It is our pleasure to welcome Dr. Hiltrud Straßer, Dr. Robert Cook and Dr. Edward De Beukelaer as patrons of Academia Liberti. 

We very much appreciate work and dedication of those outstanding and prominent scientist and we are very happy they stand with us for the much needed changes in horse world, against abuse of horses in equestrian sport, for the species appropriate keeping, for the change of terrible circumstances horses are kept and used.

Dr. Hiltrud Strasser is a veterinarian and pioneer in the field of barefoot trimming and holistic equine management who, for over 20 years has been researching the causes and cures of lameness and other common health problems of domestic horses.
Her passion for holistic equine care was sparked by her own horses living long and healthy lives barefoot in the pastures whilst their stabled and shod counterparts suffered countless problems. The Strasser Method of Hoofcare has evolved from this knowledge and research and is now taught throughout the world.
In 1993 the Institute for Hoof Health and the European School for Hoof Orthopaedics was opened. It is the first holistic hoof clinic where equine patients from all over Europe are healed and returned to fully active lives often having previously been given up as incurable by the top practitioners of conventional veterinary medicine.
Dr. Strasser is the author of several books on lameness, healing and natural boarding for horses and travels the world giving seminars to vets, farriers, and horse owners and helping them to help horses to a lifetime of soundness.

"There are scientific publications which say: 

Keeping of horses in boxes is harmful and dangerous,
Iron shoes on hooves are harmful and dangerous, 
Bits on horses are harmful and dangerous,

There are no scientific publications which discribe the positive effect of 
- keeping horses in boxes
- iron shoes
- bits

on the living tissues of the animal!!!"

"I hope that Academia Liberti will become the biggest association for the welfare of horses."
Hiltrud Straßer

Robert Cook, FRCVS., PhD., Professor of Surgery Emeritus of Tufts University, Massachusetts, is a veterinarian who, for most of his career since graduating from the Royal Veterinary College, London, in 1952, has been a faculty member of clinical departments at schools of veterinary medicine in the UK and USA. He is the author of two books for horsemen, Specifications for Speed in the Racehorse: The Airflow Factors, and Metal in the Mouth: The Abusive Effects of Bitted Bridles. He has also produced a videotape Selecting Racehorses Using the Airflow Factors. His research has been focused on diseases of the horse's mouth, ear, nose and throat, with a special interest in unsoundness of wind, the cause of bleeding in racehorses, and the harmful effects of the bit method of communication.

Cook has published nearly a hundred articles in scientific journals and many articles too in horsemen's journals. These articles incorporate contributions to knowledge which have benefited the horse and been of practical value to horsemen and equine practitioners. But he believes that the work he has done since 1997 to investigate the bit method of communication in the horse and to validate the Bitless Bridle is now doing more for the welfare of both horse and rider than anything he has done previously. It is helping horsemen in all disciplines of equitation to achieve improved performance. The horse's mouth is one of the most sensitive parts of its anatomy. The application of pressure to a steel rod inserted in this cavity inflicts unnecessary pain and frightens a horse. Fear initiates a flight or fight response (bolting or countless forms of resistance). In addition, putting a bit in the mouth of a horse that is about to run, is akin to putting a muzzle on a horse that is about to eat. A bit is contraindicated, counterproductive and, in the wrong hands, potentially cruel. His research has shown that the bit is responsible for over a hundred behavioral problems. Cook is happy to endorse the Bitless Bridle as a preferable alternative to the Bronze Age technology of the bit.

Edward graduated from the veterinary university in Ghent, Belgium. In 1991 he developed an interest in homeopathy and studied the subject in France and Belgium before moving to the UK in 2001.

He offers the classical homeopathic approach to those who are interested. Because the subject has some controversy with it
and is usually not well understood by many, he recently published a book titled "Homeopathy. What to expect?"
He says: "Homeopathy should not be preferred because of one's dislike for conventional medicine. This techinique should be chosen because of its surprising properties."