✅ SOLVED Solved: How do you date horseshoes?

[cdsieg]

Just wondering how you date horseshoes?

I am sure someone is thinking... "Just ask it out" LOL so I thought I'd beat you to that one!

 

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It seems to have a number 5 or a letter S on it but can barely make it out

 

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[A2coins]

great info

 

[A2coins]

when will nike start making them

 

[Beshires1]

I have dug some shoes that were very old. Completely hand forged and the heels of the shoes had been forge welded onto the shoes. when banging off the rust and scale the heels fell off!

 

[Coll21]

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The information that was provided was found in the book: Artifacts of Colonial America by Ivor Noel Hume. (Don't shoot the messenger-call the author!) As noted, dating horseshoes is difficult at best. As with any hand-made item, the maker has the liberty to make it as he/she wishes. A current gunmaker could easily produce a flintlock rifle with all the early fixtures, but it obviously would not be old. Same thing with an ancient spear/arrow point. All one can do is go with the professional studies that have been documented and make your best guess.

I believe I have a 19th-century horse shoe but not sure as I’m just learning about the history of them
Here are some pictures of The horse you that I purchased at a yard sale for crafts

 

[BosnMate]

I think the number 5 relates to the size of the shoe. You have a hind shoe with a toe clip, a toe grab, and heel caulks, pronounced "corks." Horse shoes sizes start at 00, or "double ought," then 0, which are small, and as I recollect, the size 1 and 2 are the most used sizes on light saddle horses. Size 5 would be for a large animal. The corks and grab are for traction which tells you the horse was pulling a heavy load, and the the toe clip, which was heated red hot and burned into the horses hoof wall, was to keep the strain of that extra traction off the nails. Amish still use horses shoes exactly like that one today, same with people that horse log. Trying to date a horse shoe by shape is impossible. It doesn't look to me like your shoe was on the horse for very long. More likely it's not very old. I used to make shoes like yours, only smaller and without the toe clip, for people to use as a trivet.

 

[Coll21]

I really love this horseshoe and didn’t want to ruin it with my craft ideas if it was an important piece of history
thank you so much for all your knowledge on horseshoes

 

[JoeVal]

I found this shoe in my brother's woods behind his farm. Near as I can figure, it’s from a draught horse based on the design, and dates from the late 19th to early 20th century. It measures 4-3/4” wide by 6-1/4” overall length, with a very well worn toe clip (almost a knife edge). I was glad to be able to clean it up to look this good from it’s dug condition, and will be giving it to my sister-in-law to put in the barn with her horse that she performed dressage with. A little bit of history saved from their farm woods, and my first horseshoe found metal detecting.