29th December 2010, 09:26 PM
(This post was last modified: 29th December 2010, 09:37 PM by deadlylampshade.)
In early periods, the use of horse shoes (or the hippo boot thingies) is influenced by the type of going and how it affected the horses' ability to move on the surface.
If horseshoes were collected from the battle field for recycling I would expect to see a lot of footless (dare I say "legless" bearing in mind the time of year...) horse skeletons as that is the quickest way to get them off a dead horse. (Cavalry horses of the 18/19th century also had their number branded on their hooves so one had to be chopped off to prove it was dead and not sold...hence the chappie with the axe you see riding in a black tunic on the Trooping of the Colour...but I digress)
If the battle field is plundered by metal detectorists you can almost guarantee all the shoes will go for scrap metal a bit like their ancient counter parts.
But realistically you're looking at anything from 1400 to modern for a good covering of horse shoes across the battle field...it suggests one hell of a battle though or horses up against cannons...it's not Sevastopol is it??????????.:0
So now can I ask...where is this and who is excavating it??? Would love to go see...
}
Oops...forgot the references...
Ann Hyland: Equus, Horse in the Roman World (Not my favourite as she has a thing about Arabs which weren't really a breed until 800AD...and she goes on about Western riding which I don't agree is a suitable parallel to Roman riding)
And
Andrew Ayton: Knights and Warhorses (English Aristocracy under Edward III) nothing directly about horse shoes as such but a LOT of very detailed detail on numbers and costs of horses...quite a hard book to read as it is crammed with facts and figures.
If horseshoes were collected from the battle field for recycling I would expect to see a lot of footless (dare I say "legless" bearing in mind the time of year...) horse skeletons as that is the quickest way to get them off a dead horse. (Cavalry horses of the 18/19th century also had their number branded on their hooves so one had to be chopped off to prove it was dead and not sold...hence the chappie with the axe you see riding in a black tunic on the Trooping of the Colour...but I digress)
If the battle field is plundered by metal detectorists you can almost guarantee all the shoes will go for scrap metal a bit like their ancient counter parts.
But realistically you're looking at anything from 1400 to modern for a good covering of horse shoes across the battle field...it suggests one hell of a battle though or horses up against cannons...it's not Sevastopol is it??????????.:0
So now can I ask...where is this and who is excavating it??? Would love to go see...
}
Oops...forgot the references...
Ann Hyland: Equus, Horse in the Roman World (Not my favourite as she has a thing about Arabs which weren't really a breed until 800AD...and she goes on about Western riding which I don't agree is a suitable parallel to Roman riding)
And
Andrew Ayton: Knights and Warhorses (English Aristocracy under Edward III) nothing directly about horse shoes as such but a LOT of very detailed detail on numbers and costs of horses...quite a hard book to read as it is crammed with facts and figures.
Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Merlot in one hand, Cigar in the other; body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming "WOO HOO, what a ride!