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[RC] Trailering loose? Standing wraps - Tx TriggerIf you are questioning "how" to wrap, then I am guessing you do not have a ton of experience doing so. Personally, unless one has been trained and knows how to wrap a leg correct, I'd say the horses are better off with NO wraps. You wrap them wrong, and you can end up with some problems, even damage to a leg. Polo wraps are for playing polo. They are for protecting the legs from a whack of a mallet. Pro choice type boots are for protection and support of a working horse. Not for trailering. Now, my personal preference is to not wrap. Have done the trip between TX and CA a many times in the past few years, and I do not wrap, or use shipping boots. Wraps get hot (as do boots) and some horses will get irritated, and stomp, and even start kicking to get the wrap off the leg. If you are worried about your horses stepping on each other, protect the cornet band with bell boots. But in slant load trailers, I found the horses no longer stepped on each other like they did in the straight load. Loose or tied is an individual thing. I tie, just so they don't try to reach under the divider to get food next to them on the floor, and get into some sort of trouble. But, they are tied long enough to drop their heads below the height of their withers if the want, to get the dust and stuff blown out of their system. When I stop and unload, I will let them graze, or put a bucket on the ground with some feed, so they drop their head to the ground a bit, and they will usually sneeze and clear things out. Some horses will haul great loose together in a big box, while others will get all tangled around each other, or one will become a bully and push another into a corner. I prefer them to each have a "stall". But different trailers, and situations do not always work like that. Sounds like you have a good travel plan by driving mostly during the cool hours. And stopping even without the horses getting out, helps them relax for a bit. If you feed beet pulp, it is an excellent mash for traveling to keep guts moving, and more fluids in them, when they won't drink, as some do. I mix a mash in a small ice chest, and set it in the tack compartment. When ready to feed, I dump in a bucket, and then mix the next one to soak up the water as we go down the road. The ice chest keeps it from getting too warm, and rancid in the summer heat. Mixing small mashes works better, so they eat all of it, and not have it get funky in the bucket if they don't eat it all. Safe travels. I love to travel cross country with the horses! Jonni in TX =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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