Strasser/Barefoot/Robyns reply to Darolyn

["Barbara B. Peck" <bpeck@together.net>]

I also observed a Strasser graduate trimming.

On a horse that foundered 6 months prior she backed up the

toe by holding the rasp verticle, and went back to the white line.

I couldn't see how stretched the white line was because there was sole

covering the white line right up to the wall at the toe.

On a sound horse, she trimmed only heel and bars.

I don't practice the Strasser trim because I have alot of issues with it

(mainly the constant sole thinning in the rear half of the foot, removing the frog callouses at the frog base, and weakening the heel by removing the bars and trying to speed up de-contraction by removing heel material inside of the heel buttresses.)

This trimmer didn't do anything that shocked me, but these horses had been trimmed by a pretty competant farrier previously and neither was in bad shape.

 

Robyn referres to the toe getting aways from alot of these trimmers,

and I've seen others besides Strasser students that leave a long toe.

They get fooled as to how long it really is beacause:

 

On alot of barefoot horses, the sole  at the toe will rocker up over the white line

from the motion of natural break-over.  When trimming the barefoot horse, you have to know how to clean out that sole over the white line at the toe while leaving the toe callous intact.

Then you have to know when to stop digging into the (dead) white line tissue, which exposes how much toe wall you can nip off. 

 

I've seen feet that had an inch of toe that could be removed, with the rest of the foot really short SHORT. 

 

Of course, there's other things that can go wrong.. Heidi mentioned

suspensory problems, and of course if the horse has an underdeveloped

dogital cushion, lowering the heels all at once can get one into trouble too.

 

I think it should be pretty obvious, that if a horse remains lame

sore and ouchy after trimming for 6 months somthings amiss.

 

I know my horses could not do a rocky  20 m ride barefoot.

I'm pleasure riding them barefoot now (have been barefoot 1 year) and they're doing

great, but I know they'll be shod again at some point.

 

Barb

 

Robyn's REFERERNCED POST in part read:

Although there is a tremendous amount of  wonderful and valuable information
that Dr. Strasser has to offer, I do have one major concern with the
Strasser trim that is exactly the result of what Heidi stated above. I
recently went to a clinic given by a Strasser Certified Hoof Care
Specialist(CHCS). I was appalled at the length of toe he left on these
horses. I realize that he does not have years of experience yet, and some of
these horses had previously foundered and had navicular. I asked why the
toes were left so long, and mentioned that I could never do endurance on
these horses. They would break down in 5 minutes. He agreed with me, and
really did not have an answer for me other than "I don't want to touch the
toe for now". I have asked this question on the Strasser list SEVERAL times
and have yet to receive any kind of a logical explanation for the long toe
reasoning.