Old horseshoe

[Cephalopod]

I found this horseshoe up in Leavitt Meadow high up in the Sierra Nevada mountains. While researching to try and date it, I discovered this site and read a post about another horseshoe. The horseshoe is very worn. It has some symbols and letters on the inside edge of the horseshoe. I have three more photos but I'm having a problem uploading them.

 

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[Tony in SC]

I would say it is a later mass produced (not smith made) shoe. Used on rocky terrain?

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I agree with Tony, likely a factory stamped shoe, mass produced after 1870
I find a lot of horseshoes, as anyone who hunts farm fields often does, but I've never found one with a foundry stamp.

"In 1835, the first U.S. patent for a horseshoe manufacturing machine was issued to Henry Burden (1791-1871) of Troy, N.Y. Burden's machine made up to sixty horseshoes per hour. J.B. Kendall of Boston patented an improved horseshoe and possible the first composite horseshoe issued in 1861. Oscar E Brown patented an improved double or compound horseshoe, which consisted of; an upper shoe secured to the hoof of the animal and a lower auxiliary shoe permanently attached to the upper shoe. The object of invention was the provision of a secure and reliable lock for fastening the lower shoe to the upper shoe, which will permit the lower shoe to be readily applied and removed from the upper shoe whenever it becomes necessary to renew the lower shoe or resharpen it calks.

Horseshoes have long been considered lucky. They were originally made of iron, a material that was believed to ward off evil spirits, and traditionally were held in place with seven nails, seven being the luckiest number. The superstition acquired a further Christian twist due to a legend surrounding the 10th-century saint Dunstan, who worked as a blacksmith before becoming Archbishop of Canterbury. The legend recounts that, one day, the Devil walked into Dunstan's shop and asked him to shoe his horse. Dunstan pretended not to recognize him, and agreed to the request; but rather than nailing the shoe to the horse's hoof, he nailed it to the Devil's own foot, causing him great pain. Dunstan eventually agreed to remove the shoe, but only after extracting a promise that the Devil would never enter a household with a horseshoe nailed to the door. Opinion is divided as to which way up the horseshoe ought to be nailed. Some say the ends should point up, so that the horseshoe catches the luck, and that the ends pointing down allow the good luck to be lost; others say they should point down, so that the luck is poured upon those entering the home. Superstitious sailors believe that nailing a horseshoe to the mast will help their vessel avoid storms."

I tried to clean it up to make it more legible... besides it was hurting my neck turning sideways.
Dave