Wraps and boots

So I have a question.

Just got these shipping boots. A steal for 15 dollars!!
Do they look like they're on correctly? They just look odd. I'll get better pictures Friday, but the direction of the velcro just doesn't seem right.

Also, is it unsafe to put polos under boots?

Its a personal thing with me based on a bad experience with shipping boots - I will never use them and a lot of professional shippers wont have them on horses for the same reason
I travel mine in SMB's and over reach boots

What makes them unsafe, is that they can get slip down and get stepped on?

that's sort of what happened to my horse - he was a seasoned sensible traveller but it seemed like he'd maybe found them irritating and tried to scratch one leg against the other and got stuck. He then lost his balance and fell against the partition nearly tipping us over. Thank God my husband was so calm and was able to pull right off the road, it was a front unload so we could lead him out without needing to try to squeeze in with him (someone in the UK was recently killed trying to do that) He was lucky to just get a few scrapes and bruises and he got his confidence back with loading pretty fast

Hm.. thanks.
The trailer we take is a slant four horse. So she wouldn't have too much room to move. But thank you very much for telling me
Posted via Mobile Device

Loads of people use them and have no problems - its one of those things that when it goes wrong it puts you off - you know what its like!!!

With the dividers between each horse that connect to the right wall.
Posted via Mobile Device

I do the same as Jaydee! I have a set of smbs and bells just for traveling. I had a bad experience too with shipping boots. My gelding kicked in the trailer and got the velcro snagged, it didn't release and his leg was caught up for a while. You'd think with just velcro it would have came off, but it didn't I'm to nervous to use them and trust smbs. Luckily we stopped for gas and I saw it, changed the boots and he loaded up fine. It could have been a disaster though if he fell or lost his cool.

I had always used a pair of "blanket wrap" shipping boots that I had made myself from old blankets. I just wanted padding around those legs to protect them. They would fall down a little bit, but they were soft and thick, so it wasn't a big deal.

I went out and purchased a used (like new) pair of "real" shipping boots. I do not like them as much because they are so big and stiff. Yes, they cover great and protect great, but I'm just kinda thinking about going back to my old hand-made shipping boots.

Now, I personally use shipping boots for short trips under 1 hour. Anything longer than that and my horses get no-bow wraps with standing wraps and bell boots to help give a little more support on longer hauls.


One thing to keep in mind is that SMBs should never be left on a horse legs for more than 2 to 3 hours, as they build up heat around the leg which is damaging to the tendons and ligaments. So if you haul longer than that, best to just keep them off.

I had originally used SMBS on the front and polos on the back.

The shipping boots I have aren't stiff. They're very flexible
Posted via Mobile Device