Q: “Can a farrier use a full-support shoe to grow a better heel? Please explain.” — Alabama farrier 

A: There is no question about it. Yes, a farrier can use a full-support shoe to grow a better heel. A farrier can also use a frog-support pad to grow a better heel, and a farrier can use a light shoe, i.e. 1/4 inch or 6mm in thickness, to grow a better heel. Of course, you would only use the light shoes on appropriate horses, such as those who never seem to wear out their shoes and who work in good footing and arenas all the time.

To understand why, place a #2 horseshoe on a table or flat surface with the ground surface down and set a frog-support pad on the bearing surface with the molded frog portion of the pad facing upward. Line up the pad between the heels of the shoe. Push in the center of the frog portion of the pad and see how the pad is pushed through the heels of the shoe and how the edges of the pad curl and lift off the heels of the shoe.

This is what happens to a foot when the frog does not have any stability under it when the foot is loading and the shoe is not sinking in the ground, allowing the frog to have contact or support.

Now turn the pad over and let the frog portion go down between the heels. Press on the center…