That bit about shifting weight off the painful parts is spot on. My mare's abscess kept blowing out the same spot. We raised her heel angle just a little, maybe two degrees, and it finally gave that area a break to heal up for good.
Totally get what that farrier meant, richard_wells59. It's crazy how a few degrees of change in the hoof angle can shift weight off the painful parts of the foot. Makes me wonder if bad angles are a bigger cause of laminitis than people usually talk about.