This page is an automated translation of /nl/multimediaforewordleeuw.html and has not been reviewed yet.
Foreword by Veterinarian W. de Leeuw
The hoof care method discussed in this book is called "natural trimming" because this trimming method is the result of scientific studies conducted on wild horses, both live specimens and cadavers. These studies, which have taken place over the last ten years, have provided a lot of groundbreaking insight into how the horse lives in the wild and what its hooves look like, both inside and out. For the first time we know how nature intended the hoof and how the hoof is actually supposed to function! Natural cutting is therefore not based on floaty theories, but on modern research, insights and pure logic.
Unfortunately, these insights were not available when the traditional trimming methods emerged. We can probably fill in another book on exactly how the traditional ideas came about, let's suffice on the fact that these ideas were not the result of scientific research or any knowledge about the functioning of the hooves of horses that live without the interference of the horse. man. Instead, the traditionally trimmed hoof has been used as a starting point, hooves that were often already deformed by improper grooming. For example, anatomy books for veterinary students and farriers often even depict hooves with horseshoes underneath, whereby the deformities caused by the horseshoe are taught as the norm. What is abnormal was taught as normal and the vicious circle has remained intact for a long time.
While veterinary research institutes struggle to understand diseases such as navicular disease and laminitis, countless horse owners have been successful in curing the same diseases. They do this with a natural roof, natural food and natural housing. If the veterinary institutes were to investigate and document a number of these cases, the existing knowledge about hooves would increase considerably. Too much research has been done on sick hooves while hardly any research has been done on really healthy hooves. How can we cure sick hooves when it is hardly known what healthy hooves look like? As long as we continue to consider "normal" need to protect with horseshoes from contact with the ground, we will not get much further. This book takes the natural hoof shape as a starting point for both treatment and prevention of hoof diseases. Application of the principles outlined will represent a quantum leap in hoof health and wellbeing for our four-legged companion.
Wim de Leeuw, veterinarian.