ABOUT AN ARTICLE PROVIDED BY ILPH TO HORSE AND HOUND ON FOOTCARE

March 7, 2001

The Horse and Hound, the largest horse magazine in Great Britain, just published an article provided by the ILPH (International League for the Protection of Horses). The article contained some misinformation, and I would like to set the record straight.

"The Strasser Method, as practiced by Dr. Hiltrud Strasser, advocates that horses should not be shod and that, after a short 3-day course, owners are capable of trimming their own horse's feet."

This is a bit misleading. Horseowners are capable of beginning very basic trimming on their HEALTHY horse after a 3- day, 24 hour course. They are expected to stay continually supervised by a Strasser certified professional. The situation in the UK is very different than in other countries, such as the US, where it is completely legal for any one to trim any horse. In the US, we hope to eventually have enough Strasser Certified Hoofcare Specialists to provide direct trimming services for horses with unhealthy hooves.

"It teaches that every horse, pony, or donkey should have its feet trimmed to exactly the same pattern, irrespective of breed, size or conformation."

This is incorrect. Every horse has different trimming needs, which is why this is quite complicated to learn. What is wrong for one horse can be correct for another. This is why there needs to be Certified Hoofcare Specialists, with a very high level of training, readily available to help those interesting in undertaking this method. The hooves are trimmed to the shape of the coffin bone. Studies of healthy, natural equine hooves show a distinct pattern, which is why there can be guidelines given for the angles of most hooves. But the similarities stop there, and each horse is trimmed somewhat differently according to his needs.

"One follower who treated her laminitic pony using the Strasser approach, has published her story on Dr Strasser website www.thehorseshoof.com"

This website does not belong to Dr. Strasser-- she is technical editor for my publication, The Horse's Hoof. This website belongs to me, Yvonne Welz. I have spent several years studying and applying her methods, and have witnessed so many incredible success stories in my own backyard as well as around the United States and Canada, that the validity of her approach proven itself to me. What anyone else decides is up to them, I simply provide the information to those who seek it out.

The URL for the Horse and Hound article:
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/article/0,,33574,00.html

Other versions of this article are circulating on several British news services:

"Any attempt to radically alter an abnormal foot shape is not, in my view, something an amateur should attempt."

This is never recommended. Horseowners are expected to seek help from a Certified Hoofcare Specialist in any case of hoof abnormality.

"Whilst there is some logic to the Strasser method, it is extremely irresponsible to encourage individuals to make significant changes to their horses feet without adequate supervision or training."

Of course, horseowners need to seek out help from a Certified Hoofcare Specialist trained in this method, who can ensure the road to success for the horse and owner. No one is ever encouraged to trim without training and supervision.

It is hoped that the negative overtones of this article do not mislead readers and prevent them from discovering the simple truths of the Strasser Method. There is no other approach to horse care that is more humane. Dr. Strasser removes the anthropomorphism that most humans have in their attitudes towards what a horse really needs. Strasser's method simply places the needs of the horse over the needs of the human (and human needs are usually selfish, with the comfort and convenience of the human placed first.)

And while everyone seems to be so worried about the simple trimming of feet (especially the farriers?), there really are more important cruelty issues to be worried about. I hope everyone is more concerned about the horses being slaughtered daily, or the show horses with iron chains around their pasterns or ones undergoing surgery to mutilate their bodies into show ring perfection, or the countless horses murdered for insurance money, or even just the horses locked in tiny dark box stalls their whole lives...

Yvonne M. Welz

Our point of view as expressed by Carlo Faillace

I am sorry to hear that the article in the Horse and Hound magazine expresses the views of ILPH. I keep my distance from it, because the article is a sort of misinformation and who wrote it has not read what Dr Strasser has written and recommended over and over. This is very unprofessional. This kind of system is very different from what my ethical standards are. I fight seriously and honestly and I do not hide my name, because I never have to fear saying the truth.The article is not saying things correctly and I think that whoever wrote it should have signed it and that before writing it he or she should have gathered the correct information. Otherwise this is the equivalent of terrorism based on misinformation.

Such big concern on the horse's feet should lead to "take a look" at the serious damages caused by the nailed iron shoe, if one is in good faith and sincere.
There are many things to worry about horses a bit more important than the trimming of their hooves. One of the big course designers of the International Horse Shows, who is a good friend of mine, just told me how disgusting it is to see the huge amounts of siringes which are found in the stables and the vans during the Shows. And what about how they train horses to jump? And what about three days events? I have so much material and evidence on this stuff that it is enough to make a decent person sick. And a BBC journalist, when he heard me speak about these things told me that they are so true that he had seen them practiced in Great Britain all the time. But most appalling, in the same magazine Horse and Hound, don't we find in the ads section ponies and ponies for sale because the owner is "outgrown"? From outgrown to outgrown owner, which is the end of that pony when he is so old that nobody wants him anymore? From the philosophical and ethical point of view that is a violence. Or we want to justify it and all the comedies and make-believes that concern the horse world out of convenience? Then find a justification which is not anthropocentric.

I recall a line from Julius Caesar's "The Gallic War": It says: "It is easier to find somebody willing to die quickly than to find someone willing to undergo a long period of suffering". This applies very much to the situation of horses. And this same consideration is made also by Konrad Lorenz, who condemned what is being done daily to horses and their fate "which is too pitiable to dwell upon". And he says that more questionable than the relations of man to the animals which he honestly consumes, which up to the time of their unexpected and usually quick death lead an easy and confortable life, is his attitude towards those which he uses for other purposes. It would be preferable for them to die quickly.
I would like someone to explain to me what is meant by "protecting" horses.
Protect only at convenience?

The epidemic danger of BSE and FMD has caused Italy to decide for a total ban of imports of live animals.
The ban puts Italy in a unique position within the European Community, which complained about such drastic measure.
The Italian Ministry of Agricolture Alfonso Pecorario Scanio, however, has firmly stated that he will not recede from his decision, even if it creates a desagreement with the European Commission.
The Ministry also affirmed that, when this emergency will be over, the Italian imports of live animals will be reduced to a strict necessary minimum.

Credit for this attitude goes only to Italians and no foreign organization has anything to do with it.