection, and it happened in a heartbeat on a short trip. After that, I got a lot more careful about what I do.
Long haul shippers don’t want to be responsible for fixing boots or bandages that come loose. It isn’t so much that they think that’s the best way to travel.
I try to use boots every trip. A vet told me once about a wreck in which the horse had on proper shipping boots, and although the horse was cut in other places, its legs were fine.
I think to some extent it depends on the horse and the trailer.
My pony is barefoot, in a trailer that is very large for her, and a good shipper. When going to a nearby, familiar place with straight roads, I often haul without any leg protection.
If I haul her with another horse that’s shod, she gets legs wrapped.
My TB mare (shod) was always shipped with leg wraps or shipping boots. The shipping boots went on fast and she tolerated them well.
The pony, on the other hand, does not tolerate stiff shipping boots (perhaps because her size is hard to fit). She would kick if you put them on.
Sometimes, I’ve hauled for a lesson 5 minutes away in bell boots and galloping boots all around too. It doesn’t protect the pasterns, but if the boots are going on anyway, why not first? Again, though, this was a horse that traveled well in a familiar trailer, and no other horse in the trailer.
If you have any worries about the horse being anxious, wrap him until you know him better. Having helped a friend open her trailer to find it coated in blood after a five mile trip (he started kicking and damaged himself even booted up), it’s very possible for things to go very wrong very fast. One kick could do it. And the boots in this case probably saved the horse from permanent damage.
If you’re going to the trouble of going to a show, there’s little downside to wrapping… keeps the legs clean too.
Remember that for most of us, the most dangerous things we do with horses and trailers is load and unload, and pull out of a driveway. Those things happen on every trip no matter how far we are going.
[QUOTE=poltroon;8164102]
If you’re going to the trouble of going to a show, there’s little downside to wrapping… keeps the legs clean too.[/QUOTE]
I will confess that the last time I went to a show I wrapped the one white foot…
Depends on the horse…
-My “heart horse” goes naked because she ships like a dream and doesn’t care about anything, at all, ever.
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My racehorses went naked most of the time, some wore bell boots if they were prone to pulling shoes.
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My “fancy show horse” wears bell boots and standing bandages, usually. She doesn’t trailer very well.
My horses go on travel boots, poll guard and tail guard. It’s very cheap insurance against scrapes, dings, bruises and cuts and I have known horses in accidents saved from much worse.
If the weather is extremely hot and it’s a very long trip, I’d pare down to bell boots but that almost never happens.
Coming home from events I can put ice wraps under the travel boots and they get off the trailer with lovely cooled legs.
I go with nothing for short trips. My horses are accustomed to trailering to lessons weekly and I never put any leg protection on them for that. Have never had problems. Now, my trailer is padded everywhere and my horses are very well behaved since they travel so frequently.
For long trips I use standing wraps to help prevent stocking up and fatigue. I’m not a fan of shipping boots. They don’t breathe well and all they protect against is minor nicks and scrapes. They do nothing to actually protect the tendons, etc. Plus in my experience many horses do not tolerate them well and it may make them more likely to stomp and kick, therefore increasing chance of injury.
I always always wrap my own horse, short trip or long trip. I’m paranoid though that something will happen so bell boots, and full shipping wraps go on
Wow. What a range of opinions and experiences!
While my horse will likely travel fine, I am not sure what he will be like at the destination ( a show). This will be our first attempt. He might melt down. He might be fine. He might be OK with getting wraps or boots on or off… or he might not. Which option is best for a possibly unsettled horse? Seems like wraps would be-- but your thoughts and experiences welcomed!
[QUOTE=Sunflower;8164317]
Wow. What a range of opinions and experiences!
While my horse will likely travel fine, I am not sure what he will be like at the destination ( a show). This will be our first attempt. He might melt down. He might be fine. He might be OK with getting wraps or boots on or off… or he might not. Which option is best for a possibly unsettled horse? Seems like wraps would be-- but your thoughts and experiences welcomed![/QUOTE]
In that case, I would go with shipping boots. You don’t want to be unravelling wraps while pony dances on spot.
