We will have lived in our home 21 years in February 2021. Sometime after 2006 I started going to an outdoor flea market with hopes of finding treasures. On one occasion I found a horseshoe which reminded me of the story of it bringing good luck if you hang it on your door. So for all these year it has been on our front door and no-one has ever noticed it or at least never mentioned it. This morning I woke up with this horseshoe on my mind quite heavily. I just lay in bed sifting through the mixture of thoughts and then shook my head no, no, no. The horseshoe had lost its good luck charm to me as I thought back over the years. Yes, there has been money that has kept our finances in check but I don't give the credit to luck for that. Did you know (after googling) the the first story about the horseshoe was about the devil getting them put on his hoofs by a blacksmith. This blacksmith nailed the shoes on while they were still red hot and as the devil was walking along the shoes burned his hoofs so bad that he ripped them off. Of course we all know that the horseshoe protects the horses hoofs from wear and that's when I starting thinking. That protection enabled the horse to help farm the land, bring in the crops, take the crops to the market, and finally after the market to many homes where meals were prepared. With this revelation my horseshoe now has new meaning, new representation that is, to protect the flow of bounty that enters into our home. I like that.
“For the want of a nail the shoe was lost, For the want of a shoe the horse was lost, For the want of a horse the rider was lost, For the want of a rider the battle was lost, For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost, And all for the want of a horseshoe-nail.” B. Franklin
U.S. Army farrier Charles Morrison shows how he cleans and shoes the horses of the caisson platoon that serves Arlington National Cemetery.
Yes it is. I read that hanging the bottom side up brings luck to whoever passes through the door. That's nice too but not my choice.
"Yes, there has been money that has kept our finances in check but I don't give the credit to luck for that." Von, I suspect that you had more to do with that than luck did.
You made me go read about it, @Von Jones The rest of that devil story is that the devil screamed for the blacksmith (Saint Dunstan) to take off the hot shoe. St. Dustan agreed, with the proviso that the devil never enter any place that has a horseshoe hanging over the entrance.
My brother's remains were pulled by one of those horses. He spent his career with The Army Band at Fort Myer (played trombone in the regular band, and herald trumpet for visiting dignitaries.) When he died, the guys in the band volunteered to give him a Full Honors funeral. Still gives me chills just thinking about it. It's the stuff of royalty. I had no idea there was an on-site farrier dedicated to that service, much less that the guy was trained in the service (and not a recruit with equestrian experience.) I've known a few farriers. The area just west of Northern Virginia was/is "old money" horse country (show horses and dressage.) I've ridden a little. There's "old money" here in the middle part of the state as well (especially the area around Charlottesville), so the riding sport has popularity here.
Did any of you ever pitch Horseshoes? We would save the shoes that were removed from the farm mules. I'm not sure how many we eventually but it was enough for several people to play. On Sundays, family and neighbors would gather to play horseshoes.(And sometimes eat watermelon.) Two iron stobs were driven into the ground at the right distance apart. Each player was given two horseshoes. They pitched them at the stobs. A ringer counted the most points. A leaner was next. Then the points went down the farther the horseshoe was from the stob. Hence, the saying, "Close don't count except in horseshoes and hand grenades."
I remember my uncles playing horseshoes sometimes as teams but I only remember seeing one set of horseshoes. Someone would be positioned at each pole to keep from walking back and forth I guess. I was too little to understand the rules of the game. It was fun to watch them heckle each other to miss the throw.
I have a set made for pitching. They are more squared off than real horseshoes. I could never make the official distance (40 feet?). Sad