farriersforum....uh, horseshoes.com (i think) is a great place to stalk. all about feet/legs/trims/shoes/pathologies, etc. the farriers, blacksmiths, trimmers on there are amazingly educated and also very entertaining (they're honest, hard workin' folks who tell it like it is). plus they got the forum separated for farrier to farrier/blacksmith to blacksmith and horse owner to farrier/blacksmith threads. they post LOTS of pictures of pathologies. Lots of members send their own pics. in of their own trims or problems for advice and critique. The professionals also post their own pics. of clients horses and before/after shots. Loads of info. lots of ideas and dialogue on all types of conditions and what's best vs what's not so good. Take the barefood brigade (as a whole) with a grain of salt...remember that (just like some hacks out there are fly-by-night farriers) so to, are some touting "barefoot" "natural" trimming. Watch out who ya hire on to have a go at your animals hooves (no matter who they are). Do you're homework on the level of education and years of experience (full-time) in the field before ya pay someone to "remedy" your horses's hooves "naturally". My Perch is 2 1/2 yrs. and still barefoot and doing just fine. We'll see what the future brings, but for now he's got a nice hoof on him and I keep up on him with a file between farrier visits (just to slightly round the edges) so that he don't chip and crack, or flare. I leave the trimming and balancing to the one's that paid good money to learn it right...so long as they've got years of work experience behind them and leave my animal better than when they first saw him. Remember that true blacksmiths work with metal and may never have shod a horse for the title of blacksmith...farriers trim and shoe (and should, in my opinion, have been educated and show competency in fabricating their own shoes--comes in handy when you gotta personalize the metal to a particular out of the ordinary problem case), and trimmers...well, they trim. The original barefoot trimmer are the farriers that've been doin' it all this time. A good farrier will know how to trim for a shoe job and trim for barefoot (all the while maintaining the correct balance of the hoof). don't get too bogged down by all the fancy-shmancy "miracle pictures" and "miracle cures" you're gonna be subjected to while trolling the barefoot brigade (keep in your head that it's just a new angle some people are takin' on a trade that's as old as time). Good luck to ya!