I wasn't trying to save a buck either. And believe me, I would much rather pay a good farrier to trim my horses feet so I wouldn't have to.. But after going through about 6 farriers in a couple years time and each one I had to either teach them how to trim a mini. Or I ended up retrimmed my horses when they were done... sure seemed like such a waste of money to me when your paying to have 20 some horses trimmed.
I am getting older and my arms/ hands just don't have the strength anymore and this tool has been the answer for me.
This tool is not nearly as scary as it seems.... But the biggest things I suggest is that yes, if you are going to use it,
1. you should have some idea how to trim feet. (that is just common sense)
2. you should practice on a piece of wood to get the feel of the tool
3. Always wear safety goggles or glasses
4. Wear leather gloves
5. When trimming back feet, it is VERY wise to wrap the horses tail in case the horse swishes it tail, you don't want to get tangled in the tool.
When I first started using it, i used one of the regular disc for practice, and honestly, i had it figured out on the first horse I did, it just took a few minutes to get the hang of it. I did end up going in the house and searching for videos on how to use and hold the tool..... when I figured out how to hold the tool, I switched to using the chain saw, and that is the only "blade" i use now.