Ferrous day today

[Radnor Bandit (Ian)]

Signals were very quiet today so I dug these bits of iron
Ist is what I suspect is a spear and came from about 16"
2nd a horse or pony shoe(before and after a good dremmeling) any idea of date please (looks like wrought iron due to the laminations in the metal)
Both came off very remote hillside that has just been cleared of bracken (!st time in many years)

Thank you Ian

[Val Beechey]

As far as I know Ian there aren't any Cast shoes.  Alwasy been hammered to fit by the Blacksmith, now Farrier, from strip metal.
Not sure what size yours is but it looks little. (I still work in inches) It could have been for either Pony or Donkey and judging by the shape and how much of it is left I'd guess, not that old, though nothing like modern day design.

Val

[Val Beechey]

p.s.   Love the spear. 

I tried the same thing this afternoon but all I found was bits off ploughs.

Val

[Radnor Bandit (Ian)]

the shoe is about 4" X 4" in old money Val. When I said about laminations I mean old hand beaten iron (caused by the repetative folding of the iron bar). Cast doesnt have a "grain"

I will not even attempt to clean up the spear (a quick rinse only) and off for a secong opinion 

[Val Beechey]

I thought 'cast' was when the molten iron was poured into a mold. Did I get that wrong.?

Anyway 4inches is quite tiny so def. pony or donkey. Attached is a pici of one I found some time ago. i kept it to show my Farrier, thought he'd be interested. he thought it was early 1900's. The little onesare some he made for my horse.

Val

[Radnor Bandit (Ian)]

I thought 'cast' was when the molten iron was poured into a mold. Did I get that wrong.?

Anyway 4inches is quite tiny so def. pony or donkey. Attached is a pici of one I found some time ago. i kept it to show my Farrier, thought he'd be interested. he thought it was early 1900's. The little onesare some he made for my horse.

Val

Thats right you pour a cast and beat wrought. I thought mine may have age to it due to horses been usually smaller in past times. the Norman knights war horses where about the same size as a pony.. (according to time team anyway)
This is similar to most livestock through selective breeding over the years, the Georgian sheep and cattle were much smaller than todays modern breeds.

[Chef Geoff]

I like the Spearhead Ian, not sure if you'll get a firm date on it as most are dated relative to context being a practical item that reached it's design peak way back in the Bronze Age, It did what it said on the tin so didn't really change very much.
The horse shoe is a bit easier as it's a classic Keyhole shoe and given the size and thickness is probably from the late 17thC (1660-1700).
It's not an unusual size for those days and the further back you go the smaller the horses become with the average cavalry mount from the civil war being only 14.2h.
As you say the Norman nights at Hastings fought on "horses" averaging just over 12h, agility was more important than "impact", a sort of medieval getaway car.

[Radnor Bandit (Ian)]

Thanks for the ID on the shoe Geoff, I am in the process of emailing some photos to FLO of the spear to see if they are interest. I am keeping it in a damp bag at present to prevent it drying out too quickly.
Cheers Ian