Treating Founder (Chronic Laminitis) without Horseshoes--Guestbook 2000

Treating Founder (Chronic Laminitis) without Horseshoes
Guest book posts, 2000

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Thank you so very much for having this site. I have found more information here than I have from asking the same questions all my life. I have bought this pony for my daughter. They love each other, and I could not ask for a better pony for her. I feel she is very safe with him.

Once he recovers more fully, he may be less safe when he is feeling better! I hear this time and again from my readers...

His name is Mickey. However, I knew that he was foundered before I bought him. I did whatever I could within my power for him. His feet had been or started in to the skies, all four of them. The back feet were the worst.

This sometimes happens when a horse is bad to shoe in the hinds--they wind up not getting done much.

I was having him trimmed every 2 to 3 weeks. We were making progress. We finally got him short enough to see that the coffin bone was starting to show itself through the bottom of the foot. And then the abscesses started. I had no idea what was happening. I stuck with him and have done a lot of praying.

Abscessing is a normal, but miserable, part of the healing process, once the circulation is restored enough to enable it.

I am now on my third horse shoer and wound up putting shoes on him, for about a month, giving him bute to ease the pain and keep him up on his feet. I also started feeding him MSM. That was the recommendation of the vet. He also had a selenium deficiency and was tying up, too. The vet told me that he had been foundered badly and that it did really showed in the hind feet.

That is because his hinds being left to get longer had more mechanical leverage on the laminae. He may have been bad about letting the farrier work on his hinds, but the resulting neglect made him founder worse on the hinds--really too bad this was allowed to happen.

But he did not feel that that was the problem at that time. I now feed him Northwest supplement, pasture in the summer and cut grass hay from the pasture and a really small flake of alfalfa for the winter. We did really well this summer. I got him off of all the medications except for the Northwest feed. Then at Christmas I pulled the shoes off, and went on vacation. I came home to him lying down and not wanting to move. I do not know if it is from removing the shoes or that he got out while I was gone and got into a bail of grass mixed alfalfa hay, or a combination of both? At this point I am confused and not sure where to start again.

When you pull the shoes, you increase the circulation. This results in a return of feeling--and pain. Much like the pain in your hands when you come in half-frozen on a winter's day, and then start to thaw out....it hurts! Further, if he was allowed to stand around idle or remain confined to a stall after his circulation was restored via a proper barefoot trim, you get more inflammation. Constant freedom to roam around is key to this approach working. The increase in circulation also enabled to feet to begin to repair damaged tissue, which unfortunately involves hoof abscesses when there is significant damage.

A lot of people tell me to give up on him and get another pony for my daughter, they say once founder they are ruined.

But this pony is a great one and I don't want that. I was going to take him to the vet. But I found your web site and don't think that they can do very much for me at this point.

I would like any help that you could offer me at this point. He is a Quarter-Welch-? Possible POA pony, He 12 hands, big boned, big feed, and a stout pony. He is 10 years old and I do not know the history of his younger days. But his feet do look better now and the coffin bone has started rotating back.

If he is able to recover, should I expect a off and on periods of lameness? Or is it possible for a recovery at this point?

Or is he to old for the bones to come back to a normal or closer to a normal position?

10 is young! And you have already seen some reversal of rotation, which is progress!

After you read Dr. Strasser's book, I don't think you will want to shoe. Shoeing is not the only alternative, though. Removable boots like Horsneakers have so many advantages and offer superior protection, traction and concussion absorption....and have the advanctages of being barefooted when he is not being worked.

I live in Washington State, in a sandy, hot area. Is this helpful or a hurt for him? I know that taking some pictures of the bones would help answer these questions. And that will probably be one of my next steps. But if you could give me any hope and answers I would be grateful.

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I need to find a farrier in the Chicago area that is familiar with this type of trimming!

I recommend calling David Frederick, DVM, in Woodstock, IL. He is an equine vet who specializes in founder, and who advocates a barefoot approach. He is not exactly doing a Strasser trim, but he does use a barefoot approach. He also is willing and able to pull shoes and trim. Still, I recommend that you refine the trim with the guidelines on my site. He may be more familiar with the farriers in the area. I have not boarded in the Chicago area for some time, and am out of the loop.

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Thank You So Much For such wonderful information. This is the most informative pages I have ever read! I have been an Arabian breeder for 35 years and appreciate any education that is available. This will help my horses and has given me new insight to a lot of questions. Thank you again for a wonderful website. Debbie Nowak Abraxas Arabians http://www.abraxasarabians.com AbraxasArb@aol.com

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Gretchen, Thank you so much for the tremendous work you have put into this web site. I finally have some hope for my 14 year old Morgan that foundered before Thanksgiving. We were shoeing him in egg bars with pads as no one seeemed to know what else to do. It didn't make sense to me. Your website has answered many of my questions and has made such sense. I printed it out and gave it to my farrier so that when he comes next week to pull the shoes and begin the trims, he'll have some guidelines. Will keep you updated Dawn Wagstaff, kingdom @izzy.net

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Thank-you for your information! Candy Kimmes, President, Midwest Farm Animal Rescue vah0703@chibardun.net

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I just love your site. I hope this is what I have been looking for to help our stud, Doc. Conventional methods have not been getting the job done, to help him with his founder. Poor man! Just found your site and ordered the books today. What you say about lowering heels and rolling toes makes sense to me. Can`t wait to get started.

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Thank you for the education, tomorrow I go back with my mare (6yrs old) who foundered Jan 1, 00 . we treated so far the heat with bute, ace, isoxuprene. I hope that the vet will remove the heel and we take it from there. Looks like fescue toxin. kholst@fadal.com Kathleen holst

Please don't keep up very long with ace, bute and isoxuprene! You would do better with a couple doses of activated charcoal, the trim, natural board, plus getting the horse away from the fescue.

I have to tell you, however, that many horses who used to founder on fescue, no longer do when they have had their hoof mechanism fully restored with a frequent, correct barefoot trim. Many of my readers whose horses and ponies used to grass founder at the drop of a hat are now grazing without repercussions.

Prolonged heavy drug use can have serious consequences, like ulcers, dehydration and kidney failure. What you are describing really makes me nervous!.

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Very interesting! My wife recently adopted a mare with severe problems. The horse was foundered by a very careless owner, who was forced to give the horse up to the Animal Shelter by the local sheriff. The mare has great breeding & a great pesonality. We want to save her if possible. William Schmidt eng@ierindustries.com So far vets and farriers have said she needs to be put down...some of the cases in your web site appear much worse!

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Your page was most enlightening. After talking to my vet and reading your page, we were comforted to know all is not lost with our Cinnamon Girl. Her foundering is not severe and we are treating her. Your pictures showed me what thevet was describing. A picture is worth more than a thousand words. Thanks again. Dan & Tina woots1@hotmail.com

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I think your address is very informational! I have a 11 yr. old barrel horse that foundered in the winter of 1998. I have had 4 vets out to look at her and they don't know what to do. I have also had 3 farriers out to see her and do the trimming and stuff. If you have any infomation please e-mail me at rockenherigon13@hotmail.com. Thank You!! Bobbie Herigon

My site already does have a lot of information on it, but I urge you to read it in its entirety, without skimming or skipping around.

I need a lot more information to go on to be able to comment on your horse specifically. I really need a detailed history and photos of her feet to be able to help you more. I also recommend you do the phone/photo consultations with Sabine Kells, and read Dr. Strasser and Jaime's books.

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I have a large pony Quarter Horse-Arab cross that foundered. He came up lame for a few days after shoeing, and then got better. I continued to show him. The next month my farrier noticed a red line on his sole near the white line of the front hooves, and said he had foundered. I called a vet out and had him x-rayed. He only showed any sign of lameness when we really torqued him on a circle. The x-rays showed 2-degree rotation. She recommended bar shoes and getting his heels up. He got slowly worse. He got to the point of lying down all the time. I took the bar shoes off and decided they had to be the cause.

His hooves just did not look right. I started searching for information and found this information on the internet. I trimmed his hooves the wild horse trim and now see slow improvement. He's up more and moving not quite as stiffly. I am sure the bar shoes made the rotation worse. I will be getting more x-rays later. I am excited about the improvement. I was sure I was going to have to put him down, but now I have hope. I gave my farrier copies of this trim. He's very interested and is planning to ask at the American Farrier's Association about it.

He may not get a very friendly reception--my ideas are not popular yet. But as more and more people start getting better results trying Jaime's and Dr. Strasser's ideas than with high heels and barshoes, we will eventually win more people over.

I am excited about the results I've seen and only wish I read this sooner. I am sure with 2-degree rotation he would be fine now with the wild horse trim and no shoes. Thank you for the information. Deanna R. Cook River Bend Farm 7729 Courthouse Rd. Spotsylvania, Va. 22553 By the way, I am clueless why he foundered, 2 other horses in the same field are fine.

It was probably that the way his feet were done, his coffin bone was tilted more than the other two. Also, some harder-hooved breeds of horses do not get enough hoof mechanism on soft ground. I urge you to consult with Sabine Kells with the phone/photo consultations. I cannot speculate any further, as I know nothing about your horses, and have not seen their feet or heard anything about their histories.

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Gretchen, (same name as one of my sisters!), Deanna again. I wanted to add that my pony, Mystery, has not been on any medication and is turned out 24 hours. I believe in qualty run-in sheds, no stalls. So that's why I believe the damage is worse because of the bar shoes.

But an incorrect trim, where you don't have correct hairline slope, can also predispose him to founder, The bar shoes came into the picture AFTER he foundered, didn't they? I just think they retarded your progress. Many ponies have very hard feet and need to move on firmer ground to get hoof mechanism going fully. Some of the draft type horses do better on soft ground.

He is worse on one of his fores, don't know why. I have been making him walk at times. My worse problem is the hard frozen ground. I had put boots on him but they rubbed him and he hated them.

Easy Boots, but any chance? Get some Horsneakers. Or even Sabre Sneakers. The difference is drastic. BTW, usually the fores are effected more than the hinds. Don't do a lot of forced exercise until you have trimmed him to get the bottoms of the coffin bones ground-parallel and the toes backed up. If the hairlines are still ground-parallel, the tip of the coffin bone is stabbing straight down into the sole, reducing blood supply and making sole penetration more likely.

My farrier was very open and helped me trim his heels way down. I had already backed up to the white line and rounded the front so there's no pressure on front hoof wall. He lost a lot of weight, but is not in poor condition.

Many times they lose weight during founder. It will come back when he feels better. If he is older, senior horse pellets can help, but don't get so carried away graining him up to get weight on that you refounder him.

I think he couldn't stand long enough to finish his hay, and my other horse was finishing it for him. The third horse, a boarder, was sold. But he's up more, so he should do better. I feed him in the mornings a mix of 1# 12% Legends sweet feed with 1/2 # corn and 1/2 # beet pulp with chopped carrots in warm water. At night he gets 1# sweet feed and 1/2# alfalfa cubes. He gets all the orchard grass hay he wants. I don't want him to lose any more weight. I had cut his feed, but if he loses more I'll see ribs, so I increased it to above. Love any advice. Thanks.

That sounds like an awfully rich diet for a pony. I think he will gain weight when he is hurting less, though. Have seen this before. Dr. Strasser only feeds oats, BTW.

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Last week my horse was not walking much and I noticed she was standing around a lot. On Monday, 1/17/00, she could hardly walk, and I thought she was going to fall down. I called the vet, and he came out that morning. He said she was foundering. He took off the nail in the front of her hooves in the front feet and taped styrofoam (2" thick) to the bottom of both front feet and told me to keep her in her stall for at least 2 weeks. He gave me bute and ace to give her until the bottles run out. Wednesday 1/19/00 an abscess broke in her front left foot. Her feet are still taped up. (My horse never showed the text book description of founder--putting the front legs out in front). My concern is now whether to soak her foot in epson salt and the lack of exercise. After reading your article on founder, exercise seems to be the right thing to do. I'm confused. Can you please help me out. Thank you. My Name is Tina and my email address is woots1@hotmail.com.

Exercise IS the right thing--slow hand walking, and free-choice exercise in a herd situation in turnout....IF you have trimmed to get the bottoms of the coffin bones ground-parallel and the toes backed up, etc. An outward indication of the coffin bone bottoms being ground-parallel is that the hairlines, when viewed from the side, slope downwards towards the rear as close as possible to 30 degrees.

Soaking feet in Epsom salts is usually done to encourage an abscess to break through quicker; yours already has burst through. We have had faster results soaking with an apple cider vinegar solution, though. You may have an abscess in the other foot, though, and don't assume you will only have abscesses once. You may have more later. It is the body's way to clear out damaged tissue once circulation has been sufficiently restored to enable abscessing. That your mare has abscessed I see as a sign of progress.

Even for well horses, Dr. Strasser advocates getting their feet wet in plain water at least 15 min. a day to simulate how they get wet in watering holes in the wild.

The styrofoam pads will cushion the feet considerably, making the horse more comfortable for the time being. You can also use removable boots. But getting the coffin bones more ground parallel and the toes backed up are your first priorities.

I am not enthusiastic about long-term stalling and drug use. The horse may be in more pain initially doing the approach I am talking about, but will have more structural improvements and avoid drug complications.

In addition to the mechanical benefits of more frequent walking in a turnout situation, I also feel that a horse's morale is considerably better turned out with others. You may be afraid that the other herd members will bully your horse without mercy because she is too sore to fend for herself. That is not always true. Sometimes the herd senses that one of the horses is too sick to fight, and they will not beat up on him, but more or less leave him be. Turning her out with at least one congenial horse will greatly improve her morale.

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Great web site! My husband has always agreed that nature's way is the best way when it comes to horses. Lori Beene argos@i40.net

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I want to say thank you for your knowledge of chronic laminitis. My mare foundered recently and the horse shoer I was using kept insisting upon using shoes, but they were just making her more sore. I have found a new horseshoer since then and my mare is doing much better, but it is easier knowing that others have conquered this problem. Thank you again. Jessica Reckers. jessicareckers@hotmail.com

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Hello, my name is Larissa Daley. I live in Georgia. I own a 15 year old Arab/Thouroughbred Mare. Several years ago she developed Founder in all 4 feet. Medications, Shoes, all temporary, no success. I was battling with myself to have her put down, when I accidently came across your page. I was not looking for anything on Laminitis or Founder; I had given up hope on that. A friend and I had to lay this horse down to trim her feet; she could not take the pain of standing on three legs. She has become so needle-shy we cannot get near her with a syringe. That was how the farriers trimmed her. After one trim, she got up, no limping, no soreness; she can even run again. This mare was barefoot all her life, until she foundered, and the shoes only helped for a short period, but they were murder to put on (sedation) and to remove. She has also never been stalled, free access to shelter, acres of lush Tift 44 pasture, from which I have now removed free access. We hand walk and give her light ground training (large soft roundpen). I have added loose Minerals &Vitamins to her diet of summer hay that I have baled myself. She has a neckcrest--I am not sure of the cause of it. At the hight of the laminitis episodes, she walked very unnaturally and held her head and neck very stiffly. I am so glad and thankful to have come across your information on the web. I will kep you updated on any further developments. I am also ordering Dr. Strasser's book. Thank you so much. Larissa Daley North40Ranch@msn.com

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I'm always interested in this subject. I have a gelding that went from 4 Rotated to only 1 Rotated. I still pray for a way to fix the last foot. The coffin bone rotated completely and instead of penetrating the sole, the tip of the coffin bone disentegrated inside the hoof. The horse is a babysitter for all our weanlings and almost totally pain free, but we would pay any amount of money to get him TOTALLY FIXED!

That you only trim once every 6 weeks is part of the problem. To correct problems, you need to trim a lot more often, like 2x weekly....or work him enough that his feet never have a chance to grow out because he's getting so much wear. This simulates the constant wear your horse would get in a wild state--the varied terrain and daily high miles maintain wild horses' feet in a constant, short shape. They don't ever have a chance to get long, and this is the ideal situation for all horses.

I urge you to do the phone/photo consultations with Sabine Kells to get faster results.

Once you have had a lot of the tip of the coffin bone eroded away by its being tilted long-term, it will take a long time for this to go back at all. But the first step is to get the bottoms of the coffin bone ground-parallel and keep them that way, to both prevent any more remodelling of the tip and to get a stronger attachment growing down. This will be a long, slow process, but your horse is worth at least trying with! Nova, since he has been getting the trim, has gotten a little more solidity to the fronts of his coffin bones on X-rays, but I hesitate to say that he will ever return to a normal shape enitrely. It is a long, slow process.

How I wish you had had the info on my page in the very beginning! You could have headed off a lot of damage. But then again, I wish I had known 10 years ago what I know today! Max sure would have benefitted, and our story would have been a lot shorter and less eventful!

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I find your information dangerous, and misinforming ffor the horse owner. Patrick Reilly Reillyshoe@aol.com

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Hello, I am new at this...new to the internet...new to this or any web site. So please be patient with me. I have never sent an e-mail, but I have read through this Guestbook regarding laminitis.

Scroll down, then, and hit "Back to Homepage." Reading Sections 1-18 will answer many of your questions in a more organized fashion than this guestbook.

I have a 10 year old quarter horse gelding i bought about 4 years ago. He is a real sweetie, but I am very concerned about him. He is extremely tender footed and I was told (again I don't know much)that he had foundered before I had purchased him. I had my vet x-ray him when I purchased him and his coffin bone was not rotated. The shoer I was using believed in standing the horse up high in the heel, short in the toe. This horse is tender even with pads on.

Pads can't make up for the tip of the coffin bone slicing through the toe area of the sole. The horse won't get relief until you lower his heels and stop over-shortening the toes, especially the toe area of the sole, which should not be pared. An X-ray of how he was shod would probably show the tip of the coffin bone almost all the way through the sole.

Recently I moved him to another barn and had been watching and listening to another shoer and questioned him to see if he could help my horse. He took one look at him and advised his heels were to high and toe too short for a horse that had foundered. He said his degree on the heel was 55 on one and 54 on another. I know enough to realize my horse had not been shoed properly if the degrees were not the same on each foot.

This is not always the case. If you have differing degrees of roation, it will effect the toe angles. What we need to aim for first is trimming to put the coffin bone bottoms ground parallel...by lowering the heels and bars, and then backing up the toes. There are many other features to the trim, but these are the basics.

This new shoer has trimmed my horse down 1" on one hoof and 1 1/2" on the other, he didnt want to take down his heel all at the same time, said it would be too much for him, which I agreed sounded good to me. He also explained that for a horse who had foundered the toe should be longer. He mentioned the hair line etc. but I am not sure I remember exactly what he said, but it sounded similar to what I have read here tonite. If possible can you advise me on this, explain a little more about this.

I rode him outside about a week and a half after he was shod and still was ouchy, and I haven't had much time this month to get him out to see if he still is. He is turned out every day with other horses and is brought in each day mid to late afternoons, so he is getting some exercise.

Just being out a few hours a day is not the ideal scenario. I know it is hard to find pasture board, in a herd situation, but this is the ideal situation. Long hours of standing still in a stall will be very counter-productive. Rachael Ward's horse, Boogie, despite being crippled for 5 years and having a lot of damage, has only had one abscess. I believe he has been spared a lot more inflammation and abscessing because he is being kept moving all the time in a great natural board situation. Most of us cannot duplicate such a great board situation. But the high miles he has been putting on around the clock have eased and speeded his recovery considerably.

I was also wondering if there is any substance I can use when I go trail riding that would last for a couple of hours, something that would put something between his hoof and the rock. I live in Missouri and most of the areas where we ride is very rocky terrain. Any help/advise you can give me is much appreciated. my name is karen my e mail is karen9@swbell.net

Removable hoof boots are the way to go. They can be removed when the horse is not being worked, but while he is working, they can give more protection than shoes with full pads. Check out my Section 18 for more info on hoof boots. I don't believe that any of the paint-on stuff can even come close to the amount of protection a hoof boot can offer.

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Just wanted to let everybody know that my aged mare had recurrent laminitis and ultimately foundered. It was only after we put her on thyroid medication (Thyro-L in this case) that she improved. In the last six years I have had to increase her dose considerably, but she remains sound. I urge anyone dealing with recurrent laminitis to have his/her horse tested for Thyroid level imbalance. Once your horse is on medication, the test administered must be a "Free T4" in order to get accurate results. Good luck!

While there seems to be a connection between laminitis and low thyroid, it is still possible for a horse to be on thyroid medication and still founder if he does not have good hoof shape and hoof mechanism. These mechanical aspects need to be addressed as well.

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Thank-you for the valuable information. My 8 yr old 1/2 Arab gelding has foundered at least twice that I know of. It appears to be triggered by obesity and perhaps also cortisone. (I was treating him for "scratches.")

You mean you were treating the "scratches" with cortisone? We always used iodine shampoo for this.

When you fully restore hoof mechanism, some skin problems can correct. Refer back to the part about hoof mechanism preventing excess protein building up instead of being used for hoof wall production.

I don't know where to start with his treatment. Currently I have heart bar shows on him. My x-rays are still with the vet and I don't know his degrees of rotation. Where should I start?

The most crucial part of the treatment is the mechanical aspect--a correct barefoot trim, done often, and constant freedom and movement. This means pulling the shoes and doing the kind of trim I am talking about. It also means hand walking him if constant turnout with other horses is not keeping him walking around a lot. Stall confinement is not OK at all.

I have taken him off his bute/ace remedy. He has been off for about 10 days. Should I be exercising him even if he is sore?

AFTER you have trimmed him correctly, which means getting that 30 degree hairline slope. After this, yes, he should be walking often. Straight lines better than tight turns.

Yes. That is where removable hoof boots can help. I would also use them for hard-frozen ground when the edges of the hoofprints made earlier in mud are frozen and sharp. Getting the trim correct will help considerably with snow balling, however. When the shape is right and there is visible heel spreading with every step, the feet will be more self-cleaning than when shod. Shod feet cannot expand and contract as well as bare feet--IF they are trimmed right. Bare feet that have high bars and heels will not flex like this, and will become contracted.

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THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING YOUR EXPERIENCES AND TRIMMING TECHNIQUES. IT HAS HELPED MY CLIENTS HORSES SO MUCH YOUR HELP IS , ''GREATLY APPRECIATED''

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Thank you for the great information and photos. I would like to know if there are any herbs a horse can be give to help with founder? Joan Wienczkowski centrlight@aol.com

While many supplements are helpful, you will not get anywhere without also doing the trim correctly, keeping the horse turned out and moving, etc.--in other words, addressing the mechanical aspects.

Until there is good circulation restored to the feet, how can nutrients and medication even reach the effected areas of the feet if the blood is not able to get them there? Until you restore circulation, you're wasting your money on supplements. Dr. Strasser's book mentions that protein backs up in the body if it is not being properly utilized building new hoof horn at a normal rate when circulation is compromised. This excess protein, she claims, can actually cause problems in other organs. So--for so many reasons, you really need to address restoring circulation through correct hoof shape and plenty of movement as your first priority.

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So very informative, excellent photos, we need more clinics in Canada. hedyedwards@idirect.com

Sabine Kells, the only Strasser-certified hoofcare specialist in N. America at the moment, lives in BC and occasionally gives classes there. Get in touch with her directly.

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This is one of the best, most informative sites I've ever seen. The information is most interesting because it contradicts many of the views of vets and farriers. I'm going to download and print everything.

We have deshod all eight of our foxhunters and are carefully trimming them weekly. We hope to be able to hunt most or all of them barefoot next August.

You will probably find them to be more smooth and sure-footed after they successfully make the transition to barefootedness. A lot of people are surprised at how much their horses' gaits improve.

We're about to install a hot walker with a path of round stones to toughen up their hooves.

Another cheaper alternative is to have an area between the barn and field that is big round stones, or an area around where the hay is in stone. Xenophen recommended this in his book years ago. For foundered horses, walking in tight circles is not a good thing, though, so I cannot be too enthusiastic about hot-walkers for foundered horses. I am eager to hear how your rocky hot-walker arrangement works for you, though.

Hope you guys can make it to one of the May clinics....dates and locations on my homepage.

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I just found this site . I am searching all over to find the best possible " cure " for my horse. He is a 5 year old gelding and I cant imagine how this happened, laminitis. He is in a dirt pen, no change in feed or anything. I orginally thought that he had fallen and bruised a muscle. The vet said "NO". I still think he injured himself some way which brought this on. I believe it is stress related. Anyway, I had heartbars put on my horse, vets request. He is on bute and isox.( 4 grams bute daily and 400 mgs of isox) Until I can get the heartbars off, do you think I should take him off the medication. They are talking about putting him on ulcer medicine also and I am tired of pumping all of this into him. This has been going on for about 10 days. He only has a 100x100 pen but I was going to put deep sand in there, pull his shoes and trim him the way you state. I am a equine massage therapist so I thought a couple of massages a week and some hand walking would be helpful.He has a neighbor but she isnt in the same pen. I keep my horses seperate. What do you think. I'm searching for answers.Thanx!!!! Susan -Slidesmoke@prodigy.net

Compromised hoof mechanism and circulation are at the heart of what foundered him. It did not just happen in thin air. Many of the common triggers will not cause a full-blown founder episode if the horse's coffin bone bottoms are ground-parallel, the heels are not contracted, and he is moving about 24/7. Dr. Strasser feels the number one cause is shoeing or trimming with high heels that tilts the coffin bones down in the front. To fix this, and prevent more problems in the future, you need to trim to restore the coffin bone bottom to a ground-parallel position. X-rays will show you exactly where things stand, and give you an idea how much the heels need to come down, so I recommend them.

Stress CAN trigger laminitis. But if his hoof mechanism were better and he were getting enough exercise, he would have had a better chance of weathering this storm without repercussions.

I agree that aggressively medicating will soon get him a lot sicker. If he gets ulcers inside his mouth, they are likely to be elsewhere in his digestive tract. When this happens, he will be drinking less and less, and the same with eating, with possible colic or kidney failure. I have been hearing sad stories along these lines...

Deep sand is not necessary. Actually, Dr. Strasser has her clinic covered with rubber mats for a firm, but non-concussive surface. Sabine Kells has said that deep sand allows the toes to sink in, which gets the coffin bones too tilted. You can tape high-density foam pads on, or use horse boots. Sabre Sneakers are my recommendation for something cheaper and quickly available. These will enable you to walk the horse elsewhere, too.

Hand walking is extremely useful. The more the better! 6 ten-min. walks are better than one hour walk per day--frequency is key. I know, it's very inconvenient! But the more often you get him moving the better. Heat and soreness will reduce right after a walk....which tells you that walking is doing some good. Horses' feet are not like ours--they can't have full circulation when they are still. They really depend on movement and hoof mechanism to get full circulation. The feet are like 4 auxilliary hearts....they help circulation considerably.

Further, Dr. Strasser's book talks about a lack of circulation in the feet slowing growth of hoof wall. When less protein is being utilized for growing hoof wall, her book talks about how it can back up in the system and cause other problems. You really need to get the horse's hoof mechanism restored and to keep the horse moving for his general health as well, not just his feet. Whatever it takes--keep the horse walking around a lot! Spreading hay in different spots in the pen is one way to encourage them to keep schlepping around....even if it is SLOW schlepping around, it is still valuable. Another horse for company is a big plus and encourages movement as well....preferably an active, pushy sort. Why do you separate your horses, BTW? You only need to grain them separately. They are better off in company, and much happier.

When you trim as I illustrate, you will open up circulation, which will increase pain and enable abscessing. This can be a miserable period, but if you keep him moving, and do long apple cider vinegar and water solution soaks during abscessing periods, it will pass faster. But like many holistic approaches, he will seemingly get worse before he gets better. But if you hang in there, he will get better after the abscesses blow.

I am really happy to hear from someone whose horse is only recently foundered. So often, I don't hear from people until the horse has been languishing for months, and everything else has been tried, including permanent mutilations such as cutting tendons.. If you really get right on this, you can get this horse through it quicker and with less damage.

If he were mine, I would give him a dose of activated charcoal, in addition to backing off drugs, after doing a trim. The same stuff they use in emergency rooms for drug overdoses and poisoning. Vets have it, too. UAA Gel is just one brand, and the one I have used. And average horse needs at a 300 cc dose of this stuff. And possibly a second dose an hour or so later. There are some very real dangers to long-term over-medicating. I would rather see a mechanical approach being used. Correct trimming, soaking and walking at least aren't toxic! And I think massage therapy will make him a lot happier, and probably ease some of the muscular tension arising from holding himself in an unaccustomed stance to ease his painful feet.

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I purchased a 3-year-old stallion 02/03/00. He was badly foundered. No care of his hooves had been done for quite a while.

He had slipper toe and his soles were 1-1/2 inch thick, plus he had a bit of seedy toe. I immediately took off a good inch of sole and cut away bad spots after which he was walking so much better (after relieving pressure).

Before, he was walking on his hind legs. After receiving him at my farm, I proceeded lowering the heel and phasing back the toe. Of course, I could only do this with him in a girth and chest hoist; (otherwise, it was too painful for him to let me trim).

Today is 02/17/00 and I am down to a relatively healthy frog and taking out hoof mass in the heel area to promote heel flexibility. Although I have never worked with founder before, I have a natural instinct of what to do for this baby, and 3 days ago I spotted this site and I am very impressed. I am glad there are others who are interested in preserving the horse in a natural way. Without it, a foundered horse would be doomed. I will be sending drawings of a girth and chest harness that anyone can build. It is a must for anyone who owns a foundered horse.

Wow! What an ambitious project! God bless you for trying to help this poor horse! It is a shock to hear of such a young horse so badly neglected and in such bad shape.

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Hello again Gretchen. I would like to thank you for your help and web page. As I mentioned in my original letter, when I called my vet out for my horse, Cinnamon Girl, and he told me she had foundered, he left me with the thought that if the bone comes through the sole, I may want to think about putting her down. This was very hard for me to accept and after searching the web, I was really comforted and my spirits were raised by reading your site. Well, I followed your instructions, and even though my horse did NOT want to walk I made sure she did. After 2 weeks from the day the vet was out she was off all drugs and 2 weeks after that she was walking pretty good on her own. I opened her up to the rest of her field and can't tell you how great it was to see her trot and do a little run -- for the first time in 5 weeks. I couldn't take my eyes off her and watched her for hours outside while it was snowing. My husband and I are trimming her feet 2 to 3 times a week trying to get her heels lower and keep referring back to your articles. With all the snow it's making trimming her feet easier. My husband says her hooves are softer and easy to trim. I can't emphasize how uplifting it was just reading your article. Your method of treating hooves is sound and my Cinnamon Girl is proof enough for me. I can write volumes, but I'll stop here. Thanks again. Tina woots1@hotmail.com

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My husband is a farrier and has had success treating laminitic and foundered horses with shoes and without...we have an extremely troubling case we are working on right now (NOTHING works) and I will have the vet check out your page and Dr. Strasser's work. The frequent trims make so much sense, but it is next to impossible to convince clients that Nelson should be back in 3-4 weeks (let alone 1-2x/week!) and I hate to encourage having them do it themselves because either they simply won't or they'll screw it up! We will get a copy of Dr. Strasser's book and watch your website for updates! It took a lot of time to do, I am sure!

It really is a tough situation trying to help horses whose owners will not follow through. Afraid I have no answers on that!

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This is an excellent site! I've learned so much info. I needed help with my foundered horse and now I have somewhere to turn. Finally someone who gives hope instead of doom and gloom. THANK YOU!!

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Great site and great information. I just acquired a badly foundered mare who is 9 years old and has 8 inch long front hooves. I am going to apply this method and attend the nearest clinic this May in Austin. I do, however, want to find out how I can send photos to you to help me on the trimming. Right now I am not sure where to begin except to get the length off the hooves. I also have no background on the mare and don't know the cause of the founder. She is on pasture right now and seems to be doing fine. She walks very slowly....any help is appreciated. Amy Knussmann amyk@us.ibm.com or chappie@austin.rr.com

Fortunately, Amy has already gotten in touch with Sabine Kells, and we have also put her in touch with some people in her area who can help. It may be a little scary for a while to take on such a project, but Amy has rescued a number of horses already, and I feel hopeful about this mare! I think it is wonderful that she has rescued a number of horses already, and will do what I can to help her through this.

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Much of it certainly makes sense. Have been shoeing in Norhtern VA for 25 yrs. I haven't been too far off the mark with keeping the heels "pushed back" and the break over point between an inch and an inch and a half. I never have cracks and seldom see founder in the horses that stay on a regular schedule. Most signs of "navicular" disappear w/i a few shoeings if the owner will keep the horse in moderate, consistent exercise; often even if they will not. I am having tremendous success with the Natural Ballance shoes.

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I'm very excited about your site. For the first time I am seeing confirmed what I have long suspected is damage caused by long heels, long, dished toes and lateral imbalance. I have a 21-year-old Morgan who has been experiencing laminitis attacks since he was about 7. I used to walk him on soft ground and pull his shoes at first. Then the vets told me the correct treatment was stall rest and soft bedding. I followed their suggestions, with the result that he experienced severe rotation. I have been attempting to help him recover for two years. I noticed that he would relapse if I went away on vacation, usually at Christmas when I'd go to Maine to see my family.

They never were able to confirm what the cause was. I have years of x-rays, tests for Lyme disease, Cushing's syndrome, have stopped all vaccinations, tried heartbars, dental impression material, do fecal tests now before worming, tried Sabre Sneakers, Easy boots, Davis boots, confinement, dry-lotting.

Now I am certain it is a largely mechanical problem stemming from incorrect trimming which was exacerbated by the decreased exercise he got when I was away. I also noticed laminitic reactions to vaccines and to his last worming. I have felt for years that he was "walking a tightrope" and that the trigger was anything that added a little stress like new hay, or decreased activity. This was reflected in diarrhea and soreness, and was helped if I walked him.

I have given him an initial trim lowering his heels to more approximate a 30 degree hairline, although his foot is still too long. He was immediately more comfortable. Also, I only had a rasp, no foot knife. Now I have a foot knife and enough information to work with my farrier to trim him better. I will be bringing him home in the next three weeks to my new barn where he will be turned out 24 hours a day on two acres with two other horses. I am laboriously printing all these site sections for my farrier and vet, not because I will change my mind if they don't agree, but because it may help someone else.

Bless you and the other participants for finally providing enough information so that I can help my baby.

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This site has been life saver for our mare--I refer to it regularly for help--is it common for the horse to have good days and bad days? Some days our mare is much better, others she may come up lame on one foot. She is a 6-yr.-old TW--slightly overweight--crested neck, etc. This past Oct. she suddenly came up lame; our only guess was either acorns or persimmons caused the founder. Your site has helped me with treatment and has probably saved my other stock from the same problems. My question is, is it common for there to be good days and bad days--last week I trimmed and she was much better that same day, even to the point of riding, but within 3 days she came up lame on one foot, very frustrating. Since the original bout she has tight new growth of outer wall nearly half-way down her hoof, and at times seems to be on the mend, but we have had several small setbacks. Early on trimming I noticed a small pocket of dried blood near the white line. Could I be dealing with another problem? This mare was on straight pasture at the time her founder started and is in the field w/8 horses roaming 250 acres, but I check them daily, and no other horses have had this problem. The local vet is leaning toward bar shoes, but I have told him I don't want her shod. He even mentioned leaving her heels high and cutting the toe. If he would only look at your site I think he would change his methods. Thanks for all the great info and I hope your method works on my mare. I read your site several times and probably spent several days researching this on the web. Yours makes sense! Thanks again,

Yes, it is common to have ups and downs. When one foot suddenly comes up sore, it is usually an abscess. Soak long and often in water and apple cider vinegar to draw it out quicker. This is a little slower, but safer, than having someone get in there and carve up the sole in an attempt to dig out an abscess. The recovery time is actually quicker. Re-growing sole that has been carved out in the toe area can take months. You can also damage the sole corium by carving out too deeply in the toe.

If you vet would just study X-rays and hoof cross-sections, he would see how illogical heel wedges are for foundered horses. Further, horses trimmed or shod very stumpy are short-strided, rough-gaited and clumsy. They are more likely to become navicular.

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Hi! Great info on this web site. Have an 18-yr.-old mare a tad heavy, but with a big crest. Never had any problems ever with her. No change in diet and fed sweet feed, and grass hay. Only horse owners know the pain we go through with our horses when they are in pain! So far just treating her with 2 grams a day with bute. For 1 week, bute and banamine. Had her x-rayed and she rotated over 5 degrees. Such a good girl--hate to see her go through this. Have her on only grass hay now and 1 cup of grain morn and night. I have the farrier coming out to trim her according to what the x-rays say, so hope this helps relieve her pain somewhat. She is out all day, but stalled at night. She doesn't move around more than she has to, but seems to be putting a lot more pressure on both fronts and does not bob her head up anymore when she steps down on the sore feet. Have a gelding out in the back pasture that chases her, and I'm scared to put her back there with him being this sore, but reading what you suggest maybe I should. I am afraid of more damage. DMG and MSM has been recommended to give her? There is also a Bio-Meth powder out that contains dl-methionine and biotin that I may try???? Defiately bookmarked this page. Lots of great info Thanks Jan Bitten janiceb@mi-mls.com

She probably had the risk factor of a tilted coffin bone, which Dr. Strasser thinks is the number one culprit. You might have prevented a lot of this by trimming to get the bottoms of her coffin bones ground-parallel. This means LOW heels, and backed-up toes.

After you get her trimmed to get that 30 degree hairline slope, etc., the more she moves, the better. Stalling overnight is a bad idea. That horse who chases her is probably going to be a plus. The biotin, etc., are all good, but no supplements can do what correct trimming and constant walking around in 24 hour freedom and company will do. When my horse was sore, a short walk always reduced heat and inflammation. This means that the more you KEEP her walking, even if very slowly, the more she will work out inflammation rather than let it build up. Gather your courage and trim her and turn her out! I hope you back off the drugs soon. Long term, there can be serious side-effects.

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Gretchen, Just an update on my Morgan that foundered before Thanksgiving. He has been shoeless and trimmed to the thirty degree hairline for two months now and is doing much better. He will place all four feet on the ground with weight and although he walks slowly, he doesn't hesitate to step on each foot equally. The "lamellar wedge" is now being trimmed off at each trim my farrier does at three week intervals. I am rasping him twice a week. I am convinced that the thirteen years of shoes and the "corrective" shoeing that was done precipitated this. I know it will take a lot of time to heal the damage. However, I am thrilled to report that he has lost all of the crestiness in his neck and the other odd fat pads he had just prior to foundering. The only feed change was to substitute one pound of oats per day instead of one pound of pellets. I also added free choice minerals from ABC for all my horses and included magnesium in those supplements. Not only do all my horses look better, but the foundered one has also almost lost all of the large bony lump between his eyes he had acquired that no one could diagnose. (That had appeared about a year ago in addition to the fat bulges).

I will be attending Dr. Strasser's clinic in Columbus, Ohio in May. Would very much appreciate being able to meet you and thank you in person for this website.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Columbus clinic, too. I will be helping out the clinic host, as well as participating.

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Re: a substitute for bute, ace and banamine... I migrated my severely rotated Morgan from bute and banamine to No-Bute (contains organically grown Devil's Claw), which is supposedly good for the gastro-intestinal tract. Because I'm such a chicken I decreased the bute as I increased the Devil's Claw. He has been off bute for about 8 months and continues to improve although he relapsed from lack of exercise when I was away over Christmas. The dose is 40 ml of No-bute = 1 gram of bute. I was splitting the dose, which is a liquid) between his two feeds of a little grain (he has free-choice timothy). He was getting 4 grams of bute a day. I compared Bute-less, Wendals Herbs Devil's Claw and No-Bute. No-bute was the only one which contained no other ingredients and was organically grown. He also will eat it eagerly vs. having to force-feed him bute. He continues to improve, and I continue to reduce the No-bute. It's available from Claire Norcross at www.emeraldvalleybotanical.com tel number 1-888-638-8262.

It helped Apollo and provides some pain relief when it is really needed. Also they came out with a new product which is Devil's Claw, Vitamin C and MSM. I have just tried it and will order more.

If you keep on trimming correctly, keeping the horse moving with 24 hour turn-out in a herd and hand-walking if needed, you should not need this sort of thing too long.

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Gretchen, just to give an update. I bit the bullet and had my mare trimmed down very far. We got about 25 degrees on the hairline and 54 degrees on front toes. Cut off about 4 inches of heel on both front feet, etc. She is still up and walking miles everyday. Not near as sore as I had expected her to be. I am hoping to be riding her in 2 months. She is on pasture and has lots of playmates--makes a huge difference in her personality. Now I am doing this to all my stock to avoid future problems. You are a life saver and I am so glad I did this method first instead of wasting years on western medicine and fancy shoeing. I also have not resorted to any medications at all. My question, after say a year of this trim, if x-rayed, should the rotation be less than when first x-rayed? I would assume a big difference. Summer thanks you, too (the mare). Amy amyk@us.ibm.com

For a mare with a lot of rotation, 54 degree toes are high in the front. You either took too much off the bottom of the front of the foot, or not enough off the heels. Boy, 4" off the heels! I hope you share before and after photos! You want 30 degree hairlines if at all feasible.

When circulation returns, she may come up sore later. I expect her to. Spreading the heels is an ouchy proposition. EXPECT abscessing. But I bet you saw her walk out longer-strided and smoother immediately--this is something that will remain with the trim, with the exception of ouchy abscessing periods

Start soaking her feet daily, and keep it up. This simulates the way they would normally get wet in watering holes in the wild. If she gets real sore, especially if it suddenly comes up on one side, you probably have an abscess, and long soaks in water and apple cider vinegar will draw it out faster.

Try not to set arbitrary deadlines for riding. Play it by ear. Horsneakers will enable you to do it sooner, though, That she is walking a lot and outside with a herd will be a great plus.

If you stick with this, I would indeed expect less rotation in a year. It would be good to take X-rays now, though, to check if the bottoms of the coffin bones are ground-parallel. If not, the heels need to come down, or more sole needs to build up in the toe area. Having current X-rays will provide a good comparison for her later progress.

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Thank you so much for your Web Site! I am a 14-year-old boy who found your site as I researched Laminitis for my Science Fair project. We used my Mom's 24-year-old mare, Dusty, for our horse. Dusty foundered originally when she was seven, and it has been a tough battle ever since to try and help her laminitis. Many people have told us to put her down, but we kept searching, hoping to find a cure. I wanted my project to help her . With the help of your web site we now have hope!! We modified her diet, helped her lose weight, added magnesium supplements, and of course started the Strasser trim. We have a ways to go yet, getting the hang of the proper trimming technique and keeping the horse on her diet this summer when the green grass comes back, but for the first time in years we feel that there is hope. Our vet says with the work we have done we have stabilized her laminitis!! I'm sure we will be in contact again with many questions and such as we progress with Dusty's treatment, for this will be an ongoing process. Thank you so much for giving so many desperate horse owners HOPE!! And Dusty thanks you too.

Glad to hear this! We need more progressive vets out there. (I also put Jacob in touch with some other horse owners doing this approach.)

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Thank you for the response. I have the farrier coming out tomorrow and will work closely with him to get her feet corrected. Found a replacement for Bute called equi-spirin. It is buffered aspirin and is not supposed to have the side effects of Bute. Ever hear of it??

Aspirin can also cause stomach ulcers in many species, especially when taken on an empty stomach. Buffered or not. While at a shareholder's meeting at Abbott Laboratories, I saw photos of mouse stomachs--normal, and after taking aspirin on an empty stomach--which were scary images, to say the least! Constant walking will do a better job of keeping heat and soreness down, without the bad side effects of drugs. Plus more activity round the clock will have many other benefits.

I plan on letting her out with the gelding after her feet are trimmed and heels lowered so he can get her moving.

Have taken quite a bit of weight off her and am going to try rolled oats with vitamins and see how she does on that vs. Omelene 100/sweet feed mix. She is not eating when she is turned out, but eats at night in the stall, for it is right there. She has a large stall and can move freely there and she loves laying down in the stall at night.

No!!! Do not confine her to a stall at night! Laying down for hours will allow pain and inflammation to increase, and circulation to be reduced. Even overnight stalling is not OK. You want her out and walking around 24/7. Just because it is natural for us to lie down for 8 hours does not mean it is natural for a horse. In nature they are schlepping around grazing most of the time, and rarely lie down very long. Their feet depend on constant movement. So do their hearts, as hoof mechanism in the feet assists the heart in circulating the blood. Our feet do not depend on walking to maintain circulation, like theirs do. A horse laying down too long stresses every organ in his body. A horse cast in a stall can die during the same number of hours we would normally be sleeping comfortably. If you grain her in a stall, fine, but as soon as they finish their grain, turn them out again. They should have constant free access to shelter, but not be shut in. In nature, horses prefer to rest out in the open, where they can make a fast getaway should a predator show up. In the backs of their minds, when trapped in a stall, they always know that if a predator were to show up, they would have nowhere to run to. This creates a less restful frame of mind. Give this horse her freedom! She will get better faster, and be happier as well.

Smart mare. Won't take any meds in her feed so she loves apples. I cut one in 4 and put her pill in the center of a piece, then feed her the apple. Works great. Thank you again. Jan janiceb@mi-mls.com

Medicines and supplements are really less important than the mechanical approach--frequent, correct trims and constant movement.

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Hi. Just had the farrier out. He suggested having a hyperthyroidism test for he has been seeing more and more of this in the "easy keepers." Let her out with the gelding, and he ran and kicked and bit her so bad it took both of us to get her out of there, and the farrier didn't like that so soon after she hasn't been moving much for 3 weeks. I know you said to let her out with him, but he is mean, and she kept stumbling and now can't hardly walk at all. I beleive I will just put her on a rope and walk her a few times a day till she shows more improvement before I let her out there again with that butt head. The farrier lowered her heels and cut a lot of the front of the foot off. We will possibly try bar shoes this summer depending on what farrier thinks. He is one of the best and works a lot on foundered horses at clinics. Matt Johnstone is his name. Thanks again for your time and your web site. Am passing it on to all my horse friends Jan janiceb@mi-mls.com

If you are going to try to do the trim, but want to stick with stall confinement and continued drug use, it will not work. Even if you do a few hand-walking sessions a day, you cannot possibly hand walk her often enough to duplicate how often she would be moving in a herd life situation. Maybe she needs to be turned out with a more compatible horse, but she does need turnout 24/7 for this to work. If another horse is not with her, she at least needs her hay to be put in different locations, to motivate her to move more often, and more frequent hand walking. Standing still for hours on end, which is inevitable in a stall, will allow her to have heat and soreness build up. Constant movement will help reduce heat and soreness.

She probably was stumbling because trimming her to spread her heels will get them sore, so she was trying to stay off her heels. This is an unfortunate part of the process of spreading contracted heels, at least in the beginning. The Strasser trim is designed to spread contracted heels. If you are unwilling to go through this, which my site and Dr. Strasser's book both warn about, then don't attempt to do the trim at all. To quote Dr. Strasser's book, "A Lifetime of Soundness"--

Dr. Strasser on opening contracted hooves:

"....during the treatment of contracted hooves, several aspects must be considered, many of which are similar to the transition from shod to barefoot, already discussed earlier. These include discomfort when circulation first returns to the hoof due to a restored hoof mechanism (like numb fingers from cold warming up again), sensitivity to point pressure (since the sole must be kept fairly thin to facilitate un-contraction), pain from the deformed lateral cartilages straightening out, some degree of inflammation (increased circulation necessary for normal healing) and an accompanying sensitivity to concussion, etc. It must also be understood that movement (on whatever ground the horse can tolerate) is vital to the reversal of contraction, especially during times of inflammation. Shutting a horse up in a stall not only delays healing, but can cause stocking up, inflammation, laminitis, etc. If natural living conditions are not possible, an attempt to open a contracted hoof should not be made. Nor should it be attempted without proper terrain. A horse with contracted hooves must have solid [but non-concussive] ground, and should not be moved any faster than a walk for at least 2-3 weeks. Hoof boots are good protection during the initial phase. Hoof abscesses must be expected within the first weeks to 2 years in most horses with any degree of contraction. These abscesses are not the result of puncture wounds or infections, but rather are the body's natural way of removing dead tissue (or tissue damaged beyond repair.) Movement is vital for an abscess to exit as quickly as possible, and to prevent swelling of the lower leg." [She then mentions soaking and poultices to speed drawing out abscesses.] ....Coffin bone deformation, often present if the hoof was contracted.........for a long time.........presents a very difficult and long-term rehabilitation, requiring up to 2 years until the hoof is completely restored to its normal shape. Laminitis, coffin bone rotation and/or protrusion may be expected if the contraction is severe and has been present for a long time, if the corium of the entire wall had had insufficient circulation for a long time, and the coffin bone suspension is greatly deteriorated. The time factor in reversing contraction is extremely unpredictable, [taking just weeks or many months]. If the owner is not willing to give the horse natural living conditions and reasonable time in which to heal, reversing contraction should not be attempted."

If you want to go with bar shoes, stall confinement and drug use, I hope you don't try to do the trim at all, or tell anyone else you are doing the trim, as the results will not be good. This method depends on the entire program being done, not just borrowing parts of the method and leaving the rest. If this mare is not kept moving a lot, you will have more pain and heat in her feet than you would if she were kept moving often.

If you want to go with stall confinement and continued drug use, and are looking for quick relief, then by all means, have bar shoes with heel wedges put on now. (I at least hope no one talks you into cutting the tendons as well, though.) She will be more numb in bar shoes with her heels wedged up, which will seem like she is in less pain. But a year from now, you will not have made much progress in terms of structural improvements. However, it IS a quick fix...for a while.

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I'm so glad to find additional information about founder. Although my vet and farrier did a good job, it was difficult getting information from them. I have a 4-year-old Welsh pony that I must have fed too much, because he foundered about 1-1/2 years ago. I'm not sure if this was the only cause, because his companion, an older mare, became ill with cancer and we had to put her down. I wonder if depression didn't cause the founder, too. I was lucky that I did not get the wrong information from my vet. He did give him Bute just once, but told me to leave him barefoot and trim his feet often. He never said how to trim him, but my farrier must have done a good job, because he never showed any signs of pain again, and although we didn't do x-rays, my vet feels that his coffin bones never rotated significantly to cause severe damage. His hoof has all but grown new, but I do have problems with thrush.

If you have problems with thrush, chances are you have recessed frogs, buried between high heels and bars. When you consistently keep these trimmed as in the photos, you will resolve thrush. Another thought Jaime Jackson has had--it is possible that farrier's tools that have not been disinfected in between horses could spread infection, too. However, if you get that frog more exposed and in contact with the ground, you should clear up thrush.

One reason ponies are more founder-prone is that they evolved in conditions where vegatation was sparse (naturally lean diet) and the terrain was hard and rocky. They consequently have harder hooves than, say, draft-type horses. These hard hooves need firmer ground, in addition to frequent, correct trims, to enable hoof mechanism.

The stress of losing a beloved friend could also have factored into why the pony foundered, though. Horses hate being alone. It is totally unnatural for them, and very stressful. Being prey animals, they are very dependent on the safety of the herd, and they are intensely social.

Next time my farrier comes out I will check to be sure he is trimming the heels well. He does get exercise, but could probably use a companion. Maybe we can buy another horse in the near future. I grew up with horses, but never really learned that much about them, but all the horses I grew up with were never overfed and spoiled because we did not have the money to spoil with kindness. After reading your article I have realized how dangerous it can be to treat your horses like a child and thinking they need more food when it's cold or keeping them in their stalls to keep them clean. The best horse management plan is the natural way and I hope to apply what I have learned as soon as possible. I do have a few questions.

I notice that mine need more hay in cold weather. I stick with mainly lst cutting grass hay that is not very rich, though. The other thing I do for them in cold weather is provide warm water. This has many benefits. The stock tank heaters keep the water warmed to around 50 degrees, which makes it much more appealing to them. This encourages more drinking. I have heard of many horses having colic because their buckets were frozen over most of the time, so they weren't drinking enough. Further, drinking water a little warmer, rather than almost ice cold, means they will need fewer calories to warm the water when it gets inside them. On the subject of cold, Dr. Strasser goes into an interesting discussion in her book about this. She explains WHY horses kept outdoors with no blankets have fewer colds, something that I have observed, but did not know why it happened.

1. My pony has about 6 acres to roam that during the spring and summer months; the grass is very rich. I made a large padock off his stall so he can have room to move, but not have all that grass to eat. Do you think this is OK?

Yes. He will be less likely to grass founder if he has constantly maintained hoof mechanism and he is getting a lot of miles on him every day. However, you cannot let him gorge. As I mentioned before, ponies evolved in habitats with sparse vegetation. They don't need a lot of rich forage. If he is getting this, he needs to be getting enough exercise to keep his weight down.

Or should I just let him eat grass? The only problem is that his stomach blows up and he is bigger sideways than he is tall. He tends to be on the lazy side, but that might be because he is alone.

2. I have read that giving your horse digestive enzymes helps him absorb his food and digest grass better, thus eliminating the big belly. Do you know if this is true?

3. I currently feed my pony a 10% sweet feed with only a 2.5% fat. I add a feed stabilizer that has extra vitamins and minerals to make sure he gets what he needs. I feed him about 4 handfuls a day with about 4 slices of grass hay. He weighs about 620lbs and is about 13.5 hands high. Do you think this is good management?

Well, if he is looking really fat, what he needs, rather than less feed, is more exercise. I know, I know--it's hard to arrange! Many ponies can do just fine with no grain at all. I do understand about wanting some way to get vitamins into him, though.

Thank you for all the information. Even though I now see how lucky I was with my foundered horse, it's nice to get answers anyway.

If you still have thrush, you probably still have heel contraction, so you are not fully out of the woods yet. I think it's great you are considering getting another horse, though. These guys really need companionship.

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Hi, I do know that you are trying to help me and I do sooo appreciate it. I only stall her at night for she doesn't walk anyway.

That's one reason she is more sore. When Max was bad, I felt an obvious decrease in heat right after hand walking him, and soreness worked out. The tricky part is to KEEP them walking when you are not there. That is why herd life is so helpful. If they are standing or lying down idle for hours, they will be a lot more sore than if they are moving around. Rachael Ward's Boogie had been really messed up for 4-5 years--LOTS of damage. If he had been confined, he would have had it much rougher. All the movement he is getting is keeping him feeling better. He has had less abscessing than I would expect from a horse with as much damage, and I believe all the activity he has been getting is part of the reason why.

I just sent your page to my farrier and maybe I missed your response about hy-perthyroisdism???

So any walking will help, but it took 2 of us to move her tonight after the gelding ran her soo hard, and all her muscles were contracting. Now maybe I should give you some insight on me--I don't know do diddly about horses, except for what I read. I was 43 before I got her and she is such a dream. Do you have a fund to help research that I may conribute too?

Dr. Strasser could certainly use some contributions to further her work. The address is on my site.

You would have had to been there to see this gelding chase and bite her and draw blood and kick the crap out of her in a matter of less than 5 minutes, and after that she couldn't even walk, whereas when her heels were dropped she did just fine.

Many times, when the heels are first lowered, they don't come up sore immediately, but it comes with returning circulation. In her case, I think she was trying to run prematurely as well. She should be just walking, mainly, as the faster gaits have more concussion, which she is not ready for yet.

Just like you might be from going back to an exercise class after being idle for a while.

Now about leaving her out ??? Don't make no never mind, for she don't move anyway. That is why I said I should walk her and make her move. Now if need be I can do that many times a day or hire someone to do it, but I won't subject her till she feels better to the jerk gelding.

Well, by all means, put hay in different locations in her lot, and the water elsewhere, which will keep her moving around more if she is alone. Maybe she will have to be in a different lot. You can rig up electric fencing with a minimum of work or expense, and it works well. The more often you walk her, the better. But a congenial horse would be a big help.

What is you say on pepcid or tagament etc for the meds????? I am getting ready to take her off bute, for I don't like it, and put her on aspirin, but feel she should have some coating in her stomach, for she don't care where her hay is, she won't go to it. But in her stall she eats good. Then I let her out. Again thank you very, very much, for I am a novice. I did email my farrier this site.

Pepcid and tagament help reduce the likelihood of stomach irritation when using bute, banamine and aspirin. However, they are not magic bullets. If you can reduce inflammation in her feet more with movement than with drugs, it is safer. If she gets hungry, she will hunt up piles of hay here and there. I would lead her to them to show her that feed is scattered about. She is used to getting it all in her stall at this point. Sounds like you will have to be doing a lot of hand walking for a while. Hoof boots or even taping on pads will make her more comfortable in the early stages when she is more sore. For more details, read Dr. Strasser's book.

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Do you think the heels can be lowered so much as to cause the flexor tendon to cause additional rotation?

That is a popular idea, but you need to look at the increased leverage on the tendon each time a high, under-run heel sinks down momentarily with each step. This also puts excessive pull on the flexor tendon. Further, having the heels higher overstresses the toe laminae, making rotation more likely.

In studying drawings I feel the tendon will stretch and if heels are left too long the tendon may even contract and cause other problems.

My TWH mare has 3 degrees right and 7 degrees left; can I expect to regain trail riding her?

Yes. Shelly Kayser's Sugar had 11-12 degrees on both feet, and they have been taking her on 3-4 hour rides lately....but with boots, for now.

She foundered in Oct. 99, and has approx. half of her hoof wall grown out and looks very good, but I didn't locate your site and start practicing the trimming on her until 30 days ago. Though she has progressed a lot just in that short of time. Starting out I was reluctant to cut so much, but have since gotten her heels low and toes cut back, though after reading you site again today I still need to lower the heels some more. Vet suggested to leave bars high and lower hoof wall, didn't seem right, what do you think?

NO!!! You will get the horse really sore and bruised. You will prevent hoof mechanism. I visited a horse last fall like this. The owner was religiously lowering the heel walls, but a straight edge rocked over the bars and frog. The mare was barely ambulatory. I told the owner that this had to be at least flush in the back of the frog, and actually a bit recessed in relationship to the walls further ahead. (I use a 6" ruler, going from side to side, to check for this and for how much concavity there is in the area directly in front of the tip of the frog, which on an average foot should be 1/4-3/8" deep.) This mare had sole penetration, too. Now she is being ridden again in Horsneakers, and doing better dressage movements in the field barefoot than before she foundered. She is also running and whirling out there. But I admit right now that there was a pretty discouraging period for a while before abscesses came out. Still not OK on gravel yet, but pretty sound on softer ground.

Your site is going to save my stock from a life time of hoof problems. Also a note for other readers, when buying your nippers and files remember you get what you pay for--good equipment make the task much easier and you do a better job. Thanks for all the information and I know I will be back. John Duchaine jduchain@yahoo.com

Yes, usable nippers are more like $90 and up, not $20. $20 nippers are only useful for building rehab projects, when you pull finishing nails through the back of woodwork you are have pulled off and are going to refinish and reuse. The useable hoof angle protractors are more like $40-50, not those useless ones for $20. I use a German hoof knife I bought from Sabine Kells, that takes a sharper edge. Some people are using those little Dremel grinders from the hardware store--using the high-speed cutter attachments for soles and bars, and the chain saw sharpening attachment for sharpening hoof knives. I have had some people ask where they can get smaller, lighter tools for women. The truth is, the weaker you are, the sharper your tools need to be. I give professional farrier tool sources, and do not advise pickiing up tools at the tack shop or feed store, which are usually cheap, dull and useless.

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Gretchen, I originally contacted you in February and your comments and contact with Sue Syme have given me a tremendous amount of hope and support. We have removed my Arabian mare from shoes and my farrier is trying very hard to help me trim her feet using the Strasser method. He comes every 3 &1/2 weeks and gives her an aggressive trim and I am working on her feet twice weekly in between trims to maintain them. She gets both feet soaked in cider vinegar for 10-15 minutes apiece each day and this has worked wonderfully!! Before I started this her feet stank and oozed pus. She has no odor at all now!

You can back off on the vinegar once the abscesses are cleared, but daily soaks in plain water need to be kept up indefinitely if she doesn't get exposed to water any other way during the day.

I have stopped the isoxuprine and she will be completely weaned off the non-steriodal anti-inflammatory Arquel in 1 more week.

I've also increased her exercise by hand walking her as frequently as I am able. She was already in a natural environment with 24 hour a day turnout and has always moved around even at her most lame. To all skeptics out there--I am thrilled with the results I am seeing!! She was sore for about 36 hours after the initial trim my farrier did, but she has steadily improved since I have decreased her pain medicine and started the walks. She is chasing the other horse around like crazy and has become the obnoxious Arabian she used to be again. Her soles have a long way to go because she is missing sole in the toe areas of both feet, but I believe this will grow in if we continue our efforts to lower her heels and keep her toes short. I was wondering if I could send some pictures to you, Gretchen, and you would critique them so we can improve our trims even more. Also anyone can e-mail me who needs support or just someone to commiserate with!! Also, I would be glad for you to put Metreyna's story on your web site to help other people realize what great results they can see with this program. I know we have a long way to go and we're making mistakes, but without your website I believe Teeny's sole would have been penetrated by the coffin bone a month ago!! Laura Rider, DVM curlydoc@hotmail.com

I believe your private email to me mentioned old sole peeling off in a layer, with new sole growing in underneath. This is the result of a large solar abscess. New sole eventually fills in. I hesitate to predict how long it will take, but I would say that the more she moves, the faster she will stimulate sole growth and callousing, etc.

I still feel that you would do better to at least do an abbreviated, informal consultation with Sabine Kells. I can look at your photos and do my best, but I feel you would get better answers from Sabine, who is my teacher.

I hope you share your experiences with some of your fellow vets! I hope you will be able to attend one of the Strasser hoof trimming clinics in May--I think you will find it quite valuable.

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Hi Just an update on Dolly, my mare. Today is only 2 days since the gelding beat her up so badly and she seems very, very much improved. Taking her down to 1 bute a day for a few more days, then taking her off all meds to see how she is. She is walking around quite a bit today. She usually never stands still in one place very long when she is well--she loves to walk around all the time. She is not hardly lying down at all and the stress seems to be much better in her face. Am having the vet out Tues. to to a hypothyroidism test on her and maybe he has some insight to why the gelding acted like he wanted to kill her. Thank you for your time. Jan janiceb@mi-mls.com

You might consult Jaime Jackson on the pasture warfare issue. He has studied wild horse society quite a bit, and is an expert horseman. His office is 870-743-4603.

I'll take a stab at it now, though. The gelding wanted to become the undisputed boss. Did she boss him around when she was well? Her being sore may have been his opportunity to become the boss. Once the new social order solidifies, things would probably calm down. If they were mine, I would be in the pasture with a buggy whip when they are re-introduced, and I would chase the gelding every time he attacks her. This is a tough, time-consuming job, but will have the added benefit of him seeing me as the pasture boss, which comes in handy under saddle. www.amazon.com carries a great tape, "Liberty Training" by Carolyn Resnick, showing some of the neat things you can do with this. She starts all her horses without tack in an enclosure. She chases them when they are not walking with her. Soon they are following around like dogs--well-trained dogs, that is. If not, they get chased every time they leave. A Liberty Training session with him when you turn them out together, and right before, too, might be better, to get his mind on something other than lording it over her.

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Beautifully written. I have four horses that have always been barefoot, and a fifth that has been recovering from a lifetime of shoes and improper trims for the past eighteen months. (His previous owner would never have believed he could be ridden without shoes because he was so tender-footed.)

I am fortunate to have an exceptional farrier, and fortunate, too, perhaps that I didn't have the pocketbook to shoe all of these creatures, so, we did the best we could do barefoot. I have been told by a number of trainers recently that I've done the right thing. My horses have been exceptionally sound over the eight years I have owned them and it is gratifying to see the new spark and confidence in the footfalls of the new horse as his feet have returned to health.

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Thanks so much for your efforts in this fabulous web site, and for maintaining it.. Much good is coming to us all. Hope to meet you this summer at Dr. Strasser's clinics. This is great fun. Good things, Joan Adams: silverbear@neca.com

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I have a Clydesdale that has a very unusual growth on the outside of his hoof wall. It starts at the coronet band and goes down, but never goes all the way down to the ground. It stops about an inch from the ground. It is kind of a rough hoof type growth. Some one said it might be Keratoma? But I can't find anything on this? Any ideas? Thanks Jill realestate@torchlake.com

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Thanx for the info. How can I find a good farrier in my area?? Jean jquillen@sandyvalley.net

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Hi, My name is Kevin, I live in Tasmania, I'm a farrier (self taught). Have been doing farrier work for over 12 years, mostly on general hacking horses and spoilt pets. Your information, which I come across by accident, is very relevant to what I have been trying to instill in my customers for years, that shoeing has a detrimental affect on the horses' hooves, as proved by your article. Horse owners can be quite cruel when it comes to proper care of horses' hooves, and it mainly relates to money. They tend to wait as long as possible to call on me to do trimming or shoeing. It is one problem that I have trouble in instilling in the owners' minds that hoof care must be done on a regular basis. I have printed out most of your article and will sit back and read it and study the points your article raises and call again soon. I am also a trainer of horses and people in what I call Natural Progressive Horse Handling and your notes will give me some ammunition to put to my students. Thank you for your information and Ride in Style, SMILE. Regards Kevin Fairbrother from New Norfolk Tasmania 7140 email address kfairbro@tassie.net.au

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My 10 year old Thoroughbred has suffered from chronic laminitus brought on initially by foundering on grass. He has suffered multiple abscesses and it was recommended by a vet that I put him down. Fortunately my farrior and I decided against this. Over a period of one summer My farrier taped thick styrofoam to my horses' front hooves. This cushioned his hooves. I also gave him bute daily. By the end of the summer, Spud (my horse) was up more than he was down. He has been well for almost 2 years now with the exception of an abscess once in a while.

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Hi update on Dolly--Got rid of the gelding that was beating her up so bad. She now has lots of room to roam and is moving much more on her own instead of separating her from the gelding. Still sore and am watching for abscesses, but so far she is moving much better. Thanks again--jan janiceb@mi-mls.com

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These articles will take some time to cover, but what a job to put together and share!

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Hi, update on Dolly--got the blood test result back. She is now on thyroid medicine for low thyroid. Must be why she went lame. Jan janiceb@mi-mls.com

While low thyroid can make a horse more likely to founder, thyroid medication alone is not a magic bullet. A horse can founder on 3 tsp. a day of Thyrol-L, so please do not put all your trust in it. It will help some, but it is not magic. Further, low thyroid may not be the only reason your horse was having problems. At the heart of most founder is a lack of hoof mechanism and circulation, due to inactivity and incorrect hoof shape.

I know I sound like a cracked record, but a correct trim and constant movement are even more critical. Long before your horse actually foundered, I bet there were times when the coronet bands and hooves were unusually warm. During those times, just walking the horse a mile--AFTER a correct trim to reduce toe leverage and restore the bottoms of the coffin bones to a ground-parallel position--would have reduced this heat and stiffness because it helps clear inflammation. Just KEEPING the horse active like this will keep this inflammation down, with none of the bad side effects of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, among others. The side effects of more walking are great, anyway--the horse gets fitter. I hear from many people about their horses being sore in the morning when they have been shut in all night. If they were walking around all the time, the inflammation would be cleared much better. Try it yourself! When the horse is a little "off," and there is a little heat in the hooves and/or coronet bands, take him for a walk. I have seen it happen again and again--after the walk, the heat goes down significantly, and the horse "loosens up."

Max has foundered while being on Thyrol-L in the past, so I know it can happen from first-hand experience. I also know from first-hand experience how taking the horse for a walk will reduce heat and inflammation.

S0--please don't let down your guard on trimming or keeping the horse active 24/7, whatever it takes to keep him moving. (Hand-walking is good, but herd-mates are also a tremendous asset.)

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Thanks We are just keeping her on a single dose of thyroid med for 2-4 weeks then cutting her down. Am trying to keep her out most of the time, but is now alone without a mate and will be staying that way. Am getting her feet trimmed more frequently with the heels down. Yes, this could have been going on and I wasn't aware of it, not having any experience with this sort of thing. It can sneak up on one. Is there a normal range of time before one rides a lame horse??? Is there a healing time, or doesn't it matter? And should shoes of any kind be put on her for riding? I have gravel and paved roads to ride on. She is normally (when she feels good) the type of horse that does not stand still very long. She walks a lot, but not so much now, but is doing better, and I do take her for walks. Will chasing her help? Or will it hurt her feet until they are healed better? She went lame around the middle of Feb. She is a fairly big mare with very small feet and is from the Bars line, and all her line was big with long bodies. Thanks again Jan janiceb@mi-mls.com

"Is there a normal range of time before one rides a lame horse??? Is there a healing time or doesn't it matter."

It depends on a lot of things, like how much damage there has been, how long the horse has been foundered, what kind of riding you do, etc. Consult with Sabine Kells.

NO!!! How can you ask me that after my site goes into so much detail about why you are better off barefoot? That is one of the main points of the site.

That is where Horsneakers come in. They will enable you to ride more, and sooner, with a lot less problems. They offer MORE protection than shoes, and less concussion. So I don't want to hear the excuse of gravel roads being used to justify shoeing. There are better options out there.

Eventually, you will have to work her on gravel roads, beginning with short walks, to slowly condition her to rocky ground. It is too soon for this in her case, though. I have been walking Max on gravel lately, as the muddy pasture will never stimulate thicker, harder soles the way miles on rocky ground will. But you are probably not ready for this yet.

"She is normally, when she feels good, the type of horse that does not stand still very long. She walks a lot (but not so much now), but is doing better, and I do take her for walks. Will chasing her help? Or will it hurt her feet until they are healed better? She went lame around the middle of Feb. She is a fairly big mare with very small feet and is from the Bars line, and all her line was big with long bodies. Thanks again Jan janiceb@mi-mls.com"

Chasing her to encourage trotting and cantering, especially on concussive ground, is premature. When the laminitic connection is still weak, the concussion from faster paces can do some damage and result in more rotation. It takes time for new, stronger laminae to grow down far enough to suspend the coffin bone better than it is at the moment. For some time, walking is the best thing. Horse boots WILL reduce concussion, though, and have great value for bringing a horse back. Listen to your horse--if she doesn't feel up to trotting and cantering yet, don't ask for it.

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I'm not sure if you answer these or not. I showed this article to my boyfriend who is a Certified Master Farrier. He's been shoeing for 35 years and is retired because of a bad back. His dad, who was also a farrier, told him to use corrective trimming whenever possible instead of shoeing. So, he understands that part. A good friend of ours called up after his horse had foundered and been taken to the vet. The horse has a 10 degree rotation. The vets dubbed off the toes (severely) and taped on a heel support. When Danny started to trim the horse's feet he noticed a horrible abscess on the sole in the toe area. And it had also came out the coronary band. The abscess was a gray, smelly pus and covers a large area of the sole. He relieved the pressure, but is wondering how much abscess in the sole can be accepted with severe founder. The vets around here hadn't heard of a case of founder that had abscessed this bad. Their suggestions were to put the horse down. This poor horse is in extreme pain, laying down more often then not. Almost impossible to even lift a foot, let alone trim one. Any help would be extremely appreciated. Sincerely RibbonMS@aol.com

Those heel lifts are exactly the wrong thing to do. Get them off and lower the heels ASAP. You will probably need to tape on pads for a while. Some people have had good results taping on high-density styrofoam, 2" thick, that compresses down when the horse stands on it. This plus duct tape are at any lumber yard.

The first post on this board from David Gorin (304) 924-5897 EquiSling@equinebiz.com is about using a sling for trimming a really sore horse. Contact this guy! He has some really good ideas. He's in West Virginia. The horse he was working on was so sore that on the rare occasions when he was standing, he was walking 90% on his hind feet; kind of looked like a hovercraft in the front. Trying to trim a horse this sore is impossible with him standing up...unless you use a sling to take some weight off his front feet. David reports that his horse soon realized that the sling would allow him to stand more comfortably, and co-operated well with it. He was willing to give a foot to be trimmed in the sling, but not when just standing without the sling...at least in the beginning. More recently, as the horse is getting more comfortable, he is giving feet to to David willingly when he's not supported by the sling, too. Far from being cruel, the sling is a very humane way to trim a sore horse. Within a month of the trims this same horse was galloping after the mare he was turned out with. He is rarely down now.

Here is a quote from Dr. Strasser on hoof abscesses that recently appeared in Jaime Jackson's newsletter (which I certainly recommend to anyone--a great publication!)--

Dr. Strasser on hoof abscesses:

"A hoof abscess is a purulent inflammation of the corium, where the pressure produced by the accumulation of pus between the corium and the hoof causes the horse great pain and leads to pronounced lameness.

"According to conventional educated opinion, a hoof abscess occurs when the horse has pierced the sole with a foreign object--that is, the abscess occurs through infection from the outside.

"Hoof abscesses, however, only very rarely arise due to external infecting agents. More commonly, the following occurs: Corium or lateral cartilage areas, which have been compressed for a long time, die off. [Gretchen Fathauer's note--compression of corium, etc., often is the result of contracted feet and the tip of a tilted coffin bone pressing on the toe area sole corium.] After circulation is returned to these areas, the dead pieces of tissue are removed from the living tissue and carried to the outside by pus, since the dead pieces of tissue cannot be transported away through the microscopically small blood vessels in the corium.

"THIS PROCESS IS VERY COMMON IN THE TRANSITION FROM SHOD HOOF TO BAREFOOT.

"When contracted hooves open, sole and heel abscesses must be expected. They predominantly are found in the area of the heels and bars, and sometimes also by the frog, especially near the tip. They also form in places where shoes' clips are, and near the rearmost nails. Often excessively long bars which have grown over the sole cause pressure points which later become noticeable as abscesses.

[She then talks about surgically opening abscesses. This, however, should only be done by an expert. Please keep in mind that not all vets have enough experience doing this to actually BE experts at this, however. There is potential for damaging the corium by carving out too much sole, and it makes for a longer recovery when not done well. She also talks about keeping the horse moving on soft ground as being helpful because it increases circulation.]

"Sometimes a hoof abscess cannot be found, for example if it is deep in the heel/frog/bars region. In this case, rather than cutting away a large part of the sole or frog (it would be a long time before the horse could bear weight on this foot again!), applying bandaging and leaving the horse in a box--as is often done--one should wait until the abscess finds its own way to the outside. Poultices with warm linseed mush, which soften the horn, are helpful. The pain will lessen as soon as the pus comes out by the coronary band; however, this can take a few days.

"For several days afterward one should bathe the hoof daily in water with a bit of fruit [apple cider] vinegar. Natural hooves with normal circulation (and therefore good blood supply) are very regenerative."

If you cannot rig up a sling, the horse needs to be trimmed while he is lying down, which is tougher and more dangerous to do. This horse certainly can be salvaged. We are only talking 10-degree rotation! That the abscesses have already blown is progress. Trim as I advocate, tape on pads or use boots, and keep the horse moving. Frequent long soaks in apple cider vinegar solution will help draw more abscessing out. Do not be alarmed that the coronet band seems to have separated because an abscess exited through it. It will knit back together after the abscesses have exited, although it is not overnight.

Large solar abscesses will result in the outer layer of sole and frog peeling off eventually. Try not to freak out, as there IS new sole and frog growing underneath it, but it will take a while to get the new sole thick enough to offer much protection.

As cruel as it seems to get after the horse to keep moving, it is the right thing to do...AFTER you have trimmed correctly and gotten the coffin bone more nearly ground-parallel. Achieving a hairline slope of as close as possible to 30 degrees is an outward indication of the bottom of the coffin bone being ground-parallel. When I next edit the page, I will include an X-ray of a wild horse's foot, showing that having the bottoms of the coffin bones ground-parallel is indeed natural, not the high-heeled scenarios that are currently in vogue. Get those heels down ASAP!!!

UPDATE on the above post: As of their latest email to me, the horse is doing a lot better! The vets recommended euthanasia, but the owner agreed to try the trim. The vet knocked the horse out so he could be safely trimmed while he was lying down. They got those hairlines sloped a lot better, etc., and padded the front feet. After the horse came to, he got up and stood almost normally. He is getting around a lot more now.

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Thank you for this page. I have just received a phone call from my daughter in England. Her pony has gone down with Laminitis. After growing up with my horses and ponies, she understood from past knowledge, as to why I was always on the outlook for lammy at this time of year. She was quick to respond. I have found your page of great interest--it was the first to come up when searching for extra info--I have now sent it by e-mail to England so it can be shared with all my horse friends. My father, who is now in his 90's, often talks about the horses and ponies in his childhood when working for his Dad. If they went down with lammy (in those days they used to deliver the butcher meat with the pony and trap), NO delivery meant no money, lost customers and lost pony. Some years ago, I remember an old-timer telling me to put the ponies' feet in hot water!!--and not so much cold . He said "this is what is needed." Chrissie Vancouver Island Canada26-3-00 pandcnolan@pacificcoast.net

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Update on Summer, my foundered mare. Have done a few trims in the past 4 weeks, mare couldn't walk for a couple weeks without hopping, This weekend has been walking and trotting and standing on concrete on her own choice. The heels and coronet band are coming into the correct angles slowly. I am very pleased with the results so far. It's nice to see her moving without a lot of pain. I didn't use any meds for the pain when she was hurting so much. I think it hurt me more to watch her, but now I feel good about it all. Thanks again and I am looking forward to the clinic in May. Also I have opened some people's eyes to this since the mare has been trotting around....the proof is in the pudding. Amy, amyk@us.ibm.com

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Hi, my name is Amy Holland and I'm a senior at Delaware Valley College (Large Animal Science major). I came upon your site while doing research for my senior seminar, which just so happens to be on laminitis in horses. I have a 12-yr-old QH gelding that was diagnosed with laminitis about a year and a half ago. He recovered very well with prompt treatment and a good farrier. We didn't try any radical therapies, like HBS, meds, resection, etc. We just watched him closely, did a lot of hand walking, foot soaking, and hoof trimming (we were lowering the heels and shortening the toes, so I guess we were on the right track). He is completely sound today, he has been since the initial flare-up, and I hope he will remain so. The treatment method this site focuses on is really interesting to me. It seems to work great, which is something we need for founder, nothing works 100% so far. I'll let you know how my seminar goes. e-mail: redhead@yourbidding.com

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Dear Gretchen, my 20-yr-old TB foundered last June and rotated on one foot, the RF. He is doing great barefoot. My farrier has not been exposed to Dr Strasser, but has trimmed the feet very similar to what you describe. Recently we had to do a toe resection on the LF since some seedy toe occurred. I am using a Sabre Sneaker temporarily on that foot. The main problem I have is, he is at a boarding stable and is living in a stall with good bedding, gets out in a 24 X 24 pipe corral and another area we created for him with some mats on concrete, he is fine on all of these surfaces and we do quite a bit of handwalking on all kinds of footing. Anyway, we have very large arenas, also, but I have not been turning him out in these yet. I would like to know how I can know when it is safe for him to go out in the arenas.

If his trim is correct, yes, the more he moves, the better. What I do not like about your current situation is that he is not getting enough turnout and movement and herd life. Hope you can find a better situation, although having boarded a horse myself, I know it can be hard to find.

The farrier is concerned because there is still separation on the RF, and right now the toe of the LF would also probably be bruised, He is a very spirited horse for being older. I hope to be able to move him eventually to a different kind of facility where he can be turned out with other horses all day, but for now maybe you can give me some guidance about the turnout situation and what other exercise program you would recommend at this stage. Thank you for your wonderful work. Susanne Ryder SRyder5182@aol.com

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Hello Gretchen, Last fall I took my daughter's horse's shoes off. He is 16.1 thoroughbred jumper. He'd had a long, hard, show season and I found a place where he could be out 24/7 with 8 pasture mates in a 50 acre field. He was chased constantly for about the first month, and the newly bare feet wore right down. I was quite worried at the time. I had no information such as your site or the Lifetime of Soundness book. He had been shod for most of his life--8years. (these were shoes with small corks, year round) Over this winter (while barefoot) he developed a dish in his front hoof. His trimmings were infrequent. I read your site a few days ago. It is very exciting to read this information. I am going to have his feet trimmed in the way and frequency you describe. His feet have become very strong and hard, but because of the slight dish, the angle in the front hooves is flatter than it used to be. The heels are low because they wore down over the winter, but the toe is a bit long; my farrier said it couldn't be shorter than that because of the dish.

I am aiming for 1x week. We will begin the Strasser trim right away. Could the dish have been caused by new, stronger wall growing in above the old, weaker hoof wall?

The dish is caused by the weakened laminae nearer the ground not being able to hold the toe wall close to the bone. As new, stronger laminae grow down, this should improve. The dish was also caused by over-long toes.

I couldn't quite understand this part from your site. Do you think he can be jumped barefoot (no boots) this show season? The hoof is very hard. Since the hoof is slightly dished, should we not jump him at all--even in boots such as Horsneakers?

Consult with Sabine Kells. She needs to see a lot of photos and history first to fairly advise you, though.

(I mean give up the show season till the barefoot trim could strengthen the hoof? Yikes, my daughter wouldn't like that option.) It amazes me how wrong I have been in so many ways concerning horses. I am trying very hard to change because I love him and really want him to be happy. Thank you so much for the wonderful site. I have my sister reading it tonight. She works at the Agricultural College, where they teach farrier skills. She has two horses with very high heels, long toes and lameness problems.

If her own horses have these problems, whatever are they teaching her at the Agricultural College?

She is going to try to arrange for a clinic at the college with Sabine Kells. You are helping many horses lives. Thank you. Maureen Jack, keelin@ns.sympatico.ca

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This is the most informative site for founder and laminitis that I have found. I am going to put into practice the trimming methods I have seen here, especially on my foundered mare. Nothing else I have tried seems to work. Thanks for a great site! Maureen mht@symaptico.ca

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Hello again, I went today to look at my other horse. He was born in the wild. (Northern BC) He was 2 years old when he was taken to a meat farm. (I got him from there. He was only touched once--to geld him) He is 16.2 and now is 5 years old. I have read over your site now at least 4 times. This horse's heels are further back and low as described on your site. The front feet were shod for one year (barefoot now) and the frog is a bit contracted, the toe has lengthened (he had very infrequent trims and soft ground) and there is a crack in the toe that will not go away. When comparing him to my horse that has always has been shod, you can see a big difference in where their heels are under them and in the straightness of the hairline. The born-wild horse has always been amazingly sure-footed. They are both in a 50 acre field with other horses, and over the winter their barefoot toes seemed to consistently wear right back to the white line, but in the case of the horse who was never wild, his coffin bone is not yet ground parallel. (heels are too high) I am going to arrange for a phone consultation with Sabine Kells before I make too many changes. Thank you again for your wonderful site. I am excited for all the horses who can benefit from this information. Maureen Jack keelin@ns.sympatico.ca

It's never too late! I substantially changed Max's hairline slope in his late 20's. Too bad I wasn't on to this when I bought him in '87! We would have headed off a lot of damage.

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Hello Gretchen, I have been reading the books by Jackson and Strasser. Unfortunately I do not think I will be able to attend one of Strasser's clinics this year, they are all pretty far away from me. I have three horses and a mule who are all barefooted. I have been looking into hoof boots of all types, and have compiled a listing of all the ones that have web pages in the world, along with the Horssneakers. In addition to that, I also started a e-mail listserv for barefooted horses where people can share their experiences and ideas, as well as ask questions of others. If people are interested, the archives are open to the public, but a person must join to post comments or ask questions. http://www.onelist.com/group/barefootedhorses

This is a very informative site, and I have recommended it to a few people recently who have been having troubles with their horses.

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Gretchen- this may be the only way to ge a hold of you! This is Beth Wieland - from Texas. I have the white Welsh pony, and I sent you pictures. Shortly after that my system crashed. my old address is dead - my new address is bethpony@yahoo.com I have tried sending numerous emails to your aol.com address but they are sent back. -please- email me if you get this - i would like to talk with you about riley and what you gathered from her pictures. thanks! beth bethpony@yahoo.com

LOL!! I never had an aol.com address! Scroll down to the bottom of the page for contact info.

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Just found out our horse has foundered. He is a 5 year old gelding who was recently ill with a high fever. I was online looking for info on foundering in horses when I found your website. Looks quite interesting and I hope to put the info to good use here at home with Rebel.

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WOW Superb!! As the "new" owner of a previously foundered pony I'm inspired to achieve a beautiful barefooted Shetland. (We are receiving several drafts soon that will also benefit from all the fantastic information I have been reading for 5 hours now!)

I'm trying to convince a best friend, that "getting rid" of her newly foundered horse due to financial burdens and time consuming "treatments" may not be the way to go.

Please pray that given the methods you have described here will help many more equines in our very rural area.

We would also like to add a link to your website from our Equestrian Tack store here on the internet. All Equine Lover's and Owners should at least read your information (which I believe is the most logical and detailed information on Laminitis and treating it that I have ever found!!!!!!) before deciding to "put down", sell, or dispose of a Laminitic Equine.

Thanks so much for opening my eyes to this approach to manage, correct, and prevent Laminitis from ruining otherwise healthy and pain-free Equines!

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Dear Gretchen, I wrote last Dec. about the foundered horse that I had acquired and decided to follow my instincts (with the help of your web site) and pull his shoes. He could not even walk on concrete at first, but he is now able to go on long rides with no problems. He is even tolerating small amounts of gravel with no ouchiness or bruising. The information on this site has been unbelievable! You have done a fantastic job of presenting vast amounts of information. I have learned so much and have seen incredible improvements in my horses. I have even been able to prevent tendon surgery on a yearling mini donkey. I convinced her owner that all she needed was proper trimming, and that surgery was unnecessary. Not only were her hairlines sloping the wrong direction, but she was so knuckled over that she would occasionally walk on the front of her hoof. In two weeks she was able to trot downhill without falling. Of course I had removed 2 inches from her heels. I admit it was scary paring out her soles and bars. I couldn't imagine that they could be so thick! It has only been 6 weeks and her hairlines are right on the 30 degree mark. The only complaint that I have about all of this information is that I now am so aware of all the hoof problems in even non-lame horses. It just breaks my heart the number of horses that are in pain. I am hopefully going to Dr. Strasser's Clinic in Chattanooga, TN, in May. I couldn't confirm a space today since the office was closed, but I will hopefully know by tomorrow. Thank you so much. I am truly thankful for the time and energy that you have dedicated to this web site.

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I have read your site, the Stasser and Jackson books, and have registered for the clinic w/ Stasser in OH. I am very excited to attend it. My horse currently is shod in front and barefoot behind. Although he (at 9 yrs old) had never been lame or displayed any clinical symptoms of problems, I had his hind shoes removed last October - after reading the books and this site. This was much to the dismay of my trainer and farrier - who both said he couldn't go (and stay in dressage work) barefoot, but who also couldn't supply accurate answers as to why they felt this way.

Well, he has done pretty well, I am trying to work up the courage to go barefoot in front. I know that must sound odd to you - to have to work up the courage. Sometimes it feels really hard to buck the trend of shoes, especially when your horse is displaying no problems. It isn't a last ditch effort - its messing with something that (in the eyes of many) ain't broke. In the dressage barn where I board, practically everyone advised me against it. And if there are ANY problems, like he got a bruise on his toe a few weeks back, everyone is quick to say "I told you so". So, before I have him barefoot in front, I am attending the clinic to learn more, and I have ordered a kit for Horsneakers to keep him in work during the transition period.

If you have time, in reading your responses posted above, I have the following questions.

QUESTION 1: You responded with this post to someone: "If you vet would just study X-rays and hoof cross-sections, he would see how illogical heel wedges are for foundered horses. Further, horses trimmed or shod very stumpy are short-strided, rough-gaited and clumsy. They are more likely to become navicular. "

I am interested in your statement about "trimmed or shod very stumpy" and how, if at all, you would apply it to a non-foundered horse. Do you mean by this - short toe (good) but high heel (bad) = "stumpy" trim. The reason I ask is my farrier has tried a little to do what I have asked, but I think he and I are on the wrong track. For example, I was trying convey to him that I believed that my horse's toe length was too long (as I compared it to what I had read in Jackson's book). So, he has been making the toe length shorter in recent trims - but it seems to me as if in so doing, the heel has actually gotten a little higher, and the angle of the toe wall steeper. Does this sound typical if you shorten the toe? Or even possible? In conjunction with this, I feel that under saddle the horse has a shorter stride and trips more often than before I started requesting the farrier to change what he was doing. (I asked him, and offered to pay him for his time, to review the Jackson book, but he wouldn't - so it is difficult to communicate what I want, and I am - frankly - afraid to go solo on trimming. Maybe the clinic will help.)

QUESTION 2: You responded with this post to someone: "If you want to go with bar shoes, stall confinement and drug use, I hope you don't try to do the trim at all, or tell anyone else you are doing the trim, as the results will not be good. This method depends on the entire program being done, not just borrowing parts of the method and leaving the rest. If this mare is not kept moving a lot, you will have more pain and heat in her feet than you would if she were kept moving often."

Can you comment on how you would apply this concept to a shod horse showing no clinical symptoms, but who lives in a commercial boarding situation where stall confinement 12 hrs a day is typical. It would seem to me that it is still better to remove shoes, trim correctly and then offer best management possible - rather than to continue in shoes. Do you disagree? I am not trying to be argumentative, but for those who board horses, really, I can not control turnout. Should I just go back to shoes?

Well that's all for now. Your site is great, really informative. I wish more people at the barn where I board would be interested in reading it so we could all discuss it and learn together… but perhaps the biggest problem in reaching optimal horse health isn't the horse - it’s the humans.

Your farrier is making matters worse by shortening the toe and raising the toe angle and heels. He should be LOWERING the heels and BACKING UP THE TOE PROFILE, not shortening the toe from the bottom of the foot to achieve an arbitrary toe length or toe angle. Backing up the profile will also effectively shorten the toe without the ill effects of taking sole horn out of the moonsickle area of the toe. Of course your horse is moving worse with his heels getting higher! Your first priority is to get the 30 degree hairline slope, low heels, and backed-up toes. If you are shoeing, you would set the shoe on further back and rasp the toe profile back a bit. But getting the hairline slope, and 3/8" sole concavity right in front of the frog's tip are your first priorities. The toe angle will steepen up in time when you keep the base of support further back on the foot. This always means LOW HEELS.

I used to board, and well understand what you are dealing with. The ideal scenario is to move somewhere else, at least for a while, where the horse can be moving around 24/7. Further, if you do a full Strasser style trim, complete with opening cuts to spread the heels, your horse will definitely get sore for a while. Your fellow boarders will jump all over you on this one. I have known confined barefoot horses who do handle being barefoot reasonably well, but they did not have the heel-spreading process being aggressively pursued. For optimum results, though, 24 hr. turnout is the best thing to do. Abruptly turning a confined horse out on new spring grass 24 hours a day is asking for trouble, though. One compromise would be to not vigorously go for the heel spreading until the horse is out and moving all the time, working up slowly to more and more grass. Spreading the heels is a really ouchy proposition in the beginning, especially when the horse is idle a lot.

I know everyone will tell you, if it ain't broke, why fix it? Well, because if you continue as you are now, the horse WILL have trouble later, either navicular or founder. It's just a question of when.

It does not sound like you have a very productive situation with your present farrier. I hate trimming, too, but have been driven to doing it because I want results. If a really good hoofcare specialist were available to me, I would hire them in a minute! But you will probably do better work than you are getting now.

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I went to school to become a farrier, but I am very interested in the idea of leaving horses barefoot. All of mine are. I really like this site because it has a lot of pictures. Before and after, and explanations on the situation. It just makes so much more sense this way. I am now reading Dr. Strasser's book. I can't hardly wait to learn 'how to'. There are so many horses with 'bad' feet it makes you wanna fix them all. THANK YOU. Bianca Gaugler , gauglerk@aol.com

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Real helpful for me and Come-on. I had him pushed off on me and I didn't think I would be able to help him, but he is a kids' horse and a very very good kid horse worth his weight in gold. The only thing I don't seem to find is how long do I need to keep him dry-lotted. Charles Cloud cloud@ipa.net

I would dry-lot him until things calm down, and then gradually re-introduce him to new grass--half hour for a few days, then an hour, then a little longer, etc. Work up to it gradually. Once it gets hotter and dryer out, you are over the hump.

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My horse got laminitis this year. I placed sand in his stall, provide only oat hay, green algae & bute. I soak his foot in epsom salts. Would ice water help relieve the swelling? What other type of prevention can I use?

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Hi, I just found this site last night so I have not had time to read the whole thing yet, but I intend to. My 25 yr. old Appaloosa gelding, Marvin, has Cushing's disease, which makes horses more susceptible to founder and related hoof problems. Marvin foundered last year, and while the founder is not that severe, he has had multiple abscesses ever since. His feet are a mess! He is barefoot now, except for his Easy Boots, which I must remove on occasion for treatment. I hope to find some much needed help here. I have always thought barefoot was best, and its clear to me now that the shoes and pads were of little or no help. Marvin has been my best friend most of our lives. I have known him since he was 2 days old and became his person when he was 1 yr.old. I want to do all I can to make his retirement the best years of his life. Sincerely, Mary Goldy 1660 Bramble hwy. Tecumseh, MI 49286 rmgoldy@lni.net

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Hi...I'm Christina Brown. My email is equinedriven@aol.com Ive been perusing your website...I'm a writer and I'm doing an article on Founder/Laminitis I'm going to link your page for the article Thanks so much for this info...I emailed TriState months ago about the Strasser method to let them know about it. I've had a pony on the Strasser method for about 5 months now...in conjunction with Sabre Sneakers....what a great product. He's a happy and healthy guy thanks to New Bolten's Rob Sigafoos and Sabre Sneaker...and the Strasser method

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Thanks for your fantastic web site. My horse acquired a tendon injury and has suffered from stumbling for several years. I have never felt that he has been shoed correctly. He has the added complication of being a gaited horse. Your web site has caught my attention and I am now going to start researching this method. Thanks for your efforts to put this site together Kris Dalton dalton@theriver.com

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Just found your website a few days ago, eyes are falling out of my head with so much reading. Have just bought the Jackson and Strasser books. Farrier not much help--insists on doing a "4-point trim" but it looks awfully violent at the corners, at least to me. Will try to get past his prejudices one more time and then that's it.

A couple of questions for the acute phase of (probably spring grass) laminitis/founder: How much charcoal when first discovered? Continue for how long?

Average dose is 300 ml. for a 1000 lb. horse. You wouldn't dose more than once or twice. This is not an on-going supplement.

Can you suggest amounts for dolomite, DMG, Epsom salts for the duration? And how do you get the Epsom salts down 'em? Any other recommendations for the acute phase not highlighted in the books or this website?

Many blessings on you and yours for this fabulous site. I have been sobbing uncontrollably for days since I found you, quite by accident (miracle?).

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Brilliant, about time someone used the internet for a decent service for a change.

Hope to see more on other hoof-related problems and even some dynamics of motion, stringhalt, shivering, etc??

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I found this your web site to be great!! I am getting back into horseback riding with my 14 year old daughter. Of course, much of the information is over my head, I found that there is so much to know about founder and hoof care that all horse owners should certainly learn all they can. I will enjoy going back over the information at your site over and over until I start to understand more. Thank you for putting out this information for us horse lovers!!!! Ann Hill ponyexpress@pdq.net

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Recently my mare was put in foal. Her foal was due in September, only she lost it four days ago. When we found her she was stiff in the legs and had a bit of difficulty walking at first. We thought it was just because of having her first foal. Later we discovered she had come down with laminitis. She had also been torn inside from giving birth. The next morning she couldn't walk, so we called the vet; he told us that she has an infection, which is now clearing up, and that she had come down with a case of laminitis. He told us to keep her in a small yard and if she wasn't getting better soon we may have to look at getting some shoes made up for her. I was wondering if we needed to keep her locked in a small yard and if I did get her shod, wouldn't it hurt her feet more? Also, my vet told me that laminitis can be brought on by something as small as having a cold drink of water, to something like an infected wound. but he couldn't tell us if my pony got it from the infection she has or not. If you could email me some more information about laminitis I would be very gratefull Also, if you have any suggestions I should try to help my pony get better soon, I would appreciate those, too. thank you Emma Beaufoy - emma_lee161@hotmail.com

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Hi - what is you web address? I tried 'search' and just got your guest book. My girlfriend just got a pair of sneakers and I was interested in your site. Thanks, Tish tishabel@mediaone.net

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Dove is doing pretty good this year. Light pulses and I pull her off grass for a few days and hand graze her. Then she goes back out. She has been on 6 ASA daily for the last year, increased if pulses become strong, which they have not since beginning aspirin. I will be ordering FOUNDERGUARD shortly through my Vet. Will let you know if it works.

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I really enjoy your web page and will be back to read some more, I have a horse that was grass foundered 2 yrs ago. I got him a year ago and he was 100 lbs over weight when I got him. Had a farrier come in and started trimming on him about every three weeks for the first and started light exercise with him, I always thought that he took to much heel off of the horse, but he started looking and feeling so good after the first 2 months I didn't say anything, It's been a year and his shoeings are about 5 weeks apart, he is wearing normal shoes, a lean and mean 784 lbs and we just finished our first competitive ride of 21miles this past weekend, whereas he is find I'm still recovering. So I was just trying to make sure that what was being done was good and if I could do more to keep him sound for years to come. Rob Lewis montyrebel@aol.com

Glad your farrier stuck by his guns on low heels! You are reaping the rewards now. High heels are a fad that will eventually go out of favor, the sooner the better!

I still think that for the long haul, barefoot is a better scenario. Using Horsneakers would be a good way to do long rides with full protection, while having the benefits of barefootedness the rest of the imte. Just heard from Frank Orza on May 9, 2000:

"Last weekend Judy Wise Mason, a NATRC national champion, won first place in the light horse division of a 2 day 60 mile endurance race. Her horse, "Woody," lost no points in any category including hoof condition. He used Horsneakers every step of the ride."

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I couldn't find your website. What is the address for the website? I seek info for research on laminitis for a speech in my high school English class Please reply to me at jdkool_99@Yahoo.com

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great site ! HEART BAR RANCH REINING & PERFORMANCE HORSES 3768 TRAIL RD ANDERSON SC 29621 EMAIL hartbar@bellsouth.net

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Hi Gretchen, wonderful what you did for Gem. Your web site has advanced the treatment of laminitis. Keep up the great work. Frank Orza

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Hello! I cannot tell you how inspired and hopeful I am after thoroughly and avidly reading your series of articles. I had given up hope for my mare, who I regularly introduce as "my heartache". She started foundering with her previous owner/breeder after prolapsing. My friend essentially gave her to me because she was too worried to try breeding her again and I think she also felt she felt she could not give her the attention she deserved (she is a lovely mare - sweet, eager to please, a pleasure to ride). Since living with me for the past 3 years, although I have been very diligent in watching her diet and for possible founder causes, she has foundered over and over again. Recently, I have had to change vets because my previous vet was cutting down the distance that he was willing to cover from his clinic. In switching, I managed to find a clinic that is providing some "radical" services, including adding a separate equine dentistry practice (their studies have found amazing reductions in colics by practicing real dentistry on horses instead of the usual floating). I also lucked into a younger vet from the clinic who had relatively recently graduated from veterinary college where they had been doing research on the usage of nitroglycerine in founder cases. He didn't have lots of information, but prescribed the nitrol for my mare to try. He did not sound very hopeful, however - he suggested that all I could do with the founder episodes happening more often was try to reduce the pain, and when it got to be too much, I would have to put my mare down.

I was worried about the possible side-effects of using nitroglycerine and pain relievers, and started doing my own research on the web when I came across your articles. Previous research on founder had been very unfruitful, so I think there is a bit of irony that nitroglycerine led me to your articles. I have discovered that my horse's feet are not nearly as bad as some of the examples you have given in your articles. This could be that I am already practicing a relatively natural existence with all of my horses - I firmly believe in pasture living over stable living. I felt, however, that this really presented a dichotomy in attempting to treat my foundering horse, believing that grass (clover especially) is a big contributor to founder. I have noted various things in your articles, such as magnesium levels, that are making me take better stock of my horse-keeping habits and I have a list of things that I will check from a dietary perspective. The trimming practices are something completely new to me - I have always been taught that shoeing was a necessity for founders. But, Dr. Strasser's methods make sense, and it occurs to me that everything I have ever practiced with horses that work for me have always "made sense."

I am hopeful, because both my new vet and my current farrier are young and very interested in trying new things. I will be presenting the ideas from your articles to them, and see where they lead us. Thank you for giving both my mare and me some hope! I will be working hard in the hope that I, too, will be one of those writers adding a success-story to your files.

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Nice website...I'm very new to the natural trim and haven't tried it yet but i plan to soon. Your site is quite helpful! April.Strawser@twcolumbus.com

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This is a wonderful site! I am new to being a farrier and I only trim miniature horses. I have one mare who is foundered and I thank God I knew what to do for her. After many years of watching many farriers and asking questions of them so as to learn I decided to try trimming hooves. I knew to drop the heel and back up the toe for this little mare so she would be more comfortable. It worked, and on an 8 week trim schedule. I credit the farriers who took the time to let me watch and answer my questions all of these years: "Cappy" (rest in peace), Bernard Pellatier, Emmit Stevens, and James "Fireball" Witherspoon. All in Florida. Thank you for this web site. Brenda B. Anderson - Seffner, Florida email - margyminis@aol.com

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One more thing from Brenda B. Anderson, Seffner, FL: Let me know if they make miniature hoof tools (other than the knives and nippers) like the degree tool so I can make sure I do the best job for these little horses. margyminis@aol.com

Those little Dremel grinding tools with all the attachments are really good if you can get the horse to accept them. All the building supply and hardware places have them. The high speed cutter attachments are what I'd use. Very precise, and good in tight places. I am not sure where you would get miniature toe angle protractors, etc., however.

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This site has been very helpful for me. I have a pony with some problems and I plan to try to do frequent trimmings myself. Thank you, Carolyn , email aandchinton@prodigy.net

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Hi Gretchen, I am still here, trying to help my QH. We are doing what we can following the methods learned on this site. I have had two great rides lately, my boy wants to run now. He is still gimpy at a trot, but we have finally seen some improvement and only wish someone lived close who could show us the right way to do this trim. I can not afford to attend a clinic as both my horses are rescues, the 2nd with EPM, and funds are GONE. Still I just KNOW that this is the answer for the QH, his contraction and lack of proper shoeing put him in the euthanasia group, and I will do whatever it takes to keep trying to get him sound. Hope you guys can get something going across the country to help these poor horses. I have read all the info from the book to Gretchen's site and still don't have the confidence to do this on my own.AND my knees and back and thighs HURT. Help! Debbie Collins BreezyD23@aol.com

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Thank you for an informative and highly visual page. I was recently given a Welsh pony that was to be put down because of the founder and neglect of the feet. His hooves look like old wooden Dutch shoes. Do I have to get the feet x rayed before the farrier works on him? Mrs. Hyke boomer@netwurx.net

It would be desirable to have x-rays. They will show you just how much the heels need to come down to get the bottoms of the coffin bones ground-parallel, how far you can afford to back the toes up, and if the tip of the coffin bone is close to coming through the sole yet. All very valuable information.

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For some reason I thought mud may be good for the foundered hooves, my husband wasn't sure. Is it and why is it?? Thank you boomer@netwurx.net

During an acute laminitis attack, walking or standing in cool, soft mud can be comforting and help reduce inflammation.

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Very Interesting.....have used these methods for 5 years or more here in Montana. My horses and I think my farrier is God. I'm so glad that the word is getting out and people are listening. www.noexcusesarena.@hotmail.com.

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I must say that I've become addicted to your coverage of laminitis. I's one of the best articles that I've encountered in my quest to understand more about this equine malady. Keep up the good work for I agree with everything you say about the pathophysiology of this devastating disease. Jack R. Whittaker, M.D., D.V.M. email address: jwhittaker@mindspring.com.

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Hi, Gretchen -- thankfully I'm not in any immediate need of the valuable information you have gathered on your site (I've got it bookmarked) - this is just a social visit. Just wondering what you're up to. remember Ziggy the mule? She has 2 companions now, Ellie, a mammoth donkey and Bud, another mule :-).

I am still grateful for all the advice I got from you early on. Sabine Calkins (sabcalk@ix.netcom.com)

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I have a few questions. I had e-mailed early on about a pony of mine that foundered in September, 1999. Question one. He still has blood in white lines of hooves and the white lines are still wide. Is that typical or do you thinik he's still foundering?

This indicates tearing of the laminae. You still have toe leverage that needs to be removed until the more new, stronger laminae grow down, resulting in a strong attachment.

My farrier thinks he is. Question two. Since he's been barefoot and out all the time his soles are extremely hard. My farrier says bad and I should start packing his soles with a tar poultice. He says sole has to be softer to spread. What do you think?

Further, the soles need to be thinner, the bars and heels lowered a lot, the quarters scooped and opening cuts made to encourage more heel spreading rapidly. When you do this sort of a trim, which is a remedial trim, they will be ouchier on hard, lumpy or rocky ground. It is part of the price you pay for quicker heel spreading--ouchy periods for a while.

He just burst an abscess on left heel bulb of left fore. Farrier says not good he is still foundering. Your site seems to think this is part of healing process. Comments please. Thank you. Deanna and Mystery criverbendfarm@hotmail.com

Abscessing IS part of the healing process. When they break out, the horse will soon be more comfortable.

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Am currently treating my horse for chronic laminitis, by conventional methods...resection of both hooves, padding and wrapping, confinement. She just keeps getting worse. Am hoping to convince both the veterinarian and farrier of your methods. Will give them copy of article. Wish me luck!!

Do you know of anyone in the southwest Virginia who is familiar with your techniques or has had training in such. I live in Shawsville, Va just south of Roanoke. Have been unsuccessfully treating my horse for over ten weeks now with assistance of vet and farrier. Results are not good as is becoming chronic. Would greatly appreciate your help! Christy Smith piedogs@earthlink.net

Jaime Jackson's office can refer you to more people, 870-743-4603. I will email you privately with some contacts as well.

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I only started to read your article, but so far it is exactly what I needed to know about foundered horses and ponies. We have three ponies, all three are foundered. They came from an auction and were purchased that way. I believe they will work out fine if I treat their feet correctly. I do my own farrier work, I was trained and have been shoeing for 8 years. What I would like to know is the diet that is suited best for a foundered pony, I know very little food is needed but what about supplements? My email is: bellr@easdnet.1eastonsd.org

Ideally, not rich! Grass hay is fine. They evolved in areas with hard, rocky ground and sparse feed, which gave them easy keeper metabolisms and hard feet that need hard ground to have hoof mechanism. Supplements somewhat depend on if the forage and hay you are feeding are from nutrient-deficient soil. Needs vary by location, soil type, etc. You might start with http://www.a-b-c-plus.com/

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My gratitude for your sharing of knowledge. With limited finances I have been devastated watching the course that founder follows. Vet and farrier assistance has not been satisfactory in my experience. They have not seemed to be any more knowledgeable than I. Thank you! Mary Berning mberning@mediaone.net

You don't need a lot of money to treat founder if you are willing and able to do the trimming and hand walking and soaking that is necessary. Very labor-intensive and time-consuming, but it CAN be pretty inexpensive.

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Dear Gretchen: My horse "Patton" became foundered. I was told he would never be sound again and I should put him down. He is only four years old. I turned to the internet instead and found your web pages. I have just started your program and I will keep you posted as to Patton's progress. All the vets in this area has never heard of giving the activated charcoal with clay so I am improvising from a local health food store until I can locate exactly what it is you have. Thanks, Kathy Lee George, Henryetta, Oklahoma, Slueth02@aol.com

Call Martha Olivo at 970-260-8474 and leave a message if no answer. She recently worked on some horses I referred her to in Oklahoma, and could maybe help you, too, even if it is only putting you in touch with the people she worked with in Enid, OK. Her immediate clinic schedule:

June 10--Santa Fe, NM--contact: Margaret Soriero, 505-986-8658
June 17--Colordao Springs, CO--contact Barb Light, 719-495-6899

I encourage you to have her show you the trim on your horse, if at all possible. The trim is even more crucial than the supplements. Most people need some hands-on teaching in person to understand the trim.

You can get the activated charcoal from Jeffers, 1-800-JEFFERS. It is their "charcoal treatment" in the first aid section, called Toxi-Ban.

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Very impressed with the level of info and case studies. I have been struggling wtih a very badly foundered thoroughbred mare for well over 18 months. Have tried the heartbars, reverse shoes and glue ons, plus glue-ons with pad inserts. She is hopelessly worse and has an appointment to "put her down" in 4 days time when the vet comes out for dentistry on the other horses.

I got sick of trying to keep the glue-on shoes on. She has absolutely no wall for nail on shoes, and has been barefoot for about 6 weeks of more.

I am going to give the barefoot trim notes to my farrier and have one more attempt at saving my lovely mare.

My only concern with turning her out with the herd straight away is that she will create more harm by attempting to run around with the young horses straight after having the heels lowered. She is currently ambling around about 10 acres with an 11 hand 19 yr. old Caspian mare. When I say ambling, I mean she is seriously crippled and sore, but does manage to move a few hundred metres each day. She is in good spirts otherwise, looks healthy and alert, and eats well.

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THIS WEB PAGE IS GOD SENT. AFTER 5 YRS. OF MY HORSE BEING FOUNDERED, AND MANY PEOPLE TELLING TO PUT MY HORSE DOWN, I HAVE FOUND THIS WEB PAGE. IT HAS GIVEN ME MORE HOPE THAN ANYTHING I CAN REPLY ON. I'M I HAPPY, YOU BET. I HAVE BEEN WORKING ON MY HORSE MYSELF, BUT I WILL TRY EVEN MORE TO FINALLY GET IT LIKE YOU HAVE IT. THESE PAGES ARE A MIRACLE FOR ME. THANK YOU, RONANNE MORROW

Where are you? Maybe I can refer you to someone who can show you the trim in your area. Email me for more info.

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Your website is very well done. I am very new to using the computer, but have found it to be a valuable tool in gleaning information. I am looking for any info on treating "navicular syndrome". I may also be dealing with "mild, chronic founder" altho no one is sure despite the usual clinical work-up. Right now it seems that the angle of horn growth is far to low at the toe and more so at the heel. Being stuck in Arizona we have no access to anyone trained in the Strasser or Jackson methods. I do not have the strength needed to be able to trim. Any referrals or ideas welcome! Victoria Capps Mr.3Bees@AOL.com

Not true! I will email you a bunch of AZ contacts. Navicular will also be helped with a Strasser trim.

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I really enjoyed the detailed anatomical explanations for a condition I was not really familiar with yet! It seems like a very sound and practical treatment program. Teasip @ AOL

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I attempted to email you, but it bounced. I can only refer you to two people on a public guestbook, whose contact info are already on my page. If you give me a legit email address, I can privately email you more, plus phone numbers..

James and Yvonne Welz yvonne@www.digitalcmyk.com James is going to go for the full Strasser training. They have been working on Inty, featured on my page. Phoenix area.

Frank Orza horsneaker@theriver.com Phone: 520-455-5164 Frank is a farrier who invented and makes Horsneakers, a custom-made horse boot made from molds of your horse's feet. His trimming is more conservative than Strasser, though. Tucson area.

You can also call Jaime Jackson's office and ask them for referrals--870-743-4603.

Martha Olivo will be giving two AZ clinics as well: July 29--Phoenix, AZ--contact Susan Taylor, 480-671-7981 September 30--Phoenix, AZ--contact either Susan Taylor, 480-671-7981, or Beverly Winan, 480-835-5538

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Dear Gretchen, I recently found your website in my continuing search for a local farrier to help me with hoof care for my two horses and two ponies. My older arabian mare, Shana, has had at least two bouts of acute laminitis, the most recent was this spring when we fed some new hay. She does not appear to be in great pain from her movements, but I think I may be sitting on a time bomb. We keep our horses together on a dry lot with a loafing shed. After I read your information, I immediately went home (left work early) and lowered the heels on the three horses that are barefoot. I am a bit nervous about trimming the sole and frog and making opening cuts for the contracted heels, but I will keep working at it 2-3 times per week. I am encouraged to keep my mare moving, as I was unsure of this. I have increased their turnout area. Also, I have wanted to remove the shoes from our newest horse, Rowdy, but I was faced with resistance by the previous farrier. We just purchased this horse this spring, and he was being stalled without adequate turnout. Although I do not think he is laminitic, his hoof structure is sagging with long toes and fairly short heels. I have believe that is better to leave a horse barefoot with frequent trims rather than shoeing and waiting longer periods for trims. I have a new farrier comming on Saturday to remove his shoes and help me with some trimming. He is not familiar with Dr.Stasser's trim method, but I will see if he is willing to work with me using this method. I will refer him to your website. If he is opposed, I will keep trying to trim, but I would like to find someone local to help me. I would very much appreciate any references for informed individuals close to Eugene, Oregon, who may be albe to offer some guidance. I want to make my horses as comfortable and happy as possible. Thanks for making this wonderful information available to so many people.

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Hi Gretchen, Was glad to meet you at the Strasser clinic in Columbus in May. I cannot urge people enough to attend a clinic as it really helps to have hands on instruction in this trim. I came home with Sabine's instructions from the pictures I took and the excellent practice we received on the cadaver feet. My farrier and I changed a few things we were doing incorrectly, the biggest was not removing enough bar and scooping the sole out enough. Opening cuts really made a difference. The improvement in my gelding's movement is dramatic, he trotted into the barn for dinner tonite.(He had foundered with an 8 degree rotation in both front and one hind foot, for others who are unfamiliar with us.) My vet is impressed with not only my gelding's progress, but he has another client who has been doing photo consults with Sabine, and her horse that has been unrideable for three years is starting to be ridden lightly in boots. He told me when I returned my horse's xrays after the clinic that he has convinced two more of his clients to NOT shoe their foundered, Cushing's afflicted horses, but to go the Strasser route. Yeah!!!! Will keep you updated. Dawn Wagstaff, kingdom@izzy.net

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I have started this list because the existing barefootedhorse list has been deteriorating.

This list is a positive support group for horse owners interested in high peformance barefooted horses, based on the wild horse model (including Jaime Jackson's wild horse studies), and in rehabilitating horses using the methods of Dr. Hiltrud Strasser of Tubingen, Germany.

Using a special barefoot trimming technique and natural lifestyle changes, Dr. Strasser has been able to heal "hopeless" cases of laminitis and navicular. Her method is also valuable for sound horses because it promotes longevity and health, as well as optimum movement and sure-footedness.

We believe that horse-shoeing is detrimental in the long run. We also believe that barefootedness can be a superior high-performance option after correctly conditioning and managing the transition to barefootedness, which may involve the temporary use of removable hoof boots. In cases where the horse is not conditioned to the type of terrain he will be ridden on, or the owner does not have the time to put enough miles on the horse every day, removable hoof boots may be needed longer for riding on rough terrain. This is an option that we believe is better than shoeing because boots can be used only when needed, they allow more hoof mechanism, and the horse can enjoy all the benefits of being barefooted the rest of the time.

Because of how fast the list has been growing, and the number of off-topic posts we were getting, we have decided to change it to a moderated list. This will result in a time lag from when you post to when you see your message on the list, but we believe weeding out off-topic posts before they are put up on the list will save everyone's time.

Regarding List Conduct:
1. This list will not have an atmosphere where we will have to defend our decision to not use horse-shoeing.
2. Posts will be confined to rehabilitating horses using holistic and barefooted methods, and to high performance barefooted issues.
3. The number of posts an individual makes should be limited to 4 or less per day. We would like one post to cover more ground, as opposed to 10 one-sentence posts.
4. Flaming list members is not acceptable.
5. Attachments will not be sent on. If you want to share photos, you can add them in the FILES link for the group to view.
6. Please post in plain-text format, not HTML rich text.

If a member does not comply with the above, I will email one warning. If the problem persists, I will unsubscribe that member.

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Dr. Strasser is interested in travelling to Australia to give a clinic or two. Anyone living in Australia who is interested in attending, or in organizing a clinic, please let me know! gretchenfathauer@prodigy.net

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Dear Gretchen, Leave it to women to come up with the most humane and common sense treatment. Thank God for you're love and devotion to put together this site. And of course Thank God for Dr. Strasser, and Sabine. I have always tried in treating my horses and other pets with the most natural cures, a lot of common sense and unconditional love, and it works. I now have in my care a 3 yr old foundered filly, whos feet are so deformed she can hardly walk. I must admit I was not familiar with treating founder, so through a friend I contacted a shoer who does orthopedic shoeing and thought my or should I say Sweetie Pies troubles would soon be over. I was half right, she stood better after he trimmed her the best he could with the condition her feet were in. However as soon as he put the shoes, pads and all on she can hardly walk. To take a step she rocks back on her hindquarters and then crosses her front legs as she walks. I am heartsick to see her struggle just to get a drink of water, she is in a open pasture, plenty of room and another horse to keep her company. I have been seriously thinking of putting her down, but thought I'd try the web to see if I could find help, and I did!! After reading Dr. Strausses treatment, I am sure Sweetie Pie will have a new lease on life. I am so grateful to a girl named Rachel who sent me to your site, and to you for taking the time to think of others,I know God has a special thought for you, as all of us of whom you have helped. Thank you once again, and I'm off to call my shoer NOW!! Sincerely Penny & Sweetie Pie

Email me about where you are located. If I know anybody near you who can help you with the trim, I will be glad to refer you.

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I have a Connnemara pony who is six yrs old. Last month he came down with a lameness which has been identified as Laminitis.

Prior to that he had free access to a grass field of two acres but this spring he came into the present state.

The vet recommended he be taken from the pasture and put on hay and water. Bute twice a day and a sulfur past to be put on the base of the hair line. He also recommended a reverse shoe and when that did not work well a heart shoe which he presently has.

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My 18 year old Morgan Mare has foundered on grass. The vet said it wasn't a severe case in 1997. He told me to clip her hooves and ride her. For the first two years that worked. This year I had to move away from my parents and couldn't afford to stable her until recently. Her hooves were badly grown out while I wasn't around this spring. The stable's farrier said her right front hoof has rotated a bit. He said there is not way to take that rotation back, and he wants to put her into shoes next month. Does this treatment actually make the connon bone go straight or does the bone stay level because of the trim. Thanks for everything. Janet shylow@iland.net

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VERY informative, so educational! I'm coming back to read it again. First, out to see my horses hooves! Rosalinde

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Dear Gretchen; I just wrote you about my Morgan Mare. I have some more questions for you. I just talked to the stable owner. She has told me I should try to go ahead with your treatment. My horse had approximately 2-3 inches taken off her feet today she probably could have had another inch taken off. The farrier didn't want to take any more off because she would be sore. I know she is sore from today's trim. She is walking pretty stiffly. However, the heels are not short enough for improvement. Will I hurt her more by trimming the heels? Also I'm not sure of what I am doing. Is there anyone in the Warrensburg MO area that has taken training on this technique. Please e-mail me with this information. Thanks Again, Janet shylow@iland.net

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My horse recently acquired laminitis. He has never, ever had any major health problems in the fourteen years I have owned him. Your website has given me the much needed information to help me understand better what he is going through. My vet has been very hesitant to having my horse turned out as of yet, he gets out almost everyday for a 15-20 minute stretch and a bite of grass. Sometimes, I wonder if he would be better off, being turned out. I trust my vet and Chimino has come a long way so far. Chimino was first seen by the vet on 4/28/00. He was on bute for approximately four weeks, had lilly pads on for approx. six weeks, his grain has been cut down to just a handful and only 5 flakes of hay a day and he has been restricted to his stall, unless he goes out for his little walk with me. Chimino is a 17 year old leopard appy who was a little overweight and a very crested neck, he has also been on thyroid medication since 4/28/00. He foundered on rich spring grass. Chimino had his shoes, only wears front, immediately removed and has been trimmed and the ferrier is due out in a week or so, she recently checked him along with the vet and they didn't feel he was ready for his next trim. I have already purchased the grazing muzzle, which he has been getting some practice using when I take him out. Needless to say, he has not been happy that his friends go out and he is left behind, he is dealing better with that lately. Just wanted to know if you could give me any additional advice than what you have already provided concerning turning Chimino out? Also, long term I assume he will be restricted to the amount of time he is turned out. My vet of course has spoke to me about this matter, but hasn't been real firm on the long term as I know he wants to see his immediate progress. Thank you for your time, Mary email: chimino86@hotmail.com

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This information has been extremely useful to me. As going through my first experience with a foundered horse this year. I'm going to share some thoughts immediately with my farrier, who has helped me through most of this nightmare!! As well as share this page with friends! Beth P. Fryar bpfryar@alltel.net

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Greetings! My horse, Stormy, foundered this spring. We've done the conventitional methods to deal with it, but no success. Our vet recommends putting her down. I don't want her to suffer needlessly, but I think she can still make it through this. She is still eating and drinking and walks for 4+ hours a day. She is acting interested in her surroundings again.

I want to pull her shoes, but our vet worries her hooves can't stand the stress. Her back hooves were trimmed closer to the 30 degree angle and are doing better than the front. She has pressure sores on her head, knees (open), and hips. I think we are getting them to heal. Her right front hoof shows separation and in oozing pus. I think there is some seepage from under the hoof, too, but can't see because of the shoe! I would appreciate any help or observations you might have ASAP.

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I think your website is great, it has given me some ideas on what I can do to help my 21 year old Shetland with chronic founder, thanks so much.

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I just love your web site. We have always believed in barefoot horses and have been trimming our own for about a year now. We have one with laminitis and he has been very miserable for a long time. The farrier cut his hooves with a high heel and no toe so he has never been able to move much. We started trimming your way and today he was out playing. Still has along way to go, but nice to see him moving instead of laying down most of the time. Kathyv@pinenet.com

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I know absolutely nothing about horses, but a very good friend of mine owns a horse and I ran into him today looking extremely depressed. When I asked what was wrong, he told me his beloved horse had laminitis and tried to explain what it was. He is in such personal distress that I decided to look it up on the internet and your site is so well-organized that I actually think I understand how that poor creature must be suffering (I mean the horse.) This horse is a jumper and I wonder if she can be cured, can she ever jump again? I'm only a math teacher so I don't even know if that is a stupid question. However, I did find the application of slope with respect to front to back balance very interesting. I hope the information from your site will help my distressed friend and poor Mariah. JoAnne Cesare email:joannecesare@aol.com

Some people who has succesfully applied the method have been able to jump their horses again. But it is a long rehab period.

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Owning a rescued horse with founder has been very exasperating. Thank you for the info you supplied. My first thought was to have shoes put on him with pads, as the butte does not seem to be working. I have printed out your infor for the farrier, who is coming today to trim his feet. Wish us luck, we love the horse so - if you have any other suggestions we would love to hear from anyone who can help. Cindy and Kathy c14kt@aol.com

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I was told by a vet a month ago that I may have to put my mare down due to the fact that she is so foundered. She has a 2 month old filly and my heart hurts so, I cry a lot. I have tried so many different things. I was told that the coffin bone has not gone through yet. I have had so many people tell me so many different things. I know the feed is importan--no alfalfa, grass hay only, no sweet feed, I use EQ Sr. and oats. I have tried every kind of shoe available except the boot. Today she is wearing a stryofoam pad that was put on with duct tape, which did help the pressure. The shoes were taken off. They had been put on backwards--someone said that was good???? Someone said it was not. I have read some of your info and copied a lot of it. My mare's name is Vickie, and she has been a loyal friend for 4 yrs. I love her very much and so does her little filly 'Zippy.' This is so sad. If you could help in any way even with a comfortaning word, I would appreciate it. Not many people I know love horses like I do. BROKEN HEARTED. Thank you , Yvonne Camtico@aol.com

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I was so happy to see that someone could answer my questions.. My "Smokey" is a 7 year old Quarter horse that I have never had one day of problems with. Then all of a sudden he comes up lame and the vet diagnosed it as founder.. I don't know how he got this disease, he has been on the same diet for a year, and gets no grass, only hay.. Are there any other causes of Founder besides diet? Thanks Kathy in Annapolis Maryland, katwms1@aol.com

Grass is not the "cause" of founder. The real underlying cause is poor circulation because of idleness and a hoof shape that does NOT allow full hoof mechanism. Grass is just a trigger, as are many other things. My site goes into this in detail.

Triggers, like grain room raids, etc., are weathered much better by horses who are active and are barefoot, with a a hoof shape conducive to full hoof mechanism.

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Hi Gretchen, great site! Got a couple of questions (surprise). First, I have a mini who foundered about four months ago. I found your site and have trimmed his heels down, but not far enough yet, and cleaned the frog and bars area up a lot. His hoof is so small, though, it is really hard to know when to stop. I've also rasped back the toe to the white line, but my farrier had already got it pretty short to treat the founder. The hairline was parallel to the ground, though. Now the question - Chico has got contracted heels, and with aggressive treatment would probably need heel cuts. I don't have the confidence to do that because his foot is so small.

Use a Dremel carving tool, available at hardware stores everywhere. The high speed cutters of various shapes will work well. They can give a more controlled effect than a hoof knife, once you get the pony to accept the grinder. More and more people are using these things because they are a great tool. Just follow the same shape and guidelines I give on my page, but on the small scale you will be working on, at least trimming won't be so exhausting. If you want a REAL project, come work on my draft mule's massive hooves! :-)

That the hairlines are ground-parallel is awful. That is why you are having contracted heels, etc. Correct this soon!

Will they spread by themselves? He is on soft ground (it's winter, there is no hard ground), 24/7 with his 17hh pal, and is in good weight. From what you say, they won't spread, but if his heels are trimmed right down he shouldn't be causing any further damage, is that right?

Not necessarily, but it is necessary top making future progress. In the initial stages of decontraction, things can appear to take a nosedive, which my site discusses. But hang in there. Walking him on blacktop or some other firm ground--AFTER his hairlines are 30 degrees, etc.--can help spread his heels and achieve hoof mechanism. Hard-hooved breeds like ponies need firmer ground to get hoof mechanism going.

He is walking and trotting happily, and canters and bucks for fun, and sometimes the kids get led around on him on the grass. His front feet are definitely long and narrow, though. I'm trimming him every two or three days at the moment. Second question: Can my 17hh dressage horse with four white feet go barefoot? Will white feet harden up enough to go without boots at all? Before I could take his shoes off, I'd have to find a new farrier who knew of this method of trim, so they could teach me/help me. With the mini it is not so challenging because his feet grow out in minutes.

Those rumors about white feet being weak are unfounded. Your horse's feet will seem to be chunking out a lot at first, which is discouraging, but they will harden up in time. Barefoot is great for dressage horses. Why do you think the Spanish Riding School has theirs barefoot? They can move better.

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My horse foundered 3 years ago and again this year, during the same month, April, and under similar circumstances. A wet spring following a dry winter, and the grass was growing rapidly. The first time we worked with soaking his RF foot and recovery appeared complete, with no problems or lameness (no rings) after resuming riding after a year. This time, it has taken over 2 months to get it under control, and all 4 feet are affected. When the lameness would diminish, any attempts to allow a few minutes grazing or even a slight amount of grain would result in lameness w/i a week. I rent pasture and the landowner is none-too-cooperative, and does not want me changing pens. I have to haul water and have no access to electricity. My regular farrier wouldn't even return my calls to come re-evaluate my horse for shoes, and the 2nd farrier told me he wouldn't touch his feet w/o x-rays first, and the best thing I could do was 'get rid of him'.

I found your website a wonderful source of hope and encouragement, and am presently pouring over your text and photos. While I think my horse looks bad, he doesn't look as bad as the photos I've seen!

It is hard for me to accept the conventional belief that there is nothing that can be done about founder! I live in northeast Texas. We have two climates; blazing hot, with rock hard soil; and tropical wet, with boggy wet everywhere. We seem to be alternately trying to keep our horses hooves from drying too much or from decaying!

Marion DeShazo Top Dividend, 9 year old Arabian 15.2 hh, approx. 1,065# normally, now under 900# E-Mail: TopDiv@aol.com

(Gretchen Fathauer's reply--I referred Marion to some people in TX who are currently using the method. Let's hope for the best!)

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Dear Gretchen, Your website is awesome!!! Thank you so much for all the detailed information. You have obviously taken a lot of time with this. I have a 21-year-old gelding that has had grass laminitis several times & am doing some research to try & find a better way of dealing with this. Never had a problem until we moved to Idaho, where it is very wet in the spring. The grass is just too rich for him. We made a new stall & corral area last year & evidently made the corral too large, as he got sick again. Thanks to your information, which I will share with my vet & farrier, I will start Ranger on magnesium supplements ASAP. He is Arab & Connemara. We both thank you! Deborah

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Bless you. I found your site after my beautiful mare foundered, and I have been struggling with treatment for her. When I watch her trying to walk I burst into tears and uncontrollable sobbing. We had an unusual amount of rainfall this year. She was just on pasture, but I started letting the horses stay out in the pasture at night because of the hot weather. The heat has been in the high 90s and 100s lately. She just got too fat. To top it all off, the horse shoers never return my calls, or I have to wait until one doesn't show up, and then try someone else, and it is a hassle. They are out of town, or on vacation, or behind schedule, or ill, or a hundred other things, and I blame the lack of horse shoers (and their lack of dependability) for half of my problems with my horses. The mare was overdue to be shod also. I want to find out what is the time period for "acute". What is considered "acute"?

Once you learn how to trim yourself, you will be in control of the situation at last. You do not have to be as strong as Arnold Schwarzenegger to do this stuff. There are plenty of "old wrecks" out there trimming horses, but using different techniques to get around a lack of strength, back trouble, etc. More and more people are reporting sitting down to trim feet. And using Dremel grinders. If you ease your horse into getting used to this, it could work for you.

The acute phase is right after the trigger. We are talking the next day, not weeks later.

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Imagine my horror when my farrier said, " Your horses haves sign of founder." Well, I got out all my vet books in my library and all I could find in them was what founder is and what to do to prevent it from happening. I needed to know what to do to HEAL it! So I got on "the web" and typed in "Founder." Then I began to wade through all the descriptions of how to recognize founder. I was tempted to give up, but really wanted information on a real treatment for founder. After several hours of reading the same information over and over again in slightly different forms, "Praise God!"--I found your site. Have just finished reading and re-skimming all of the information here. Drove to the nearest tack shop (75 miles away) yesterday to purchase my hoof knife & rasp so I could get started on both of my "kids." While there I had to browse for awhile and voila! They had a copy of Jaime Jackson's "The Natural Horse," but not for long. So I'm going out today to take my "BEFORE" pictures. Have one leather boot I fashioned from an old purse and am in the process of getting the next one done. Then I am ready to pull the shoes on my mare (18 years old, and my farrier told me she has signs of being foundered before. I have only had her for 1-1/2 years) and get started on her right away. She is pretty sore, but is getting around OK. I had her on "stall rest," but during the time it took me to consume your information (2 weeks), I turned her out with my most ornery Arab gelding (4 years old and has always been barefoot.) He picks on her so bad, but it keeps her from standing in one spot. After just 2 days on 24/7 turnout all her swelling went down in all 4 ankles. Didn't mean to be so babbling. Just so excited to know there is "Life-after-founder" after all. Thanks, Gretchen. Mary Erwin e-mail berwin@rivcom.net

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I don't feel so bad now after reading others who share my problem. I have been through horse hoof hell and back treating my gelding's hooves. And now I am ready to try this method. It makes a lot of sense. Tina Vacaville Tinas2work@aol.com

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I am a Strasser trimmer from England. My mare Coco got Laminitis due to stress & steroids back in February and had conventional vet treatment which I wasn't happy about. Been trimming for 2-1/2 months and have found your website a fabulous source of education and moral support. Thanks for putting it together & keep up the good work - skeptics are sent to this website.

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Liked your web site, found it very helpful and resourceful. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and hard work. Joe and Tillie jwhite4@bellsouth.net

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Hi, Thank God for this site, without your help and info I would have a lame horse or by this point no horse! I am a sort of new horse owner, I have had this horse for almost two years. But I have always loved horses and owned once before also, worked at a barn and have always been around horses. I am knowledgeable about them and my horse is taken care of by me. I love to do the work myself on her and I have researched the "horse" inside and out! I have now, A standardbred mare, 13 years old. Her front feet were shod when I bought her but not the back. I've had trouble with the farriers right along because of the "attitude" my horse shows when being shod. Two farriers quit! Well, one I fired for hitting my horse and one never came back, because I think of the way my horses feet were getting to be! Needless to say, being the kind of woman I am and the thought that I should never depend on a man. I sat down to research the "hoof" and what I found was you! I also found that I HAVE a foundered horse or a horse with Laminitis! This answered all my questions. HER FEET WERE SORE. The one area I did not know much about and left a lot of that up to the farrier. Shouldn't they have noticed what was wrong? Catch 22, it cost more to shoe a founded horse! After some serious thinking, I decided not to deal with the farriers anymore, I pulled her shoes. I wanted to try the barefoot approach after reading your info. I went to Hard work on her trimming your way several times a week and I spent tons of time "looking" at her stance, at walk, at rest, and I would of at trot, except she would not trot anymore, IT HURT! All that money I spent On her ATTITUDE for the farriers because it cost more when your horse is uncooperative. She didn't have an attitude she was in pain! I BELIEVE with my whole heart that horse shoes KILL their feet! Period! Since I have been doing all this your way and on my own (no farrier help), my horse has improved in only several months! I've got finally a good "eye" for the way a hoof should look now, and that also helps a great deal. Now she is visibly happier and healthier. Her ears are up more than I have ever seen ( that is not pricked back). Her soles of her feet at starting to get a concave look to them. Her heels have separated (still are tender, though). Her frogs are coming alive and getting bigger (except one foot we are still having trouble with). All in all her general appearance of her feet is improving!!!! She is not short-strided as much as she was and she is not tripping. All things I had discussed with the farriers. Their solution was to roll the toe back, and use different kinds of shoes, all which did not work! She is still very nervous picking up her feet because of the pain from the decline of her feet when she was shod. I got lots of bruises and cuts from her, trying to reassure her I wont hurt her and her only being able to hold up her foot for a little while, because she yanks each one away from me several hundred times in the beginning because it hurt so much. She is much better when I trim now. She can hold up her feet normally and do a pretty much normal trim now! I cant believe this is working!! Please tell everyone about this! Its the best news in a long time for horses! Since I haven't been doing it that long, I will write back again in several months to let you know if she has healed more! Really, I just wanted to say thank you for all the info you have shared with everyone! There has been a great improvement in her state of mind and overall health as well! As well as her feet!!! Krista Waite, Connecticut, KristaWaite@aol.com

Krista--ouchy horses DO snatch their feet away because of pain, not "attitude." Your horse was a sling candidate for a while. I know it sounds drastic, but it would have made trimming so much more comfortable for her. Glad to hear you are getting past this stage now.

I hope you can get her to one of Martha Olivo's clinics. I think it would really help you both.

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Du warst doch mit Jaime letzten Winter in T?ingen. Macht nur weiter so. Hier in Deutschland gibt es noch sehr viele Widerst?de gegen Dr. Strassers Heilmethode und es tut wirklich gut zu sehen, daߠin den Staaten die Leute anscheinend offener sind. Mein Pferd l?ft seit 3 Jahren nach Strasser barfuߠund hat seine angeblich vorhandene Knochenaufl?ung im Hufbein ?erwunden. Es ist wirklich toll, wenn man sein Pferd wieder vollkommen schmerzfrei gallopieren sieht. Viele liebe Gr?e aus Deutschland, Alexandra Alexandra.Gerlich@sb.com

Sabine Kells provided me with a translation, so we can share this with our English-speaking readers. She also asked me to send Alexandria her phone number, which I will email her. Translation follows:

"You were in Tuebingen with Jaime last winter. Keep it up! Here in Germany, there is still much resistance to Dr. Strasser's methods of healing, and it is wonderful to see that the people in the USA are apparently more open-minded. My horse has been going barefoot for 3 years according to Dr. Strasser's methods, and has overcome its supposed coffin bone dematerialization. It is truly wonderful when one can see one's horse galloping completely pain-free again.

Gretchen Fathauer's comment--hate to tell you, but there is resistance to new methods here as well!

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I like the info at your site. I am a farrier and have been for 12 years. I can see the value in this info. I hope to read the books that you recommend. I have seen to many horses that people give up on and others that just don't want to take the time and do all that is needed for a full recovery. Thank you for making this valuable information! Michele Mallery, mrmaller@iserv.net

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I am in the process of making the transition to barefoot and getting the horse sneakers. Lisa Permutt chiefspec@aol.com

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Hello, I think that the bare foot trim is a FANTASTIC!! My horse is now 3 years old he never had shoes on, and I WILL NOT put any as long as he lives with me!

The lady where he his now boarding is learning how to do the trim and I think she is coming along well.

We are now mainly focusing on her older horse for "practice," but I think we will try on the others now that she is a little more accustomed.

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This is a great web site and a life saver for the horses we love. I have a 1/2 Connemara/thoroughbred who foundered on grass last year at 2 yrs old. I have always asked the vet what his funny fat packs were and why he should have a weight problem. Your site is giving me lots to work with. Thanks. Cate Stoltzfus maidensprings@dellnet.com

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I reached your site from Hyperion Farm's site. My niece's horse was purchased last fall and was allowed to get overweight; the farrier told them that he was nearly foundered and to put him on a diet, which they did. My brother and his wife would be considered "casual" horse owners - not very knowledgable, and my niece is 9 years old. Well, the horse improved considerably, then he was turned out for the summer on rich irrigated pasture! I happened to look in on him last Tuesday and found him grossly overweight, showing tenderness on both front feet which were also overgrown. I told them I would return today (Friday) to trim his feet. It seems pure luck that I happened to check out Hyperion's site and made my way to yours before leaving to do the trim! Marilyn Renner rencox@humboldt1.com

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Hello... I am so very much impressed with your web page and all that it has to offer!

I am not a horse owner, but I am a nurse, and when I found your site I started to browse and I could not tear myself away from all of the interesting case histories, and most of all the positive treatment given to these animals and the results achieved with your help.

The tremendous progress that is experienced in what seems to me a doomed existence, that is to say if the owners did not decide to put these wonderful animals down earlier before you could help them. What a blessing for both owner and horse.

You are to be commended for your extreme efforts in all that you do in the treatment of these horses! I never realized what mechanics was needed in the care of the hoof ... I can not say enough in praise of you.

My friend's horse has foundered and is rotated and is currently undergoing medical treatment, but I will inform them of your web site and I will suggest that they contact you for help. Thank God for you and the knowledge that you share with so many.

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I have found the guest book and would love to get to the website, but can't find it. What is your web address? All info I have read on comments sounds like my horse could definitely use your help. THANKS! dawn@neelybrien.com

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I stumbled onto your site while searching for info on founder and Cushings. I like what I'm reading. My 21 year old horse foundered 5 weeks ago. He also has Cushings. I'm learning lots about the natural trimming and will have my farrier start as soon as the horse can stand on 3 legs again.

BTW, is anyone out here doing the wild horse trimming? Where does one get the charcoal you speak of? Thanks!

The charcoal is Toxi-Ban, or the "charcoal treatment" available from Jeffers (1-800-JEFFERS)

There ARE no Strasser-certified hoofcare specialists in the USA yet, although several are in training. Don't know of anyone in your area, though. You will have to bite the bullet and learn how to do it yourself. Doing a phone/photo consultation with Sabine Kells would be a good idea.

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Hi, my name is Elaine Fleshman and I have yearling who became lame in June. At first it appeared that she had gotten kicked, so we didn't do much intervention. Then when she continued to limp, we realized that she had foundered and now I am trying to learn all I can so I can save her. We traded into her mother, so we know nothing about the stud and very little about the mother's history. The mare does not appear to have a problem with lameness.

The treatment is the same, regardless of her parents' history. Just try to implement the stuff on my site.

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I live in the UK and thought you would be interested in the attitude of British vets to the Strasser method. I had already decided I wanted to get my horse bare foot when she went down with Laminitis. As my sister-in-law was doing a course with Dr. Strasser the following week, I followed the vets advice until he said Tilly could go back out into the field by which time my sister-in-law Lou was ready to trim her. We were doing fine for a week and then the abscessing burst out in 3 feet, but we continued with the trimming with the support of Jane Harbidge and we knew that Tilly was getting better but it would take a while. I got a phone call from one of the vets in my practice about 3 weeks later saying a friend of mine had phoned her for "reassurance" because she had a Laminitic pony and she couldn't agree with the way we were treating Tilly. The vet asked if she could come out and I agreed but said I was committed to what we were doing. She said Tilly was a welfare case and that she couldn't support something that went against all that she was taught, but she would try and contact Dr. Strasser as she was ignorant of the method. She had asked me if she could give Tilly pain relief which I reluctantly agreed to to shut her up and returned uninvited the following day saying that a German vet friend had said Dr. Strasser had lawsuits for cruelty up to her eyeballs and was practicing illegally. So much for attempting to get informed. I realize now that she came back because she wanted to keep up the pain-relief. The vet gave me 4 choices.
1. Allow them to treat her but with the advice that it would cost a fortune and would be almost certainly unsuccessful.
2. Allow her to be put-down on the spot.
3. Find a vet who was prepared to give daily supervision of the method, or refuse and
4. Have the RSPCA called in for a prosecution. I was backed into a corner as there are no vets in the UK that are using the method openly and certainly not close enough to supervise. If the RSPCA were called in and said Tilly was being caused unnecessary pain and suffering and I refused to have her put-down or sign her over to them, they can call in a Ministry of Agriculture vet to make a decision and they are about as blinkered as you can get. I really could see no way out, especially when I got a second opinion from a practice who offered Homeopathy and was told Tilly was a cruelty case and should be put down immediately. She actually said " what you want to do and what she needs are two different things and she isn't getting what she needs." All the vets said if she was treated she would need putting on a starvation diet on a deep bed or possibly in a sling with "remedial" foot-trimming, heart bar shoes, etc. There was no way I was going to get anyone to back me up. I felt so helpless and threatened and I had no choice, but to have her put down. The second vet had also pumped her full of drugs and said her liver could overload any minute. Tilly gave up from that point on. Before, she had been eating and drinking, grazing and moving, but lying flat out a lot in the day so I had to get her up and walk her. She would even graze lying down her will to live was so strong. Until she had the drugs, she was cheerful and coping with it in her own way and interested in life. As soon as the drugs went in I could see that she had been pushed over the edge and her system couldn't cope. For the last 12 hours she hardly moved. They had as good as killed her. Was checked up on by both vets despite saying I would get the Hunt to put her down the next morning. I can't tell you how it feels to know that you are really doing the right thing for your horse and seeing small improvements every day only to be accused of cruelty and forced to execute your horse so the vets don't have their reputation dirtied. They actually said that if anyone saw Tilly, it would reflect badly on them. There is a Homeopathic vet who some members of the Strasser trim UK group are getting interested and he may be prepared to help in the future, but for the moment, I have lost a wonderful friend because modern veterinary science is too scared to try a leap of faith once in a while. I truly think that they are so used to looking for the hi-tech. solution that when something as obvious and right as the Strasser method and natural boarding comes up, they are so busy looking for the catch that they can't see the wood for the trees. I am more committed than ever to keeping my other horse barefoot now and will get another horse one day and will have it shoes off the minute it sets foot on the farm. Nothing has made so much sense to me before, but why couldn't the vets who are supposed to be so well educated, see it too? One day it will change and I will remind them of Tilly. I hope they will feel as bad as I do then! As to the friend who caused all this, she has never been in touch since she made that call to the vet 2 weeks ago . I have sent her the most blistering letter I have ever written in my life and I realize now that 14 years of friendship, including being there when her horse was shot because she couldn't face it, count for nothing. I can really appreciate the old saying now "with friends like that , who needs enemies"!! Pauhla Whitaker, Gloucestershire, UK pauhla@tinyworld.co.uk

I am so sorry to hear of your loss! Yvonne shared the news with me earlier. What a terrible waste. And when your horse was beginning to get better and was so young, that is hard to take.

Sometimes progress can be agonizing slow in the very beginning. But I keep getting letters from people who toughed it out, and are riding their foundered horses again. If only one of them could have been you! We get a number of posts on the naturalhorsetrim list on this subject.

Your "friend" maybe thought she was doing the right thing for the horse, but in reality, it was a betrayal of both you and your horse.

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I have mini horse that has foundered a year ago and is still lame and has pretty ugly hooves. I am interested in learning this method of trimming and want to trim him myself eventually. My question is: can this method of trimming be applied to a miniature horse? What are the specifications for hoof angle and length on a mini? Also any farriers in the Central Florida area that do this style of trimming? Thanks in advance! Leigh kuntrilass@aol.com

The proportions are the same. X-rays provide the bottom line....you want the coffin bone bottoms ground-parallel.

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What a great website for the novice to learn about Laminitis. Thanks for going to all the trouble to assemble this. I do not own horses, but am interested from the standpoint of a person who loves thoroughbreds and wonders why more people (vets included) are not more aware of the proper trimming techniques. Do you know of the book "The Natural Trim"? Do you agree with any of his methods? Thanks for a very informative site. Mike Kuhn, peewee3@cet.com

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I found your web site looking for info for a friend who is having a horrible time with her horse foundering. She had a farrier leave her in the lurch and her horse is going through pain until next week, when she finally gets a farrier to come out. I think he might be rotating because his toe is too long. Are there any farriers in this area who know how to do the trim? Diane Probst Dianpro@aol.com Bloomington, IN

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Please please can you help me???? I have a friend in Portugal who owns a Highland Pony who is suffering from this awful condition of laminitis. My friend is English and has heard that there is a product called "founder guard" which may help. She thinks it may be Australian.

She has friends visiting in October who could take her out this medication if only she could track it down.

Founderguard is an antibiotic that supposedly kills off some of the "bad" bacteria in the hind gut from excess simple sugar in the diet. I cannot share your enthusiasm--I am leery of long-term antibiotics. I lost a dog recently to kidney failure which the vets think may have been due to the Cephalexin he was on for a couple of times for an injury and a surgery earlier this year. Founderguard is not allowed in the UK because animals who could possibly be slaughtered for human consumption are not to be full of antibiotics.

You can get Dr. Chris Pollitt's contact information from Fran Jurga, the publisher Hoofcare and Lameness Magazine, www.hoofcare.com Dr. Pollitt is in Australia, and has been promoting the use of Founderguard.

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Very interesting and informative web site. Am looking forward to continuing to research this method of treatment for laminitis. I believe my horse is experiencing laminitis, has been somewhat lame for the last 12 months or so off and on. Thought it was stone bruising. Put pads on his feet. Doesn't seem to be working either. Still lame when he moves off. Have taken him off all grain and supplements, except for Masters Hoof supplement, cut back on his feed (have always fed mix hay. Now, after reading this web site, I will look further into this treatment. 18 months ago I pulled his shoes thinking we would go the natural route, and he was sooo tender and sore footed, and always bruising, that I put shoes back on him 6 or 7 months later. I know this isn't enough time for the hoof to toughen, but he was my only riding horse at that time.

Not true. If the trimming had been correct, and the method followed to the letter, a year would have resulted in major improvements.

I felt so bad about taking him out because his feet were so sore. He was short stepping and constantly gimpy, and all four of his feet are white, I could see pink spots coming through his hoof wall from the bruising. My shoer suggested that I put shoes back on him because of the terrain we live in. Desert, rocky, and decomposed granite/riverbed sand type ground. Seems his feet have been sensitive ever since I pulled his shoes 18 mo. ago. Could use some input on the info. related about our situation. Cindie Olen E-Mail address: CindieNtheHills@aol,com

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I am a farrier in Florida. (Feet First Farrier Service) I am one of those rare farriers that talks more people out of shoes than into them. But I will add that there are SOME horses that just have to have shoes, usually this is due to a genetic flaw in their makeup or past improper footwork that has permanently damaged the foot. Proper shoeing in my book only adds support to the foot or augments traction. The photos tell a million stories! This is wonderful info! Hopefully a LOT of horse owners will take the time to view this site. Laminitis and founder seem to be such a mystery to most horsefolks. The more informed a person is, the better horseman they become. I know I will suggest it to my clients!

Stronger feet CAN be grown by following a barefoot program, but waiting for the new, stronger laminae and wall to hit the ground is a slow waiting game. It can be close to a year for all-new toe to hit the ground. Not everybody is willing to wait for this, though. I think it's worth doing, but not everyone will agree with me.

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A very good and informative site with oodles of info and most importantly.... photos.

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Hi Gretchen, Thanks for your kind remarks about Hoof Marvel. By the way, our experience has shown that Hoof Marvel used as close as 10 to 15 minutes before trimming will make a tremendous difference in the way the hoof trims. Longer wait times do not seem to be necessary in most cases. A re-application after 10 minutes would probably do the most good on a really dry hoof. Also, I am interested to know if anyone has experimented with Hoof Marvel on foundered feet. I am curious to know if it helps (beyond the obvious ease of trimming) to heal the feet. Another benefit: We have customers tell us that Hoof Marvel has significantly improved thrush problems that had responded poorly to other more traditional treatments that involved trying to kill the thrush off with poisons like bleach or copper sulfate. Hoof Marvel is non-toxic so it is not killing the thrush by poisoning. It seems that it just makes for a healthier hoof and the healthy tissue provides a poor host for the parasitic thrush organism. Hope this helps your cause. Keep on keeping it natural! Jerry Heitzler Inventor / Partner, Hoof Marvel Natural Organic Hoof Remoisturizer secrtvly@jps.net

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Thought you would be interested to know that Founder-Guard IS being actively promoted in the UK by Dr. Robert Eustace of the Laminitis Trust as a preventative, although nothing in the literature said it was an anti-biotic or how it worked, so the comment about it was an eye opener. It has been mentioned in the new products section of one of the popular magazines just this month. Horses that have had drug treatment in the UK have to go for incineration if they have had the drug administered within the withholding period, and to be honest, the only use for horsemeat in this country was as pet food and the bottom has fallen out of the market for that. As far as I'm aware, horses are not exported from the UK anymore for human consumption and so drug residues are not really an issue, but as you said, most of us wouldn't be happy putting a horse on a course of prophylactic antibiotics without some serious consideration because of the health implications, especially as natural living conditions and correct trimming should make it unnecessary!

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Am anxious to get started. My Friesian gelding foundered badly when we were gone on vacation. He is progressing, but want to get him back 100%. Been talking to Nancy Filbert, and have signed up for the Nov. 11 clinic. Looking forward to success. Kris Fulwiler kris@starryknightfriesians.com

Nancy and Tim have been having success with a lot of clients' foundered horses and ponies in your area. Nancy is currently taking the full Strasser hoofcare specialist certification course. You'll be in good hands!

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From lhrarnpwhcs@yahoo.com--I am delighted to have found this website. Have been encouraged by my own farrier to trim my laminitic pony weekly--he just didn't go into enough detail besides "heels short and keep toes rasped off." Was referred by a friend in Colorado who is doing this. Like the detail, like the stories, like the links. Thanks!

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I was looking to purchase a nice little reining-type mare. She had many founder rings, but was "sound" when I rode her. Then she was taken by her owner on a long, weekend campout/trail ride, and came back horribly lame. Their farrier now has her stood straight up on wedge pads and shoes, and it is heartbreaking to see this delightful little mare so crippled. I spoke with the farrier, who gave me a grim outlook for her--as did many other websites. Yours was really the first to offer me true hope for this sweet girl. I can't wait to get in touch with MY farrier! Now, if I can just gather the nerve to buy her and take a chance on her......

She may have been on bute for when you came out to try her out. Now that everybody knows she is foundered, though, they probably will sell her a lot cheaper. I hope you get her!

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Very interesting information. I am a full time farrier and am becoming totally devoted to founder and laminitis. Please keep the information coming. Neville Wright, Milawa, Victoria Australia

Dr. Strasser will be touring Australia some time in February of 2001. Email her for more info. Hope you can get to one of these clinics. Contact info:

Dr. vet. med. Hiltrud Strasser
ESHOP GmbH
Blaihofstr. 42/1
72074 T?ingen
Germany
Tel/FAX: (011) 49-7071-87572
Hufklinik@t-online.de
www.hufklinik.de (This site is in German; an English version may be available later.)

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Hi, I wrote to you when I first tried your new approach to trimming. I have been doing it now for at least 4 months, possibly 5. I wish I would have kept track of the months better! I'm just busy, anyway, I actually rode my horse four times already since I started trimming your way. Things are moving along incredibly fast! Her feet look so much better now. Here are some things I noticed after I started:

Her heels are not contracted anymore. Painful in coming, because they were split deeply all the way up and her frogs were black and dead-looking. The frogs now have the correct shape and color, are bigger looking, and the front feet now have that diamond-shaped point (on the beginning of the frog, up past the heels). She never had those before looking that good! Her bulbs now are low and close to the ground now, and not getting bruised. I thought for a while with such low heels her bulbs would get bruised. Also, there have been no abscesses and very little blood in the soles while paring. Her soles and frogs and bars were all bound up and sort of connected together. I guess my farrier didn't see a need for paring out and rasping the heels! How stupid I feel for not even noticing what he was doing. I was not paying attention to him I only just stood there and held the horse. I trusted him to do the job right and let me know of any signs or problems with her feet. Isn't that what a farrier does? One year of that! I guess it could of been worse!

The front of her hooves are growing DOWN, and they are not dishing out anymore! You could see the line in the hoof wall "growing out" during the time since I started using your trim method. I feel that a part in her recovery is the ground she is on. It's consists of some rocky, hard clay, and one wet mud area that I created for her. I not sure if you'll believe me but, they know when their hooves need moisture (like when we need hand cream!) She stands in it every once in a while! I'm convinced that she know exactly what she is doing! Her white lines are much smaller and closer to where they should be. I swear, for the longest time, I did not know where the white line ended. It was so far into the sole area, like way wider that 3/4 inch wide. Do they get wider that when they are foundered?

Now I can plainly find the white line. The soles of her feet were dead-looking and had some thrush. But the whole sole looked black, and not just around the frog. Since trimming this way its seems as though blood has returned to the area and the sole is turning a white color all over and its seems like the white color is slowly spreading to the whole sole. Blood flow?

And not so shifty and I have seen absolutely NO swelling in hock area or ankle area! Her stride is much bigger in the front and we recently purchased Easy boots and have ridden four times. She missed going out with me so much, she lifts her feet without me asking when I approach with the boots only after the second time! She loves them, as of June 2000 Easy boots have been lowered in the back so as not to create so much damage on the bulb area. They are the best and she LOVES them!!!! No tripping anymore so far, we are starting out slow though, walking right now, little trots now and then. I don't want to damage and muscle or tendons from the few months off!!! I might as well get my vet. degree while I'm at it!! You are the best! Thanks for all your help!!! I'll let you know how it goes in the future. At least, we are riding in time for fall. Our favorite time!!!!! I cant believe this is moving along like this!!! Thanks again!! Krista Waite, Connecticut or kristawaite@aol.com

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I am just devastated. I signed your guest book several days ago, after studying your site for some time. I was looking to rehabilitate a foundered mare for a "dealer," at my expense. But he said I could not pull her shoes. I expressed trepidation, but you advised me "I hope you get her." She does deserve help, and she needs it badly. So I bought her--for a lot more than she may ever be worth. X-rays taken today show that she is rotated 30 degrees!!! and, to boot, The first 1/4 inch of her left coffin bone is fractured....right off!!! It has been a very low day here. I DO have her on Banamine right now because she is in such pain. I am desperate for anyone to tell me that this is not a death sentence. Has ANYONE ever seen a horse recover from this extent of damage? I don't necessarily think she'll be rideable again (sad; she was a great penning and reining horse), but can I hope to ease her suffering? The dealer guarantees his horses--he won't give me my money back, but he'd credit me toward another horse. But that would entail turning my back on this poor girl, who I think the Lord has placed at my doorstep. I see some pretty gruesome cases on your site, and after a sometimes LENGTHY program most recovered. If I am aggressive enough and patient enough, do you think "Reno" can come back around? I welcome any hopeful responses at Havenhills@aol.com. Please don't write with sad-ending stories. I don't think I'll hold up. --Jan

If the method is done correctly and all the way, this horse has a good chance. Dr. Strasser has tackled worse cases than this. However, you will need expert guidance--a case this tough is not for beginners! Contact Sabine Kells ASAP.

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Wow! This looks tremendous. I can't wait to discuss this with my Veterinarian. He just left here about 2 hours ago after diagnosing my 4 yr. old mare with laminitis. Can't for the life of us figure the cause, and there is no digital pulse. I would love to whack off the heels even though they aren't too high. Maybe, just high enough to complicate the problem? Cross your fingers for us! Patt@ hedgehog10@ earthlink .net

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Hello, I just wanted to say I am in Day 2 of printing this completely out! I will be starting this Monday on my own horse (with Good Feet, almost ALL of her life Barefoot, but trimmed wrong!) and I will be starting my mother's recently foundered horse today. I am also attending a Martha clinic this coming Friday the 13th! Yikes, that's not a good day! (funny!) Thank You for all the information. Sincerely, Tara, Star and Ventura tarasark@ptdprolog.net

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Hey, thanks for making this site! I nearly foundered my daughter's beloved pony this last summer. Luckily a friend was able to do an IV injection of Banamine right away, I kept him on oral doses for a week and I pretty much kept his feet in cold running water for much of three days. By the grace of God and the help of friends, he's fine. But the vet did recommend a short toe trim for him. Your info makes sense! Shoes are not natural and neither are short toes. You've inspired me to read the book and learn to do my own trims. Thank you, thank you! Kandis Mueller, sprwrhwk1@ aol.com

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On your website I found a lot of background information on laminitis, and I was pleased to find out that both my vet and my farrier had almost exactly the same opinion as you have, about the treatment of the laminitis of my 16-year-old Icelandic gelding, a horse that is really too special for me, for not trying anything to improve his condition. Thanks again and greetings from Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Joep Beneken Kolmer (joepbk@hotmail.com)

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My horse has had a tough time w/ hocks & feet. His feet were kept small, he had navicular, & recently almost foundered. We took off his shoes, trimmed his toes & 3 mo. later his feet are starting to grow. He's starting to move better. He will have the yr. off in Ocala, FL. He's been detoxed & is on homeopathic remedies. Your site is very interesting. Do you know the holistic doctor, Dr Wessner from Ocala? My name is Kate rocketblu2@yahoo.com

Dr. Wessner is on the naturalhorsetrim list. There's a lot more to the trim than just trimming the toes!

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Hi, I have 3 horses, 1 sound Arabian gelding, 1 foundered Morgan mare and 1 foundered Morgan/Welsh Mt. pony. My mother was thinking about putting the Morgan mare and pony down due to their seemingly constant laminitis and abscesses. I thought there must be something I could do. So I went on the internet and came upon your website. I started trimming feet. It was -30 degrees in our barn that winter, but I was determined. I invested in the best nippers and rasp I could find and taught myself how to trim feet. My back and legs hurt and my sweat froze into icicles while running down my face. Somehow it worked!! It has been a year and a half, and neither mare has had an abscess or a relapse with founder, and are currently back in work. My Arabian gelding is driven on the hard road and ridden everywhere all the other horses go and has no problems whatsoever. My sister has a new horse of unknown origin. She has a front foot that is completely absent of half of the bulb of the heel. While looking at the hoof it doesn't look like a shoe could be attached. My sister rides the horse barefoot and I trim the feet. The horse just won a 15 mile judged pleasure ride. As far as I can see she has no signs of soreness. 5 yrs ago I wouldn't even consider riding a horse this much with no shoes, but now I encourage it!! I want to thank you for sharing all this info. You saved 2 more horses and me hundreds of dollars' worth of shoes and vet bills. Betsy Merritt, Williamsburg, MA betsymerritt@hotmail.com

Happy to hear of your successes! And re me saving you a lot of money, if I had all the money my site has saved my readers, I could pay off Visa and my mortgage! The site makes me zero money, though.

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I have heard of this method before, but never seen photos and read testimonials. I am impressed with this treatment and would like to experience a clinic. I know of a few vets that would appreciate this information and I will be passing it along. Also at least four farriers. I have personally experienced a case of laminitis with one of my ponies. My instincts told me to go natural , which is the very nature of my business. I am an Equine Myotherapist. This way of thinking did, I believe, helped my pony. She was turned out frequently, trimmed as often as I could get my farrier here (he didn't come as much as I would have liked) and her feet were soaked in a whirlpool of my own making. Also, she was kept barefoot, and her coronary bands and legs were massaged on a regular basis. This whole event took place five months ago. Initially the pony walked with a stilted gait, and now she gallops through the fields with the others.

I would appreciate knowing if any clinics will be taking place anywhere near Ottawa, Ontario.

I don't think Martha Olivo is going to Canada in the near future. Sabine Kells lives in Canada, but not close to you:

The Northern-most clinic Martha is giving is November 11 in Antigo, WI--Nancy Filbert, 715-627-4126. since both Nancy and Martha are doing the full Strasser hoofcare specialist certification program, this should be an outstanding clinic.

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Wanted to comment on the Martha Olivo clinic I attended this weekend-OUTSTANDING!! My horse benefited tremendously from the refinement of my attempts at a Strasser trim. He is moving better than ever now. There was a horse brought to the clinic that had been diagnosed with Navicular and had egg bar shoes on the front feet for several months. Of course, there was no resolution of the problem and he walked with such a stilted, short gait. (He was a Grand Prix dressage horse, at 20, retired.) When the shoes were pulled and he was standing on his bare feet for a few minutes, he breathed this huge sigh, began to chew and lick his lips and put his head down. After he was trimmed, you could see the difference in his movement, (and his expression) as he was trying to get used to such a different feeling in his feet. Much happier horse.

Martha is such a wonderful teacher and she does the Strasser trim so well. When she is finished with her certification course, there will be no end to the demand for her.

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I am 53 years old and not too old to have an open mind. My 15 year old daughter has a Paint mare and her two year old filly. Before the filly was born, we/I kept the mare shod. Being a Paint, her hooves (dry and cracked) were a constant concern. I decided that we would do without shoes for a while. I noticed that over time, the hooves took on a markedly healthy appearance. My daughter has pressed me to obtain shoes of late. I decided to back up my feeling and opinion that shoeless was best. I searched the internet and that is the rest of the story. By the way, my daughter is desirous of a career in the horse industry (she is headed to college) and if any of you readers have suggestions, i.e. schools, vocation choices, please send to us here in New Mexico. Roy Propsner and daughter Marisa at royp@ruidoso.org

Hope you get her copies of Dr. Strasser's books (online orders at www.TheHorsesHoof.com) and take her to a Martha Olivo clinic!

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Dear Gretchen, My stallion has been barefoot for 7 weeks now and not penned in a stall. We're dealing with a ankle problem, though, and the vet wants him quiet. He has a 40' square flat paddock off his stall with packed stone dust. He does walk a lot. It's the charging at the fence when the "boys" are near that I'm trying to avoid. Today I soaked his feet in water and apple cider vinegar and thought I saw some red area on his feet. I started scraping away with the hoof knife and he has red at his white line on all 4 feet.... more on the front feet. Is this a normal thing to happen? He is pretty pretty contracted as he's had shoes on for at least 10 of his 13 years. I got the books by Dr. Strasser and Jaime Jackson and have been working through them. Thanks, Mary Haldeman mhtokay@supernet.com

The red in the white line area is blood from the laminae being torn by mechanical forces....usually a toe too long, and/or high heels. If there is not enough concavity depth (1 cm., or 3/8") right in front of the tip of the frog, you can't shorten the toe from the bottom, and have to instead just back up the profile. Make sure you have low heels and the 30 degree hairline slope. If his heels and bars are too long, this can cause heel pain, resulting in toe-walking, which overstresses the toe laminae. You need some hands-on trimming help, or to at least do a photo critique with Sabine Kells. Where are you?

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This is indeed very interesting material. Is there anyone in the Netherlands (Europe) who might tell me more. My horse is not foundered, but he has very contracted heals. This might help him. He is only stabled in at night, but he lives out all day (large paddock with other horses). My name is Marijke Hoogendoorn, email marijke.hoogendoorn@daimlerchrysler.nl

Please note that the (011) prefix in her phone number is the international access code when dialing from the USA. It will be different in your case.

"He is ONLY stabled at night..." is something that has to be corrected. You cannot return circulation and expand contracted heels safely on a horse who is not moving half the day. Heat and inflammation can build up if he is not walking around 24/7. This needs to be corrected. Get a copy of Dr. Strasser's book, which discusses this in more detail.

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I wish I had this 2 years ago when we ended up losing a mare who foundered after retaining her placenta. The process you describe is exactly what happened to her. We ended up putting her down when the coffin bone came through the sole. What you describe makes sense, and I will keep the articles just in case it should be needed in the future (I hope I never need it again). Losing a horse to founder, especially one that possibly could have been saved was devastating. These animals are our family and are very much loved. Thank you for caring enough to make this available.

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I really enjoyed your web site. I volunteer at a rescue in Texas and we have one Arab mare that came to us with severe laminitis. I forwarded your web page to her foster home in the hopes that she might find something useful. Current treatment includes ABC supplements, careful shoeing and frequent turn out.

My own mare is an overweight Arab who is low in the heel (under-run) and long in the toes, but I have not had any problems with founder.

But you have the risk factors for founder. I hope you can get the trim done better.

I'm working on getting her some more exercise even though she has over 15 acres and another older horse for company. Looking into alternatives to shoes such as the sneakers or boot idea. Keep up the great information! ---Trisha (tclements@neonsys.com)

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Hi, I find this to be very interesting. I live in Richland center, WI, U.S.A. Are there any clinics in my area where I can see this frist hand? Please let me know. Thanks Danny L. DeMent horseman@mwt.net

YES! This coming weekend Nancy Filbert is hosting a Martha Olivo clinic in Antigo, WI. Both Nancy and Martha are doing the full Strasser hoofcare specialist certification course. BE THERE! :-)

Nancy Filbert and Tim Wensel, 715-627-4126 (voice mail) wenfil@newnorth.net Clinic Nov. 11, 2000.

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Hi from Australia. We are having the wettest year in a long time. The grass is up to 3ft high and very rich. My gelding is 12 years old 13.3h. This year he has had laminitis for the fourth time. He has rings for about 1 inch (2.5cm) down from the top of the coronet now, could someone tell me what these rings mean if they are a sign of damage or weakness? The farrier just removed his shoes as the angle was bad and trimmed him up. After he was limping even more as he was very tender now, but there was also fleshy blood like hoof at the front under the hoof. I just ordered a grazing muzzle from America as Australia doesn't sell them at all, so I'll see if this will slow his eating down. He weighs still about 400 kgs.

Any ideas would help penning him up cannot work as I am an 1 hour away from him, or I have to sell him out west where the feed is rough and scarce.

"Correcting" his angles probably involved high heels and cutting the toes too short from the bottom. A disaster--fire this guy! You need to lower the heels and bars, and just back up the toe profile, not shorten from underneath.

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I am so glad I heard about your site. I am currently using the Strasser trim on my Morgan mare, who foundered in May this year. I just found out about this method 1 month ago. She is still very sore, but I can see new, better growth already. I feel confident it will restore my best friend to soundness. Sorry, no e-mail address, but hope to have one soon. Cyndi and "Joy" in Arizona.

Do yourself a real favor and look up James Welz in AZ. He is doing the full Strasser hoofcare specialist certification course. jim@digitalcmyk.com 623-935-1823 He can help you progress much faster.

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So good to have found the site at last. Knew it was there, just couldn't find it. Essential reading for any horse owner. I am already a convert. My 7 horses are all bare foot, much healthier, and happy.

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Your web site has been very informative. I have a 16 year old mare with 25 degrees of rotation that my vet and farrier are working with. I will show this site to my farrier. pahrrt@aol.com

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I am very impressed!!! I am going to start my horses going barefoot as soon as I locate a farrier to help me get started--I am going to the certification section next!! Thank you.CLVAsko@aol.com-Courtney Vincent in Tucson, AZ

I urge you to contact James Welz, through the Horses Hoof Magazine. www.TheHorsesHoof.com He is in AZ and taking the full Strasser hoofcare certification course.

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davhorse@chariot.net.au Finally I found the site I've been looking for! This has helped me heaps in understanding founder and being able to make a program from your info that I can use to make my horse's life that more comfortable. Great stuff well done!

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My name is Julie. I am 34 yrs. old and I own my very first horse. She is a TWH and just turned 2 yrs. old. I have had her now for about 6 months. At first, I was being told that she was losing weight since I got her. So I bought 2.5 acres for her to pasture on, plus she would get her 1 can of feed in the evening. However, now she is foundered. The man who trims her feet has taken her to his farm for 3 weeks to try to make her better. He is keeping her confined to a stall and medicating her hooves and occasionally putting her in a round pen. I should also mention that she is not broke yet. He is also supposed to teach her left and right. I am just learning about horses. I grew up on a farm, but we had cows and goats. I have printed your web site "Treating Founder without Horseshoes." I found it to be very helpful in explaining the situation. My Dad seems to understand the situation better than me and has been making most of the decisions about it. However, it bothers me when he keeps saying that "We may have to put her down ." Her hooves are trimmed regularly and she looks and acts just fine to me. Exercise seems to be a problem. We cannot ride her because she is not broke. I have saddled her and tried to ride her, but she won't go. She just stands there--confused. So, how can I ensure that she will get enough exercise when she returns to me? My 9 yr. old daughter and I love this horse (Windy) very much. We brush her and play with her all the time. She waits on the school bus everyday for my daughter to come home. Any advice that you could give me, I would appreciate. Also, I just got this computer so I am not sure about the E-Mail system yet so I am giving you my mailing address as well. Thank you.

Working her in tight turns in the round pen when she is foundered is not good. Tight turns stress the laminae more than walking in straight lines. Hand walking her in straight lines is far better for her. Having her in with other horses on turnout is also conducive to movement.

Getting her a grazing muzzle when the grass is too lush, and cutting out grain, will enable you to bring her home. Getting her well now is more important than breaking her at this point.

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Hello, my name is Linda. I own a 6 yr. old albino Standardbred gelding. He is all white with blue eyes and he is club foot in the front rt. I had my farrier remove his shoes in late Aug. 2000 because Frankie (that's his name) became ill after receiving a flu vac. and unable to ride. My farrier was totally against my request because of Frankies club foot. He told me that my horse should never ever be without shoes!

I completely disagree! The cure for a club foot is to lower the heels to get a 30 degree hairline slope, lower the frog and especially lower the bars...and maintain this often. This is a foot that is more likely to rotate because of the tilted coffin bone. ASAP--get that heel down and keep it there!

Another reason is because I live in the city and in order to get to any trails I must go through the streets. Either way I always put easy boots on his front--his hinds are barefoot, with no problem may I add. I took Frankie out a few times barefoot, I walked with him though the streets and I rode him when I got to the trail. Well, by the end of Sept. i phoned my farrier because Frankie began to limp on our walk home, he showed up the next day, shod my horse with rim pads and clips. He also advised me not to ride my horse or take him out for at least a week or better yet 2 wks. So I followed his advice. After the 2 wks., we went out a few times, the last time I rode my horse we had to cross a cemented stream of water, Frankie backed into a cemented small slope and we went down, not hard, just all of a sudden both my feet were on the ground, we both looked at each other, I got off, and calmly Frankie got up. I checked him over and he seemed fine. When we got home he seemed a little sore and moving slow. I decided to give him a few days rest, by the fourth day he began to limp in the lt. front. I didn't know what to think, the next day he was lying down a lot, by the 3rd day he didn't want to get up, I thought it was colic and forced him up, his hind legs were under his belly and the fore legs extended in front of his head. I phoned the vet. Upon her arrival I told her of the fall and explained the situation. She asked about his diet, which consisted of alfalfa and carrots. She diagnosed Frankie with founder due to his diet. Her Rx. consisted of NO ALFALFA EVER. 4 inj. of Ace a day for 5 days, 2 doses of bute per day, (9) 400mg Pentoxifylline 2 times a day, and to phone her if he worsens. That day I took him off alfalfa and fed him oat hay, By the next day he was better and 5 days later his follow-up was good. I told my vet I couldn't get the Pentoxifylline in him. She told me to continue trying as I slowly wean him off the other meds. It's been about a week now and Frankie is slow moving and favoring his club foot, he's walking heel to toe. He still has shoes on both front and his heels are extremely high. I need to know, can my horse go barefoot? I've read your articles and haven't found anything about club foot. I love my horse, he's my angel. (I keep his wings in my jewelry box) I want to learn to trim Frankie's feet myself. I'm going to buy your book today! I'm going to learn all I can because I love my Horse and I know he loves and trusts me. Thank-you , Linda Nault, Whittier, Califonia www.Linder6er@aol.com

These medications can have serious side effects--the cure can be worse than the disease. Until you get those feet trimmed right, and get the club foot lowered, you will not get anywhere. You can most certainly ride barefoot with boots--better protection than shoes, and more concussion absorption. See Section 18. Also, in the works, Frank Orza is bringing out some adjustable Horsneakers in a few weeks, which will be called Cross Trainers. These could be the answer you are looking for. I am not a fan of Easy Boots.

I do not believe your description of him walking heel/toe. Horses with this much contraction have terrible heel pain, and try to land toe first. (This also makes rotation more likely.) Coffin bone tips are quite sharp. If the coffin bone is tilted because of high heels, it is slicing through the sole. The heel contraction is also putting tremendous pressure on the navicular area, creating heel pain. Get this corrected ASAP! If you don't, you are more likely to have sole penetration.

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I am very impressed with what you are doing. I agree with you wholeheartedly. I am a farrier (20 yrs) and often talk my clients out of using shoes. I am really glad to see what you are doing with foundered horses. Some of the other methods are so expensive for my kind of backyard horse owners, and here you use a much more natural method which costs practically nothing. Thank you. Elizabeth (Beppy) White ecwhite@ns.gemlink.com

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Thank you for such a wonderful site. My horse suffered at the hands of a poor farrier in the UK and as a result developed laminitis. He had 11 months off work and was stabled 24hrs for 6 months. How I wish I'd found this site then! However, he is now ok, but would not keep shoes on, so I decided to remove them whilst looking for other options. I am so grateful that I found your site. The Strasser trim and philosophy is such common sense, but few people even consider it as we are all brainwashed into shoeing. I am now totally converted to Performance Barefootedness and will try to raise awareness of this option to others here in the UK.

Please keep up the good work - this site is an excellent reference source, especially for those living in the UK - we are a lot further behind in these matters, but hopefully that will change in the near future.

Best wishes Jenny Edwards tuffn@hotmail.com Ditto: Tuff n Classy Two and Charlie Brown

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Hello My name is Bridget Ports. I have been a farrier know for 8 years here in Brevard County . I personally try to talk people out of shoeing their horses as the last resort because horses in the wild never get shod. It's what people do to their horses that make them need shoes. Natural is better. I will not be able to attend your clinic here, but would enjoy coming to a two day or hosting a two day clinic at our farrier hospital in Palm Bay. Our email is : farrierco @aol.com

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I am so encouraged after reading your web site regarding your trimming methods. My horse has been chronically lame now for 6 months and all but written off by the vets. He has always been shod very high in the heels and boxy looking. He improves when he is unshod only to go lame again as I get him re-shod and back into work. I am going to trim him according to your method. Thank you for caring. Regards, Caroline Van Dragt on behalf of "George" caroline@clubnerd.co.nz

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Great site, but needs table of contents as it is a lengthy read, albeit a good read and well worth the time and trouble to get it all and come back for the updates. Just attended Martha's clinic in Vero Beach, Fl. and it was first class all the way. Appreciated the Holistic vet as well. It's time to re-educate them all. Keep up the good work and how can i get certified in this type of trim? Edgar. Schulere@juno.com

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Hi Gretchen, I stumbled onto this site by accident when looking for sites on laminitis. This is a pretty cool site. I have met people who have been learning [ "THE DOCTORS"] way. I am a farrier who learned the conventional way, but unless you trim down the heels and keep the hoof looking as natural as possible you're gonna have problems. I do several ponies who have chronically foundered, but I don't trim them enough Ken Norman twfequin@together.net

Then they won't make much progress, being trimmed infrequently. One of the most common errors is leaving too much bar...and not concaving enough from the tip of the frog on back.

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Gretchen, this is a fantastic, informative web site. I've learned so very much going through and reading the articles as well as the detailed photos. Thanks Gretchen, Lori Morgan luna_girl@webtv.net

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