On June 21, the Abner Hershberger Shop held a clinic in Camden Wyoming, Del., featuring clinician Esco Buff's presentation on "The Whole Horse Approach to Lameness Problem Solving and Limb Length Disparity," drawing 35 attendees.

 Esco Buff, APF, CF, of Webster, N.Y., is a member of the International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame, inducted in February 2011.  

 The clinic began with Buff's presentation on limb length disparity and the whole horse approach. "He went through his power point and showed us what he's looking for with different limb lengths. He explained how the back can be crooked and out of line and how that affects the horse," says Abner Hershberger, owner of the Abner Hershberger shop.

 "Esco suggested looking at the top of the back to see if it's straight. He said to check that the hips are lined up and so are the shoulders, look to see if the chest and the front are matching up and, of course, to look at the legs and feet," says Hershberger.

 The afternoon of the clinic held a demonstration in which Buff "brought in a few horses that he looked at and went over with the participants to illustrate what he looks for as signs of limb length disparity," Hershberger says. "He'd tape pads on the horse to demonstrate how adding a quarter-inch pad or a degree pad affects a horse's movement."

 Hershberger began holding clinics at his shop because "we used to have the Del Mar Farriers Association in the area. They asked me if I would hold some events for them, and I agreed. We've had a lot of good clinicians and clinics and I found out that I get more out of it than I put in. Although the Del Mar Farriers Association went by the wayside, some of us decided not to let the whole thing go completely. We're not an association, we're just going on and doing clinics and events like we used to with the association," Hershberger explains.

 The Abner Hershberger Shop will be holding another clinic sponsored by Farrier Product Distribution  on Sept. 20, 2014 with Dave Farley as the clinician.