Identifying Horseshoe

[applejackfrost]

Sorry if these photos aren't great and the topic is mundane... Found this during an excavation on our farm.

The shoe is about 6.5" long and 6" wide. I noticed on the underside there is only a groove on one side through the holes and not the other (there is still a nail head on the right side). Also noticed the back piece is very thin. The left side of the shoe is about 5/16" thick and the right side is about 5/8" thick. Could there be that much wear from side to side? I know dating horseshoes is tough, just looking for an approximate time period.

 

[hoser]

Sorry I can't help with a date, but you made a very cool find. All the years I have detected I have never found a horseshoe. Well done.

 

[lumbercamp]

Horseshoes only have a groove on one side, that's where the head of the nail goes. And yes, horseshoes can wear unevenly.

 

[stetam]

Sorry I can't help with a date, but you made a very cool find. All the years I have detected I have never found a horseshoe. Well done.

Holy crap hoser, I have probably found close to 100 in 3 years.

Steve

 

[lumbercamp]

Holy crap hoser, I have probably found close to 100 in 3 years.

Steve

Yeah, they are so common here, I leave them in the woods.

 

[Longhair]

A little info:
That is a left hind shoe.
The whole reason for the crease (groove) is to hold dirt for traction. Dirt against dirt makes better traction than steel against dirt.
And "yes", shoes do wear that much. The fact that the outside branch is worn more than the inside branch has to do with weight bearing. It is common for there to be more weight on the outside branch than the inside branch on hind shoes. The opposite is true on front shoes, where there would be more weight bearing on the inside branch.

As far as dating it goes......it's tough to do since we still make them and use them the same way today as we did a few hundred years ago. The biggest difference today is the availability of premade shoes.

 

[hoser]

Holy crap hoser, I have probably found close to 100 in 3 years.

I know right! I have found all kinds of logging iron over the years. Chain pieces, broken hookaroons, axe heads, but not one single shoe. Maybe the farriers here did a extra good job putting the shoes on.

 

[lumbercamp]

I know right! I have found all kinds of logging iron over the years. Chain pieces, broken hookaroons, axe heads, but not one single shoe. Maybe the farriers here did a extra good job putting the shoes on.

If you want to find a horseshoe, you gotta come here to Pa., We'll find you one. The most common iron I find here is broken stove parts, axe heads and log chains. I've carried out more then 100 chain, I'm running out of places to hang them.

 

[Longhair]

I know right! I have found all kinds of logging iron over the years. Chain pieces, broken hookaroons, axe heads, but not one single shoe. Maybe the farriers here did a extra good job putting the shoes on.

There could be a number of reasons, not just that the farriers did a good job.

There are only three reasons to even put shoes on a horse.
1) To protect the foot (feet) from undue wear. If they are doing enough work on surfaces that are not kind to feet and you're grinding or breaking their feet off, then they need to be protected by something. Even Hannibal used rawhide boots to protect horse's feet when he went over the Alps.
2) To enhance their ability to do their job. This could be toe-weighted shoes on gaited horses, shoes with holes drilled and tapped for screw-in studs on jumpers or eventers, shoes with toe-grabs and heel caulks on driving/pulling horses, etc...
3) Therapeutic applications. Where an injury or condition exists that a shoe could help. We use bar shoes for additional support, and contiguous clip shoes for fractured coffin bones (P3), and that sort of thing. Often such shoes are only required for the period of time needed to heal the condition.

If the working surface and level of work are not excessively tough on the horse's feet, and if the horses are good footed, then there is no need for shoes and thus there would be none lost to find.

 

[hoser]

If the working surface and level of work are not excessively tough on the horse's feet, and if the horses are good footed, then there is no need for shoes and thus there would be none lost to find.

Ahhh maybe that explains it to a degree. Up here the ground composition is mainly sand, sandy loam and some clay. Soft for the most part. except in the winter when the ground gets solid. Lumbering was very big here back in the late 1800's early 1900's.

 

[Longhair]

Ahhh maybe that explains it to a degree. Up here the ground composition is mainly sand, sandy loam and some clay. Soft for the most part. except in the winter when the ground gets solid. Lumbering was very big here back in the late 1800's early 1900's.

I suspected that was probable. I've deer hunted just south of Mancelona, so I have an idea what it's like around you.
Sand is abrasive but is generally not too tough on their feet. And, their feet do callous, so as long as a farrier knows not to cut out the callous and leave their soles alone, they should fair pretty well barefoot.