My horses are trimmed every eight weeks, contemplating doing them every six right now. They are flaring on their quarters and having large chips breaking off more now than ever. Is this from uneven trimming? Wet spring? I haven't been riding them in rocky areas. They flare from the ground up, so to speak. So, I don't believe it is from stretched laminae but I could be wrong. None are lame but I don't want to ride them with their hooves having chunks out of them. They are barefoot. I called my farrier and I left a brief description. It will be eight weeks in another 9 days. They need trimming now. My farrier has been very good through out the years. I want to work with him and try to get on top of this. I would appreciate any comments from experiences that any of you have had with this.

In the winter you can get away with longer interval between trims. But in the wamer months the hooves grow faster and need to be trimed more often. I trim my horses every 3 weeks to prevent flares during the summer

Thanks, my farrier is going to start coming out every 6 weeks and see how it goes.

I've seen those hand rasps advertized for keeping flares in check in between trims. I'm leaning towards getting one. Maybe I shouls learn how to trim.

I have mixed thoughts on The Riders Rasp .  The are a short rasp. (Like 4" or working surface vs a standard 14" Rasp) They cost the same or more than buying a regular rasp, but you only get 33% of the working surface. You can only put the force of one hand in to using the rasp. vs two hands on a full sized. So you kinda use a scrubing action vs longer more powerful strokes.

Myself, I just don't find using a full sized rasp that difficult and find the full length more ecconomical to buy.

Have your farrier show you how to touch up the hooves with a rasp in between his visits. When I first learned how to trim, My farrier came on his normal 8 week schedule and I trimed at 4 weeks. He would evaluate my trim and true up the hoof.  Over time I started doing all my own trims.  In return, I made sure to recommend him to several other so his work load and pay inproved.