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Horseshoe identification

O

OzarksMike

Member
Does anyone know a good way to identity the time period for horseshoes? I tried searching the net but can’t find anything too helpful. Thanks in advance.
 
IowaMike said:
Does anyone know a good way to identity the time period for horseshoes? I tried searching the net but can’t find anything too helpful. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
If it's a manufactured shoe, then it may be possible to guess a date range. But if it's handmade, then only slight nuances in what was "stylish" at the time might give a clue. We still make 'em by hand, and have been for around 600 years.
 
Too bad horseshoes aren’t more like coins, problem solved!!
 
The two most common manufactured horse brands around today are Diamond brand and St Criox these are "drop forged" and only need a hammer and anvil to shape to fit the horses foot.
If the shoe is not totalyl worn smooth on the side that goes against the horses foot you should be able to see the word diamond stamped inside of daimond shaped logo on the toe of the shoe. St croix will be harder to identify but a good farrier will be able to spot them.
The diamond shoes were first manufactured in 1904 and have been in continues supply under different ownerships since then.
The St Criox shoes are newcomers and have only been around since 1984. However their current owners are the mustad nail co. who have been in business since 1834.
Shoes that were hand forged by a blacksmith from ancient antiquity to present day will be much harder to date.
Hint, if its aluminium or not rusty it's not old!
Ed
 
Ed Steinhoff said:
The two most common manufactured horse brands around today are Diamond brand and St Criox these are "drop forged" and only need a hammer and anvil to shape to fit the horses foot.
If the shoe is not totalyl worn smooth on the side that goes against the horses foot you should be able to see the word diamond stamped inside of daimond shaped logo on the toe of the shoe. St croix will be harder to identify but a good farrier will be able to spot them.
The diamond shoes were first manufactured in 1904 and have been in continues supply under different ownerships since then.
The St Criox shoes are newcomers and have only been around since 1984. However their current owners are the mustad nail co. who have been in business since 1834.
Shoes that were hand forged by a blacksmith from ancient antiquity to present day will be much harder to date.
Hint, if its aluminium or not rusty it's not old!
Ed
Click to expand...
Though commonly available, Diamond shoes are among the worst shoes to actually put on a horse. They are much better suited for use in crafts such as wine racks, picture frames, and such. I can honestly say that I've not nailed a Diamond shoe on a horse in over 25 years.

St. Croix are better, but except for a few specific applications I don't use them much either.

My preferred brand of manufactured shoes for the last few decades has been Kerckhaert. I buy unclipped SX7, SX8, and SSP's, and then clip them myself. Every horse I shoe gets hot fit, with hammer drawn clips. Other modifications are common, but not an issue since I'm going to have them in the fire anyway.

Anything that requires something special, I tend to hand make from bar stock. That way I have total control. It saves me money too, since I don't have to invest in several sizes and styles of therapeutic shoes to carry around looking for a horse to put them on. It's much easier and cheaper to just carry a few feet each of a few sizes of bar stock, then make exactly what I need when I need it.
 
Ed Steinhoff said:
The two most common manufactured horse brands around today are Diamond brand and St Criox these are "drop forged" and only need a hammer and anvil to shape to fit the horses foot.
If the shoe is not totalyl worn smooth on the side that goes against the horses foot you should be able to see the word diamond stamped inside of daimond shaped logo on the toe of the shoe. St croix will be harder to identify but a good farrier will be able to spot them.
The diamond shoes were first manufactured in 1904 and have been in continues supply under different ownerships since then.
The St Criox shoes are newcomers and have only been around since 1984. However their current owners are the mustad nail co. who have been in business since 1834.
Shoes that were hand forged by a blacksmith from ancient antiquity to present day will be much harder to date.
Hint, if its aluminium or not rusty it's not old!
Ed
Click to expand...
One is really rusty and popped out when the dozer guy was clearing an area for me so I don’t know how deep it was. The other not too rusty but was 4” deep in the middle of the woods. No foundations any where and too rocky to farm so unknown how it ended up there. There were no roads here until the70’s. Thanks!
 
Based on above info could it be an area where horse logging occurred? Around here one would be looking at a much large shoe to fit the larger draft horses.
 
Pics with a ruler for scale would help a lot in providing you more info on what you've found.
 
C787E949-4C62-4014-B75F-5E545018B2A5.jpeg
 
Right hind shoe made from half-round stock. That type of shoe is/was commonly nailed on Hackney ponies, though we do put them on others when deemed appropriate.
 
You said these shoes were " Drop Forged" earlier, but I have a diamond shoe that says "Hot forged" on it, plus the type of shoe and size on the side that doesn't have a rim. I have gotten that much information from Diamond themselves as well as the type of use and horse the shoe was intended for....but the guy could not pinpoint any period of manufacture. Does anyone know when this stamp would have been used? I'm also looking into more information on the stirrup. I would like to know the time and use of this particular model. I have found the maker stamp for Kell Brothers written as "Kell Bros" but am trying to pinpoint the time period for the use of that particular stamp as well since I know the company changed hands and subsequently branded stamp designs over time.
 

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sakurasenshi said:
You said these shoes were " Drop Forged" earlier, but I have a diamond shoe that says "Hot forged" on it, plus the type of shoe and size on the side that doesn't have a rim. I have gotten that much information from Diamond themselves as well as the type of use and horse the shoe was intended for....but the guy could not pinpoint any period of manufacture. Does anyone know when this stamp would have been used? I'm also looking into more information on the stirrup. I would like to know the time and use of this particular model. I have found the maker stamp for Kell Brothers written as "Kell Bros" but am trying to pinpoint the time period for the use of that particular stamp as well since I know the company changed hands and subsequently branded stamp designs over time.
Click to expand...
They are heated in an induction furnace before bending and being placed in a press that forges the shoe.
That Diamond shoe in the pic is a polo shoe, intended for traction on turf. That's what the "P" means in the stamp.
As far as the manufacture date goes, it's really hard to tell. You'd have to find out exactly when they started making that model shoe to establish a date range, but it could be anywhere between when they started producing them until today, as they still make them. The LOGO tells you nothing, because they've used that same LOGO for over 60 years. Diamond is a tool company that has been around a long time, and horseshoes are something they started making well after the company began business.

Sorry, I can't tell you anything about the spur. That's not a subject I'm familiar with at all.
 
Sandinpants, you are right. I still don't get all that but I will be taking a closer look at the shoes I dig. The only horse I ever rode, ( I tried to ride ) threw me and that was 71 years ago. Never got on another one. Got to admit, they are beautiful animals.
 
Wild Willy said:
Sandinpants, you are right. I still don't get all that but I will be taking a closer look at the shoes I dig. The only horse I ever rode, ( I tried to ride ) threw me and that was 71 years ago. Never got on another one. Got to admit, they are beautiful animals.
Click to expand...
The only horse I rode was the 10 cent one in front of the store
 
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