Some iron finds from Sunday

[flyinryan2]

Here are some iron finds from Sunday, what were the handle looking things used for? What type of horse wore the little horse shoe? Could the other thing be a ramrod, it's wood in the inside with what looks like nickel coated brass.
Thanks for the help,
Ryan.

 

[fatkook626]

yep i think that is a ramrod heres a pic as for the horseshoe maybe a shetland pony?

 

[taz42o]

Looks more like part of a cleaning rod.

 

[charlives]

Looks like a mule shoe. Nice finds. We get about 20-30 ox shoe halves for every horse shoe we find. I only find about one mule shoe a year. Keep it up!

 

[flyinryan2]

Looks like a mule shoe. Nice finds. We get about 20-30 ox shoe halves for every horse shoe we find. I only find about one mule shoe a year. Keep it up!

Thanks. I've found two of these small shoes so far. They are cool to dig that's for sure.
Any idea on the handle looking things?

 

[flyinryan2]

Looks more like part of a cleaning rod.<img src="http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=804669"/>

Very cool!!
Thanks.

 

[MistyMountainHop]

Hey I just found one of the handles this week too! Sadly I over did the speedy electrolysis and used too much force picking off the rust. Doesn't pay to b in a rush

 

[BosnMate]

The small shoe is either for a mule or a donkey, probably a mule. Mules are a cross between a horse and a donkey, and depending on the parents, a mule can be small or a cross of a mammoth jack and workhorse mare makes a large mule. Shetland pony shoes are smaller than the mule shoe you are showing. Shetland ponies and donkeys are rarely shod, but years ago there was an 8 up of Shetlands pulling a miniature stage coach, and I was involved with shoeing those animals. Almost an impossible job that didn't pay near enough to be worth while. The shoe on the left is for a front foot, and on the right is for a hind foot. A horse will generally have a larger front foot, with a size smaller hind foot. Your ramrod tip looks an awful lot like a pencil eraser.

 

[DCMatt]

The handle things may be part of a walking plow hitch.

Can we see the end of your "cleaning rod" bit? And put a penny in the pic for scale, plz.

DCMatt

 

[DCMatt]

Bosnmate said:

Your ramrod tip looks an awful lot like a pencil eraser.

My thought exactly. One of those old elementary school "fat pencils".

Let's see another pic...

DCMatt

 

[BosnMate]

Bosnmate said:

My thought exactly. One of those old elementary school "fat pencils".

Let's see another pic...

DCMatt

Yup. Never seen a ramrod or cleaning rod the looks just like that. Interesting. Should be able to see the big old soft #2 lead in the wood.

 

[flyinryan2]

Yup. Never seen a ramrod or cleaning rod the looks just like that. Interesting. Should be able to see the big old soft #2 lead in the wood.

Here are more pics.

 

[BosnMate]

are those threads, or are they crimps for holding the eraser? In the last photo they look like threads to me. If they are threads, it may be part of a two piece gun cleaning rod. Taz showed some cleaning rods that would screw together, and it might be part of something like that.