Q: I have been a farrier for 7 years. I have started doing endurance riding. My horse has very sensitive front feet. One of them is slightly upright. I usually put plastic pads on him for endurance rides because the footing is often very rocky and we ride pretty fast and hard.

The only thing you can really do for older horses is to shoe them the way they go. If there’s an interference problem, you can help resolve that concern with your shoeing. Anytime you see the hairline pushed up, the horse is out of balance. If they’re going crooked, I just try to give them as much support as I can with a bar shoe or whatever is needed.