Friday, July 10, 2009

The Good Luck Horse Shoe


You know why finding a horse shoe will bring you good luck right? Because they are expensive, and hard to find when they come off. At least that's what Brita says.

I accidentally took one of my shoes off today. I think it's the first time I've ever done that to a front shoe. I take the back ones off all the time. I just hook them under the edge of a board and pry them off. I can do that before the farrier even gets out of the driveway!

Anyway, my shoes need to be changed. The farrier is coming on Monday. Brita was examining them today and tapping on clinches but she said they all looked like they would stay on. Wrong. I ooops and overstepped in the field pulling off the right front one. We noticed right away, and stopped to pick it up. It doesn't really bother me because I don't have fancy shoes anyway. Brita cut our ride short and made me walk home, which was boring. Really, I was fine. My feet are tough, and I can even walk on gravel barefoot, but she was worried I would feel all out of whack. When we got back, she did a little trimming and rasping on the sharp edge of my toe so I wouldn't crack or chip my hoof.

So, if there are any horses reading this, if your shoe falls off, please remember where it happened so your people can go get it. That will make them very happy. If you have an extra shoe, nail it over your door for luck. You should nail it with the heels up, so the luck won't run out. Or, you can take the other approach, and hang it toe up so the luck spills down on you. Traditionally, it should be hung with 3, 7, or 9 iron nails. This will depend a lot on how many holes your shoe has. And that means there will be empty nail holes. Which seems unlucky to me, because you know every nail is important....

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

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