Day 62. Horse Shoes

               This shoe is seven inches across.

Horse shoes are regularly picked up across fields. Some are modern; others were cast from one of the thousands of heavy horses which once worked the landscape.

The horse began to replace oxen as a beast of burden from the 17^th century, as increasing prosperity meant more farmers could afford the horse's more costly upkeep. They were used to draw wagons, ploughs and harrows. They provided a means of transport. From the 19^th century they reduced labour requirements by pulling reaper-binders and driving rotary mills. And, something lamented by farmworkers when tractors began to replace them, a horse could be a friend.

A prize-winning heavy horse at Stow Fair, held by Bert Morse, a farm worker for the Ashby family of Wimpstone.

Each horse needed iron shoes to prevent the hoof wearing down too quickly, and the farms provided a great deal of work for the village blacksmiths, who would forge the shoes, pare the hoof then nail the shoe in place. When they became worn, they could work loose and were cast, lying unnoticed in the soil for decades until picked up by chance.

Tractors began to appear on British farms during the First World War, and the Second World War spurred a drive for efficiency which heralded the end for the heavy horse. They had all but disappeared from the rural scene by the 1950s. But their shoes still adorn doorways as an ancient symbol of good luck.