Natural Horse Trim
The following information was provided by Debi Broadway and presented at the March 2002 meeting of TVDCTA.
I attended a Natural Horse Trim clinic in Tennessee in March, which was given by Martha Olivo. It was a fascinating and educational experience to say the least. We had a lot of hands on experience over the weekend, which included three hoof dissections. I have to admit, this was the most educational part of the clinic. The clinic was promoting the "Natural Horse Trim" which is different from the trims most shoers use out in the field.
The "Natural Horse Trim" was developed by Dr. Hiltrud Strasser, a veterinarian from Germany. She is soon to be giving a clinic on her method at Tuft's University, to which farriers and vets will be in attendance by invitation only. A clinic of this nature is not only beneficial to barefoot horses, but, also to shod horses, as the trim is the key to promote good hoof growth, while curing most lameness issues. If horses in the wild don't experience founder and laminitis while having some of the best feet a horse can have, there must be something to this. Keeping all things in perspective, our horses are domesticated and logic tells us their life style is quite different from that of a wild horse, free to roam and search for his meals and water. But, it doesn't mean some (or most) of the same principals can't be applied to our equine friends with great success.
Some of you know the problems I faced over the last year, having to lay up my horse at the beginning of his dressage training, it has been a struggle I wouldn't wish on anyone. I have gone through three vets, and three farriers and every kind of shoe imaginable to man to "make him sound." Nothing worked. Out of frustration I called upon another farrier in the area "Just to have him give me an opinion of what he saw" and he informed me that I needed to pull off his shoes and let him go barefoot. I cringed at the thought, I just knew my horse would be dead lame, but, having tried everything else I figured, why not. I can always put shoes back on.
Well, I began riding my horse again after just three weeks of being barefoot! Admittedly, he is not 100% sound at this time, as it takes a while for the healing process, but he is rideable on soft ground without a head bob! So, there is hope after all and I do see healing taking place. This is what inspired me to go to the clinic...I wanted to see why this was working and how it could possible work.
I gave a talk at our March meeting, and would be happy to do so again in the future. I would also like to get some feedback and see if the members would be interested in watching an actual hoof dissection. With the warm weather coming we could do one at my barn and I'm sure I can get the farrier that trims my horse to do this for us, and I know there would be no charge to the club. If anyone has any questions on this subject, please feel free to contact me.
Remember...make
good footprints!
TVDCTA
Debi highly recommends the book "A Lifetime of Soundness" by Dr. Strasser for a general guide to natural hoof care. Please email Debi if you have any questions. You can also check out The Horse's Hoof, Institute of Barefoot Equine Management, The Naked Hoof, and the Yahoo naturalhorsetrim e-group for information on the Strasser method.
