The horse’s foot will tell you how much lift it needs by its look and the way the horse stands. If he’s straight in the shoulder, he can stand a little more heel. If he’s got more slope to his shoulder, than he doesn’t need more lift in the heels. If you raise him up, you’ll be putting too much pressure on the heels.

I’ve used both wedge pads and wedge shoes, depending on the shoeing interval. The wedge pad works better if you’re going to shoe in shorter intervals because it gives a little more cushion than a steel shoe.

But I’ll use a wedge shoe if the shoeing interval is longer because it doesn’t wear as quickly. A wedge pad will mash down and take away from what you’re trying to accomplish if you don’t change it often enough. You want to keep the heel at the correct angle.

—Don Richardson, Urbana, Ohio

A: I don’t like wedge pads; I’d rather use wedge shoes. Wedge pads allow too much movement. You lose…