Shipping Boots?

[PasoPerson38]

I am going to invest in my first set of shipping boots, since we are going to be traveling alot for horse shows this year. I need your opinons...Do shipping boots even make a difference? Are they worth the money?
Does anyone know of the best brand or style? And the cheapest place to purchase them? Thanks guys!!

[Abejita]

I would rather invest in a good set of wraps/quilts and learn how to do that correctly.The one time I traveled with horses that had on shipping boots they ended up down around their ankles and just a mess to begin with.

[PasoPerson38]

What kind of wraps are you suggesting? Like polo wraps Or standing?

[Terry Wallace]

I don't like them at all...I have a brand new set of red ones I'll make you a deal on!

What I don't like..they re too darn bulky, they don't stay in place well.

Wraps, cotton wraps are far better IMO. They type of cotton wrap that is essentially a big strip like an ace bandage (not "cottons" as in cotton sheets under a vetwrap).

If you use a slant load trailer, and haul more than one horse, I'd highly reccommend cotton wraps...to keep any damage to a minimum one horse may suffer from the horse next to him stepping/skiving his leg during hauling....particularily if the horses are shod. Sometimes, if you have to slow down quick, you may have a horse scrambling to keep his balance and that is when the horse next to him might get "skinned, skived, or actually cut on the leg.

That is the one thing I really dislike about slant loads (besides how they are designed...but that is a whole 'nuther thread!)

A friend, PFHA judge & trainer had a filly get terribly lacerated on her left front tendon from just such an accident/scrambling in the trailer.

Back to shipping boots... they just never seem to fit quite right...NEED a set of red ones? Up over the hock & knee kind??? Lemme know!

[Soltera]

If you are not used to wrapping legs, you probably want to go with the "over the knee, down past the coronary band" store bought wraps. It's easy to bow a tendon if you don't know how to do it.

Learn one-on-one with anyone who wraps a lot, then practise on horses when you can unwrap them after 15 minutes, then after 30 min, then after an hour, etc., until you know you are doing it right (by the little marks uneven wraps leave, and eventually by no marks at all). Leaving them in the trailer is almost like wrapping exersize bandages, which is much more advanced than standing bandages (for pure stall wear).

The commercial bandages don't support tendons and joints, but they won't or shouldn't bow any tendons, either. If you want "safe" commercial bandages which also support, get the Sports Medicine Boots (Professional's Choice) or any of those. Pricey, but way cheaper than a bowed tendon.

[PasoPerson38]

Actually a lady at my barn has a mare who is foundered, so she lets me use her Sports med. boots. I love them! They are so easy to put on, clean, and they have great support. Can I use those for trailering?
Thanks guys!

[Soltera]

Then again, those commercial bandages ARE terribly bulky, and rub against one another b/c they stick out so far. However, they usually go down even to the floor, which is hard to do with polo wraps or cotton bandages. Lots of folks get tired of them and want to sell them cheap, if you want to get some to try.

[Soltera]

SMB are terrific for trailering. Just visually check them the first time you stop (for a long trip) and whenever you can after that. They have a great way of protecting the sesamoids, but if the horses' legs swell en route, they can get puffy above the boot.

Before learning what a REAL horse can do (i.e. discovering Paso Finos), I worked in the Hunter/Jumper and dressage worlds, where horses pretty much live in bandages. Turnout wraps, exersize wraps (scary!), standing bandages for swelling, theraputic standing bandages if already swollen.....et cetera ad nauseum...then there are the furacin sweats, antiflogistine and other poultices, DMSO sweats - yikes!!

Got real discouraged with a "sport" that routinely rides horses into the ground (discouraged enough to take a desk job, and I'm still there). But, boy, can I wrap a leg or what? Sheesh!

[Carol Nelson]

Well.......when I first got into horses, I did everything I was told to do...I have several sets of shipping boots...from the very best to the very cheapest. Know what....now, 11 or so years later....and after hauling many horses over thousands of miles...I don't use them at all.
I don't have a slant load trailer so I don't have experience with hauling with them...but I use both a four horse stock trailer and a small two horse bumper pull. My two horse has a divider between the two horses so there's virtually no way to come into contact...and I sure like that.
I rarely put two horses together in the stock trailer compartments...unless it's a mare and foal.
After hearing all sorts of horror stories of legs swelling from too tight wraps and fishing nasty discarded boots out of manure piles at the end of trips...I said "the heck with that!" and quit using them. Never had a problem.

[CarolU]

I've never used shipping wraps or boots and never had a problem...and I've trailered horses all over for 40-plus years. I guess it depends on the horse..if I had a horse that kicked in the trailer and would strike itself, I would probably wrap that horse...but that situation has never happened.

I have heard that the wraps and quilts will overheat their legs, and I can certainly see why that would happen.

I would not trailer in sports medicine boots..the kind with buckle bindings anyway, unless I had to. I think if a horse bounced around a little and overstepped, the buckles could cut other legs up.

[Terry Wallace]

Sports medicine boots usually have velcro closures these days... They are also proven to be detrimental...not helpful for tendon support.
I have seen a few articles on why "not to ride or work" a horse with them on... trailering with them is likely fine.... what was once thought helped support tendons and ligaments...does just the opposite.

For me, I don't even use wraps.....EXCEPT when I'm show bound and trying to keep a pinto's legs WHITE!! For that I use cotton wraps...

[Beth Worden]

Don't bother. They can get you in more trouble (your horse, that is) than barelegged. And if you don't know how to wrap a leg you will do more harm than good. JMO

[Soltera]

I guess my final two cents worth would be to wrap anything around a horse's leg only if, after trying, you can't arrive at a better solution (e.g. barriers between trailering slots). Paso Finos have restored my faith in natural equine health, and although I've not seen but one in wraps, all their legs are remarkably clean and strong.

Question for Terry Wallace: can you lead me to those negative studies of SMB's? I'd love to read the latest on them. Also, were those red polo wraps you wanted rid of? They might look pretty in the Christmas Parade! 8-)

[Terry Wallace]

PM me Soltera..I think I have one of those articles scanned...
The red boots are shipping boots, not polo wraps... they go up & over the hock & knee....set of four.