I am seriously contemplating pulling the shoes off of my horse... He has naturally really good feet, and nothing I ask him to is something that can't be done barefoot. Obviously, I work with a farrier, but am interested in learning how to trim/shape/keep up with his feet in the interum period between when the farrier comes.

For those of you who trim your own horses, how did you get started? What books have been the most helpful (I am also just really interested in learning more about hoof anatomy as well).

 I only do TINY adjustments to Solo's feet, say if he has a chip or something, with a rasp and that is it.  I would not advise you to just start trimming by yourself from a book.  I think everyone I know who is any good at barefoot trimming apprenticed with someone at some point.  The horse's foot and movement are such complex structures that HAVE to be in balance, you can do a lot of damage very quickly just by getting an angle or two off here and there.  

Things I attack with my rasp -- chips sticking out, areas in the quarters that are flaring from hoof wall being too long.  I'll also add a little bevel to the hoof edge if his feet are growing super fast (like now!) just to keep the foot rolling through the stride smoothly.  And on all these things, I'm talking about removing VERY small bits of hoof wall. 

I learned a LOT about hoof anatomy and function, as well as trimming and what you are looking for online, from barefoothorse.com, which has great links, and looking at Pete Ramey and Jamie Jackson's stuff, as well as just taking the opportunity to chat with folks who DO  trim whenever I get a chance.  I have learned so much going through the process (twice, LOL) with Solo and I highly recommend it.  You are right, we all do very little if anything that requires shoes, for the most part, and I am happier every day that I discovered the barefoot alternative. 

www.barefoothorse.com is a good site to get yourself going. I will do my guys if I need to before the farrier can get there. But your back will get a good work out. LOL. Just take your time and go in baby steps.

Appy T has a great barefoot trimmer, she belongs here but her name escapes me at the moment....... Boosler or something kinda like that. The spelling may be wrong. But anyway she could help you and answer any questions you have.

 This is a great yahoo group for trimming help. They can steer you in the right direction and may well know someone in your area who can give you hands on help.  Barefoothorsecare

And this is Boosiler's site.. She will prolly find this post but if not you can email her for her advice on books, sites, etc to read.

Gotta run, time for work.. ;) 

Solaris:

 I only do TINY adjustments to Solo's feet, say if he has a chip or something, with a rasp and that is it.  I would not advise you to just start trimming by yourself from a book.  I think everyone I know who is any good at barefoot trimming apprenticed with someone at some point.  The horse's foot and movement are such complex structures that HAVE to be in balance, you can do a lot of damage very quickly just by getting an angle or two off here and there.  

Things I attack with my rasp -- chips sticking out, areas in the quarters that are flaring from hoof wall being too long.  I'll also add a little bevel to the hoof edge if his feet are growing super fast (like now!) just to keep the foot rolling through the stride smoothly.  And on all these things, I'm talking about removing VERY small bits of hoof wall. 

I learned a LOT about hoof anatomy and function, as well as trimming and what you are looking for online, from barefoothorse.com, which has great links, and looking at Pete Ramey and Jamie Jackson's stuff, as well as just taking the opportunity to chat with folks who DO  trim whenever I get a chance.  I have learned so much going through the process (twice, LOL) with Solo and I highly recommend it.  You are right, we all do very little if anything that requires shoes, for the most part, and I am happier every day that I discovered the barefoot alternative. 

Great advice.

I started trimming when I was 12 (49 years ago  My grandpap gave me farriers tools for my 12th Christmas and taught me how to use them.  I have trimmed as needed down thru the years.

I took my four horses hooves back when the horse in my avatar went metabolic last year at age 20.  I was lucky to find a barefoot farrier 40 miles away who was a Pete Ramey student.  He spent all winter giving me a refresher course on trimming.   I learned a lot of new things, let me tell ya

I also have Pete Ramey's book and the founder book by Jaime Jackson.  Even though my metabolic horse has never foundered, his front hooves are laminitic and I need to know what to look for and whether or not trim what I find.

There is, indeed, a lot to trimming, which is why I agree with Solaris' comment to learn how to do just enough to keep your horses hooves (including the frogs) in decent condition in-between farrier visits. 

For my part, I think most horse owners should know a little bit about that kind of hoof maintenance to get them by in-between farrier visits

Well, it never hurts to be informed, even if you don't intend to pursue a career in shoeing/trimming!

 If you want to learn for the sake of knowing or to really benefit your horse's overall health, then go for it. I don't ever recommend someone picking up nippers "just to save some money" on their own horses. But you sound like you are wanting to do it for the right reasons, and knowing that you are just wanting to 'tweak" between farrier visits, I would say start with reading anything and everything you can. Yes, even classic farrier texts are helpful in getting you to understand what you are learning about barefoot. 

Good books to start with are:  The Natural Horse by Jamie Jackson, The Horse Owners Guide to Natural Hoof Care by Jamie Jackson, and Making Natural Hoof Care Work for You by Pete Ramey.  

For all that, you'll probably find that once your horses is adjusted to being barefoot, there's not much need to touch up anything between visits (if it's a "natural" trim instead of a pasture trim---pasture trims are a little different and tend to let the walls start to chip sooner). In fact, most of my clients I have to to remind that it's about time to trim because they don't see the chipping/flaring that they did with pasture trims so think they don't appear to need a trim. But the key is prevention, so maintain that 6-8 week schedule anyways.

Some horses just out of shoes do take some time to quit chipping and benefit from 4-6 week intervals at first. The nail holes from the shoes will have weakened the walls so they chip as they grow out, but as healthier wall grows out, this will stop. If your horse has thinner walls (TB's and appendix QH tend to have thinner walls) they will chip sooner than thick walled horses. usually it's only cosmetic and really there's not much to rasp off once it's broken off. In fact, over thinning by rasping could make it worse, so your trimmer should be consulted before working them over.

Glad to hear you are trying barefoot. It's sastisfying on many levels!