Yesterday, over the course of the day, I watched a prairie dog slowly push a horseshoe out of it's den (clearly, it was spring cleaning). I'm a huge fan of 1800's history and was thrilled at my find. I've been trying to research it's age with little luck. However, I realized, one main determining factor of age is whether it is wrought iron or steel. Which leads me to my question- Can I tell the type of metal by the way it rusts? This horseshoe is all rust and most is flaking in layers like shale rock.