Horseshoe ID

Probably a draft horse that was towing a supply wagon. Mormon for sure.

HistoryStudent said:

Probably a draft horse that was towing a supply wagon. Mormon for sure.

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Naw, it's from a Daft horse from the Rusty C Ranch.

First of all, all horseshoe nails are rectangular....always have been, always will be.

Beyond that, what you have is a left front toe-weighted shoe off of a gaited horse, like a Saddlebred. There's no real way to date it, especially since so much of it's detail is gone.

Gaited breeds (Walkers, Foxtrotters, Morgans, and Saddlebreds) have always been popular where people wanted to cover a lot of ground in comfort, mostly under saddle. But, sometimes they were used for fancy driving horses as well.

Longhair said:

First of all, all horseshoe nails are rectangular....always have been, always will be.

Beyond that, what you have is a left front toe-weighted shoe off of a gaited horse, like a Saddlebred. There's no real way to date it, especially since so much of it's detail is gone.

Gaited breeds (Walkers, Foxtrotters, Morgans, and Saddlebreds) have always been popular where people wanted to cover a lot of ground in comfort, mostly under saddle. But, sometimes they were used for fancy driving horses as well.

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Well, I'll be darned. I didn't realize farrier was still an occupation. Guess I thought all horseshoes were machine-manufactured or stamped-out / automated these days. Sweet. Thanks for the detail. But I'm guessing rust alone makes it a century old, or not necessarily?

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rfaatalrashid said:

Well, I'll be darned. I didn't realize farrier was still an occupation. Guess I thought all horseshoes were machine-manufactured or stamped-out / automated these days. Sweet. Thanks for the detail. But I'm guessing rust alone makes it a century old, or not necessarily?

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No telling how old it is. Comparing the degradation against other steel objects that you can identify and date is probably the only way to be close.

And shoes are actually just a part of Farriery. Those feet need to be maintained regardless of whether they are shod or not. So not only is it still an occupation, there are thousands of us still working to take care of all the horses that you see.

As for available shoes these days, yes, we do use a lot of pre-made shoes, but most of them are forged, not stamped. They still need to be fit to the horse's prepared feet, and often there are a few modifications made to suit the individual horse before application. Specialty shoes, such as those needed for a variety of therapeutic conditions, we still often hand make from bar stock.

Nice ID and info , Longhair , glad your around to help . HH