Hello blacksmithing folks,

I found a horseshoe in up state New York near the Hudson river while metal detecting yesterday. I located these forums in hope to get an opinion on a date range for it. Any ideas/thoughts are appreciated!  John Jenkins

 

Late 19th to early 20th century.

As usual, I agree with Thomas.  It appears to be a farrier/smith made shoe rather than a commercially manufactured one.  There does not appear to be much wear on it and was probably lost not long after it was put on.  The prominent caulks and exposed nail heads appear to me that it was intended for providing additional traction to the animal.

I am not a horse person.  Some of the horsey/farrier folk here may be able to add more expert opinions.

"By hammer and hand all arts do stand."

Great information from both of you guys. Thanks alot!

Without knowing the scale for the size, to me it looks like a large draft horse shoe.

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Here are some more pictures with scale!

I agree it looks like a shoe for a horse pulling a load and not a riding horse.  

And pulling in soft ground, not hard roads or streets and probably not ice or snow which would probably have more pointed cleats or traction points.

Anvil, who is a farrier, and other similar folk will be able to comment in more detail.  There may be a farriers board on the internet which could offer more information.

GNM

Originally heal and toe calls were for traction on brick and cohoes streets. Modern folks are under the impression that pulling horses need the extra traction wile pulling. Not true in most cases. 
I can see that the heals are cleanly cut and the toe calk is very well made and welded. One will notice the nails are placed very close to the edge and quite small, leading one to suspect a thin hoof wall. 
man average riffing horse has a foot about 5” across in any direction.

if I was making a WAG, I would say Percheron, as they have Arab in their background and thinner hoof walls. Tho the shape is reminiscent of a hind shoe I would further suspect a Percheron as they have a narrow pointed front foot, and hind feet tent to have two quarter clips, tho modern keg shoes have only the single toe clip. 
tho smiths of old were known for the machine like quality of their work I actually suspect it to be an early machine made shoe, perhaps with the toe calk skip welded on buy the farrier.

 

 

i pretty much agree. As for age, Its hard to tell. clips, toe and heel calks are probably nearly as old as the first shoe made back in Roman times. If you look at the top branch in the above pic, the crease for the nails and nail holes looks like it may have been reforged and moved outboard for the reason Charles gave. It could be a keg shoe(manufactured) or a reforged hand made. No matter its history, its a nice looking piece of work. 

Thanks for all the info folks! Learned more about horseshoes than I would've ever dreamed. Great stuff!