Tuesday, March 03, 2020

Horseshoe in a rock pile

Reader Colin sent these pictures from northern Westford/Tyngesborough showing a rock pile with a broken horseshoe:


This is much like the example of a rock pile with a broken plow blade (see here). Taking the USET description of rock piles as "Prayers in Stone", let us pause and consider if a prayer might have been involved with leaving these broken farm artifacts inside a rock pile.
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3 comments :

  1. pwax8:23 AM

    The horseshoe is not a complete shoe. Can someone help me interpret what I am seeing in the first picture? What is that extra bit of iron?

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  2. Tim MacSweeney9:23 AM

    I think you mean the "toe caulk" or "toe caulkin" - added for traction, especially in heavy load work conditions, possibly dating it to the late 1800s.

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  3. Tim MacSweeney9:28 AM

    Pronounced "cork" and sometimes spelled like that, as in "cork boots" that loggers wear - a "cleat" to give more traction.

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