FWIW one of the highly regarded sporthorse farriers in my area takes a belt sander to the ENTIRE outer horn. Bye bye waterproofing.
I hate it. I stopped using them, for more than that reason, but it’s a good indicator of missing education or attempting to fix the visual of a poor trim by sanding away the bullnosing/event lines.
Oh my. The one I use does not take it to this degree but does buff things out. I can see the rings for sure but am not sure how they will photograph.
Yes it can be done to hide actual pathologies like flare and bull nose. Barefoot horses can’t get away with that as they need all the hoof they can get, and you watch the wall for issues that need to be addressed.
Yep, the most expensive farrier I’ve ever used did the same. I guess people think it’s pretty? He was also a CJF with all the technical certifications, yet he wrecked my TB’s feet in 2 cycles by “putting the breakover in the shoe instead of the toe,” so the sanding was the least of my worries!
They are likely using a buffer to smooth out the nails. Our podiatrist from Rood and Riddle does the same as do our sport horse farriers.
this is a complete myth
I don’t mind the nail smoothing (in fact it’s needed) - it’s the sanding down of the outer wall almost from coronet to shoe that drives me nuts. If a farrier is sanding down a foot, I’m going to take a harder look at the rest of the shoeing job to make sure they’re not just sanding down a bullnose or event lines while not addressing the internal problems. One doesn’t mean the other, but often the practices go hand in hand.
Also, if I’m applying expensive Keratex* to that outer horn because the farrier asked, you’d better NOT be buffing any away! 
*Keratex is formaldehyde based, and changes the molecular properties of the horn in a way that can be beneficial - but those effects only go so deep
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