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[RC] Strasser vs Natural - Karen Standefer

I hate labels when it comes to hoof care, but I feel a Strasser trim needs to be labeled.? I don’t know how to identify “Natural”, but I know how to identify “correct”? vs. Strasser.

 

Strasser expects the coffin bone to lay in the hoof capsule so that it is parallel to the ground (front to back).? Most horses need the coffin bone elevated 5-7 degrees in order for the coffin joint to be correctly aligned.? Thus, the coffin bone will produce a broken back coffin joint which has been identified as the main cause of navicular pain by Bowker, T. Turner, O. Balch, B. Page, G. Ovnicek, S. O’Grady, among many others.? IN addition, a ground parallel coffin bone (in MOST horses) will also cause excessive stress on the laminae because it causes the attachment of the coffin bone at the extensor process to lengthen and stretch more than nature intended.? It is this stress that begins the process that can cause mechanical founder in horses trimmed in this method.

 

In order to achieve this ground parallel coffin bone, the Strasser trim removed (or rather severely trims down) the bars in the back of the hoof so that they no longer support the wings of the coffin bone, thus allowing them to drop and become ground parallel.? Also to help this effort, the heels are lowered to below the “live sole”.? ?In addition, the sole is thinned dramatically around the frog area and in the seats of corn areas.? The indicator that the coffin bone is ground parallel is a 30 degree hairline (when looking from a lateral view of the hoof) and a front hoof angle (measuring the dorsal hoof wall to the gound plane) of 45 degrees.? Most healthy footed horses have a hairline of 25 -/+ degrees and a front hoof angle of 53 -/+ degrees.

 

Newest research by Dr. Robert Bowker indicates that healthy footed horses have strong bars that support the coffin bone as well as help engage the lateral cartilage.?? Link to Dr. Strasser’s research of Healthy vs Bad can be found here:

http://www.ivis.org/proceedings/AAEP/2003/bowker2/chapter_frm.asp?LA=1

 

I have fairly extensive experience with the Strasser methods since all of my horses (5 at the time) were trimmed that way for a year by a Strasser certified trimmer.? In addition, this trimmer was my fiancé, so I frequently went along to calls with him to watch him treat client horses and to help educate the owners as to Strasser requirements. ??Plus, I was “in the know” at the time, so I had access to the Strasser certified trimmer email list (closed membership) and was able to read about other certified trimmers issues. ?This method makes healthy footed horses sore.? And, in some dramatic cases (mine and several other certified trimmers) the horses mechanically foundered because of these methods.?

 

Of course, it all gets very political and emotional and the Strasser crowd will just say that the trimmer didn’t know what they were doing, but one can find instances of horrible things going wrong from all of the certified trimmers (founder, pedal ostitis that didn’t exist before the trim was started, ring bone that didn’t exist before, etc) not just specific trimmers.? They’ll also say that each foot is trimmed uniquely.? But, the fact still remains that there are specific parameters that must be met for all hooves in order to be pronounced “healthy” by Dr. Strasser (30 degree hairline, ground parallel coffin bone, 45 degree front hoof angles).? It is the means to get there that may be unique to each hoof, not the final outcome.

 

Now as to the contrast of Strasser vs Natural:? I don’t know of any trim that has been identified with specific parameters as a “natural trim”.? But, if we consider what several researchers have found as the most natural trim (mother nature).? Then, they would fit into the parameters that I listed above (53 + degree front toe angle, good strong bars, coffin bone 5-7 degrees caudally elevated, etc).

 

Please pardon me for being verbose and posting more than what was asked for.? But, I want anyone considering this method to understand that there have been horrible things go wrong with many horses because of this trim.? Just looking at the logistics of what the trim does to the internal hoof, it makes it easy to understand that it really is the trim that causes the trouble……..not that someone misunderstood how to apply it. ??Horses that are on soft, pliable ground may survive and actually do well with this trim because the ground can take up support of the coffin bone after the supporting structures have been weakened.? But, horses on hard ground will not fair well with this trim IF it is done correctly and meets all the parameters.

 

Karen Standefer

 

 

 


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