Esco Buff (Webster, N.Y.)
My heart, horse and love of my life is a Clydesdale named Rocky. Last year he was found to have Canker in all four hooves. It was a heartbreaking diagnosis, and one that no one had any idea on. Even when I searched the Internet, there was not too much information and a great deal of it made no sense. We ended up taking Rocky to one of the top veterinarian schools for treatment. We were told that three hooves had only a small spot of canker in them and the right front was the worst. The farrier there trimmed and cleaned all four hooves. He told us to keep him clean and soak his hooves. He said that he had cut away all the cankerous tissue, however by the very next day it was back in the right front. We have tried every product on the market and every so-called treatment. The right front continued to be a problem, but vets and farriers told us he was clear of the canker in the rest of the three hooves. Call it a “mother’s instinct,” but something kept telling me that Rocky was far from being cured of the canker.
I continued my daily research on the topic and was just about to give up when I came across farrier Esco Buff. I had followed him on Facebook and knew he was a very knowledgeable farrier who really invested his life to this type of work. I reached out to him, thinking maybe at the very least I would get an email with some possible guidance. Instead Esco asked me to call him right away and he spent close to an hour providing me with tons of information on canker. He was the first and only person that made any sense in the matter. He also agreed to take a look at Rocky.
Esco saved Rocky. My instinct was right; the canker was still in all four hooves and there was so much left behind from his so-called treatment at the well-known veterinarian hospital. Esco did a level 10 of care and the hospital, if lucky, did a 1. The care he received from Esco was amazing and I finally felt some hope.
Esco drove out to our farm a few weeks later to check Rocky and was positive in regard to his future. While he was there we had two other horses with some severe hoof issues. Another Clydesdale with an avulsion that several other farriers could not fix and a mare that the vet just told us had founder. Esco agreed to work on them as well. The other Clydesdale had been laid up with his issues for years. In one day Esco made his hooves look like a million dollars. I was blown away on the quality of the work and the fact Esco fixed this horse in one treatment when several other farriers could not do it in many attempts.
The mare that had foundered was barely able to walk. It was Esco and not our vet that told us what was going on with her. He again provided me with an abundance of information and put us going in the right direction. The mare has Equine Metabolic Syndrome, which has been a cause of her long-term issues. This had gone on for years without diagnosis and in turn had caused her to be a “sinker with rotation” in both fronts. Esco is the one who told us how to properly feed and care for her. He took the X-rays at that first visit with her and by the time he came back the mare was a 100% better. She was walking and running and was happy. This mare had been one of the meanest horses but after her pain was relieved she has been the happiest mare going. Esco took a second set of X-rays and the differences were astounding.
Not only is Esco a very skilled farrier, but also has so much knowledge in regard to the general health of a horse. His work is the best I have ever seen and he saved not just one of our horses but three. I firmly believe Esco is a farrier that should be recognized for his incredible work, skill and dedication as a farrier, as well as a true horseman.
—Michelle Michalek (East Aurora, N.Y.)
