Consider, too, if an individual shoe was thrown during use or 
removed, potentially during reshoeing.  Any attached nails can be 
helpful here - if the nails are still clinched and the shoe is well 
bent the probability is it was thrown.  If the nails are short, the 
points clipped off, and the shoe not especially bent, it was probably 
removed.  Again. consult a farrier.  And try to arrange some time 
watching the full process.  While the material of the shoe and the 
ways to control a horse have changed over time, the actual process of 
reshoeing, and the tools involved, haven't changed that much.

Robert

At 8/2/2007 12:22 PM, you wrote:
>Hi all,
>I'm about to analyse an assesmblage of horseshoes (dating from the 
>late nineteenth/early twentieth century).  This is an artefact type 
>I haven't dealt with before and was wondering what attributes need 
>to be recorded.  I'm planning to start with some basic measurements, 
>but don't know what to record beyond that, or what the terms for the 
>different parts of the horseshoe are.  I've had a look around for 
>some ideas but haven't found anything particularly helpful.  Any 
>advice would be much appreciated.
>Cheers,
>Katharine
>
>Katharine Watson
>Underground Overground Archaeology Ltd
>28 Pratt Street
>Christchurch
>New Zealand
>
>027 656 3985