Posted by Ed Kinney on July 02, 2003 at 21:47:52:
In Reply to: Re: Race horse using the Strasser's trim and shoes posted by April White on July 02, 2003 at 00:04:33:
: : It is not possible to use the Strasser method and a shoe. Someone has you very confused.
: I agree. Dr. Strasser's whole point is NOT to shoe a horse. Barefoot horses using her trimming method is what is advocated. No shoes = good feet. Corrective trimming is done for special problems like navicular and laminitic horses. If riding on rocky terrain, one may use hoof boots (like tennis shoes for horses) but that's only during the transition period between de-shoeing a horse and their feet's return to a natural hard condition. Think about it: If God wanted horses to have shoes, they would have been born with them! Horses in the wild do not get trimmed or shod. They constantly move around to find food and water; can roam 20 mi. a day to do this. If you give your horse natural conditions under which to live, their feet will not need anything more than a balanced trim one in awhile, depending on the conditions of the ground. Sorry, but shoeing will ruin a horse's feet - contracts the heels, etc. You don't see wild mustangs wearing shoes, do you? Why? They trim their own feet by walking on them.
Dear April,
You evidently have been exposed to a great deal of poor shoeing jobs. In keeping with the topic of race horses using the Strasser trim, it just won't fly. Race horses have been bred by man to the point that they require hoof protection in the form of one of a possible 50 choices in racing plates. It is up to the trainer and farrier to decide on the proper racing plate that will suit the horse's conformation. The horses are kept stall bound and allowed just enough exercise to keep conditioned. They cannot be allowed to run loose and rounded up 20 miles down the road somewhere just to make their feet hard. That isn't the real world. Also, when you see all of those wild horses running free letting nature file their hooves, you don't see many lame ones, why? because they are dead, that's nature's way of trimming. Choosing a knowledgeable and talented farrier is the most IMPORTANT decision you can
make when it comes to your horse's feet. He may only trim and BALANCE your horses feet at times or he may put on shoes when required.