This message is from: "Dave and Patti Walter" <dwal...@tm.net>
This is from Janet McNally in Hinckley MN.She is having troubles posting, so I'm posting it for her. ----- Original Message ----- From: Janet There is a pair of these in the Hinckley Fire Museum in Hinckley MN. basically think 'horse sandals' a round piece of wood with a strap that goes over the front of the hoof, and carved to accomodate horse shoes (it appears the horse was shod with a steel shoe first, and then these slipped over top). I don't think the idea is to make the horse stand wide on purpose, it is just that the greater surface area helps support the horse on soft ground, just like snow shoes do. I imagine they were easily lost in the bog. The county that Hinckley sits in is 2/3 swamp. Oxen were the draft animal of choice here during the logging era because cattle are more willing to work on soft swampy ground than are horses. Janet McNally Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw Classified Ads: http://tinyurl.com/5b5g2f
