Following submission of your online application (Step 1), your training commences with a briefing from OCC on our password-protected "Practitioners Website" (Step 2).

Next comes a phone interview and placement in a unique "Training Cell" administered by a "Training Cell Leader" (Step 3). In the Training Cell you will be joined by a half-dozen or so students, together forming an important support unit in the AANHCP. The TC Leader helps see you and your fellow students through the training steps, which culminate in certification.

The AANHCP T&C Program places you next in a series of orientation clinics (Step 4), an "Introduction To Live Horse Trimming" (Step 5) and mentorships (called "Mentorship Strings") with our most experienced trimmers called "Field Instructors" (Step 6).

With some experience now under your belt, we send you into a period of Independent Study -- when you get to practice things you've learned on your own! (Step 7).

After "I/S" you complete another mentorship string, this time with instructors checking you out to see if you're ready for certification (Step 8). If they feel you're ready (and they will consult with your TC Leader), then you will be advanced to your final examination (Step 9); and if you pass that, you will be invited to a special graduation ceremony before your peers (Step 10).

Most students can complete all their training within one year.*  In the clinics and learning seminars, we will teach you about the structures of the hoof, how to do a safe "natural trim" based on our wild horse model using cadaver hooves and later on live horses, introduce you to the principles of natural riding and how horses move naturally when barefoot (or booted), and demonstrate ways to forge positive human-equine relationships -- including safe horse handling techniques when trimming. Your instructors will teach you what they know and what you are ready to learn. They will file reports on your progress, and make recommendations to your TC Leader and OCC to strengthen your performance as you move along in your training. Be prepared to travel, because our mentors are spread out around the U.S. and abroad.

*Beginners can expect to spend approximately one year in training, most of the time in Independent Study in your home area. Students with considerable previous experience (e.g., farriers), and exceptionally talented "fast learners", may be able to complete all their training requirements in little more than half a year.


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