Little Iron Thingy Help

[gollum]

Ok folks, this is my first whatsit. Was metal detecting around a possible old sealed mine site in the desert. Found little bits from chisels where they curl up at the tip and flake off. We also found a few pices of broken horseshoes. Funny, because it is a hard to get to location, and bringing a horse there would require some effort. NOBODY just goes horse riding where this spot is. There are no fences. No ranches or riding trails within miles, and this is far into a steep canyon, with many boulders (I guess that explains the broken horse shoes).

Also found this little piece of iron with a barb on it. It is 2.25" in length, about .5" wide, and about .25" thick. We have no idea what this was a part of. There is a large boulder there that was shaped to look like something, and we thought it may have been part of a rock shaping tool, but can't find anything positively. All we can tell is that it is very old.

Your turn! Your assistance is greatly apppreciated.

Best,

Mike

 

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[gollum]

Thanks Gunstuff,

Let me make sure I have this right;

Was this welded to the horse shoe, and left on for a horse pulling/hauling a heavy load for grip? OR... was this just a piece welded on to the horse shoe by the farrier to grip the shoe while hot working it (before putting on the hoof?

Your explanation fits the best with what we have found in the area (broken horseshoe, and some mining signs). I guess a horse hauling gold ore would qualify as a heavy load.

Best,

Mike

 

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[gunstuff1950]

It was welded on the horse shoe for a grip. Much like a football or baseball cleat. When a horse pulls a HEAVY load, he leans into the harness and digs in with the front (toe) of all 4 hooves. A flat shoe would slip like leather soles on ice. These grabs allowed the horse to dig into the dirt or gravel and pull. The heels of the shoe were turned down about 1 inch making a 3 point contact on the ground instead of one flat surface. Like putting snow chains on tires. Draft horses were used to carry off the slag piles from the mine openings and the ore to the crushers. The rails for the ore cars and the timbers for shoring were all hauled in and out by horses. I used to shoe compitition pulling horses and mules in Kansas and Oklahoma and horses that were used to haul hay and feed to cattle in the deep snows. I was still using these grabs until the early 70's when I couldn't find them anymore. Just bought bar stock, cut it with a torch and welded it on with an arc welder. Not much skill required there......
Thanks for the chance to turn back the years!

gunstuff