Should I put travel boots on my horse when travelling?

Many of us travel our horses both short and long distances and the question is should we use travel boots? This blog covers the pros and cons of using protective leg wear on horses legs for travelling.

What are the types of protective leg wear for travelling horses.

There are two main types of protective leg boots for travelling. Those specifically designed for travelling horses in, that cover from above the knee, or hock, right down to the floor and the old school method of travelling horses, gamgee and bandages, which also cover the knee, hock, fetlock and pastern. Travel boots may be slightly easier to put on but bandages and gamgee also have their positives over travel boots. Some horses prefer bandages and gamgee and they also provide better support for traveling. The new Stablechaps from Cryochaps mimic the effects of bandages but they are quicker and simpler to apply and have more wicking materials than the standard travel boot or bandage.

Why use leg protection when traveling a horse?

If you research travel boots the primary use is to protect the leg from knocks. There are a few reasons why you need to protect the legs whilst travelling with protective horse leg wraps.

• The horses may strike themselves if they become unbalanced, they of course cannot anticipate the road ahead so braking, corners, roundabouts all mean your horse has to concentrate and try and stay balanced. A travel boot that has good protective padded material like Stablechaps is important.
• The horse may be a bad traveller, or indeed the horse next to yours may be a bad traveller and end up striking the horse next to them by accident, stable boots, exercise boots of travel boots could all be used to protect the horses leg.
• Travel boots may help if you have a serial shoe puller when travelling. The protective travel boots usually cover all the way to the floor so less chance of losing a shoe whilst travelling, or you could use over reach boots with Stablechaps or bandages.
• Some horses tend to sit on their hocks when travelling and this can lead to the point of the hock rubbing on the wall behind them. A travel boot or horse bandages with gamgee that covers the point of the hock may protect this area.

What are the pros of using travel boots on horses?

There are two main pros, firstly protection. The padded material used in travel boots or the gamgee used with stable bandages should give a barrier to help prevent the horses damaging themselves whilst travelling.

One of the less mentioned reasons to use travel attire is support. Not support of the horse but support the horse’s circulation on long journeys. Standing for long periods can lead to blood pooling in the extremities and using gamgee and bandages and Stablechaps provide compression which can ultimately improve blood flow in the horses lower leg. Having light compression created by bandages or Stablechaps will also help to prevent the legs swelling, if traveling on long journeys. Travel boots do not tend to fit to the leg as well as stable bandage or stable wrap so will not afford as much support.

What are the cons of using travel boots on horses?

The faff of putting them on is one thing and washing poo encrusted travel boots is always a delight.

Horses sometimes cannot cope with their legs being booted. The travel boots envelope the hock so horses may be agitated by them. It is amusing when they do the silly high stepping walk but if they never get used to them and end up kicking the wall in the horse box or trailer, this can cause more damage to them and the horse box! In this case gamgee and bandages, or indeed Stablechaps are an alternative option as they are usually less restricted around the hock area and this may cause less agitation. Some people get young horses used to wearing travel boots by gamgee and bandaging for a few travel sessions first and Stablechaps are perfect for young horses to as they do not restrict leg movement.

Heating the legs also may play a role in decisions. There is a lot of discussion on the legs becoming too hot during exercise and the thought is this may lead to tendon degeneration. If you have been out hacking or competing and the horse has worked, they are going to be hot. Unless you allow them a good few hours to cool down then strapping boots on to travel, will insulate already hot legs. Horses also get hot travelling as they are in a confined space, and they are constantly adjusting themselves to compensate for the lorry in motion but combining that with a horse already hot from exercise and you could have a very sweaty horse by the time you get home. Make sure whatever horse boots or horse boots you use have wicking materials.

Using Cryochaps ice boots after exercise may help bring the leg temperatures down very quickly and allowing some time after exercise before you travel may be the best plan. Or there is the option to travel bare legged if that is safe for your particular horse.

To boot or not to boot for travelling horses?

So when it comes to deciding whether to put protective boots on your horse while traveling, it will come down to personal preference. You will need to assess the distance that needs to be travelled, will the stable boot provide support, will the horse be comfortable in the travel boot of choice, has the horse boot got decent wicking materials to help prevent the legs getting so sweaty and does the padding of the horse leg wrap provide adequate protection from knocks. Finally if you have just exercised the horse, manage how you cool your horse down, do you need to use horse ice boots to bring temperatures down? Give the horse time to get down to their resting temperatures before you boot up to go home, otherwise legs will continue to pump out heat and become hot inside travel boots. Or if it is safe go with bare legs?