The theme of the 2015 annual fall clinic at the Horseshoe Barn in Sacramento, Calif., focused on looking beyond the surface of the hoof and considering the anatomical structures and systems that affect and are affected by the way farriers trim and shoe horses’ hooves.

An American Farrier’s Association (AFA) certification exam and 3 days of lectures and competition marked the 30th anniversary of the Northern California Classic, the Western States Farriers Association’s (WSFA) longest running event. With a tradition of providing certification, continuing education and competition to farriers in the western United States, Shelee Lyon, secretary of the WSFA and co-organizer of the event, of Ramona, Calif., says, “We like to treat the event like a mini convention and we try to gear it more toward education than just competition.”