Collecting Horse Shoes...

[Adam Helmer]

I bought my farm in 1988 which was a 60-acre parcel from the original 155-acre homestead for three generations of the farm seller. As I cleaned up the area, I found horse shoes around the barn, in the garden (former pasture) and on the hills behind the house. I took all the hores shoes into the barn and began hanging them on nails from the overhead beams. At last count, there are 37 shoes of all sizes.

Last week, while working in the barn, I had time to reflect on the many horse shoes. Some of the former users were BIG horses! Many were medium sized shoes and there was one small shoe for a pony. I often wonder how many horses once called this old farm home. In the old days, all the farming was by horse power. Again, as I look over the 20-acre hayfield, I can imagine the effort it took both horse and farmer to drag a single furrow plow 400 yards and then turn around and do it again.

I find horse shoes on the woods trails in Summer and in the other fields. All I find repose in the barn where the former users once lived.

Adam