Dating a Horseshoe

[DavidGC]

Pulled this out of my backyard - about 6 inches down.

Does anyone know if it's possible to date a horseshoe by its appearance?

48877

[del]

wow it looks pretty clean , did you do any electrolysis on it ??

[Digger_O'Dell]

I am assuming it's sitting on a standard paper towel? If so, it's unusually large so maybe from a Clydesdale or Morgan, which are typical heavy haulers among horses. So as to age, there are many clues.
First would be the big cleats, which show it for traction in dirt and mud while pulling. Modern shoes are flat to deal with paved roads
Second clue would be the thinness of the material, so I would assume steel instead of iron, An iron shoe would be too weak and break easily under load while steel would not.
Third clue is how narrow it is as well. This is to make it lighter for the horse, so indicates road use over heavy farm work. So probably a carriage or lighter delivery wagon on dirt roads. These clues indicate that it is most likely from about 1900 to 1930 era.
Hope this helps!

[DavidGC]

del - yes, it has had several hours of electrolysis.
Digger -- Actually, that's 1/2 of a paper towel. Sorry I didn't provide any reference. It is about the size of a regular horseshoe -- maybe a little small and thin, actually. Your analysis is quite interesting. you're saying the projections would face down, so as to grip snow/ice? This being Vermont, that would make sense.
I think there was some horseshoeing going on on this land about 100 years ago. I've found quite a few antique shoeing nails, but this is the first horseshoe I've found.

[Digger_O'Dell]

Yes, the cleats face down. You can verify that by looking at the square holes in the shoe, and which way they taper. Large side is to recess the nail head. As for size, then that would most likely be for an average size horse for buggy/sleigh pulling or riding. Often in winter the shoes would have had spikes or big dimples on the bottom to penetrate the ice.
As my family raised horses as a business while I was growing up, I have seen a lot of different horse shoes over the years including a lot my parents collected as antiques and decorations on the farm.

[Skamaniac]

I found a horseshoe a while back and had a farrier look at it. He had a lot of insight and information on how it was made, it's probable age, and even how the animal that wore it had an uneven gait. If you know of a farrier around there you might want to have him/her take look at it.

[Bell-Two]

That was an interesting analysis of the horseshoe learn something new all the time