The Horse Shoe

My folks owned two horse shoes, while I had just the one, today they make a collection of three, why?

This one is well used and probably removed so that a new one could be fitted?

Info  below from Wikipedia, many thanks.

There is very little evidence of nailed-on shoes prior to AD 500 or 600, though there is speculation that the Gauls were the first to nail on metal horseshoes.The nailed iron horseshoe first appeared in the archaeological record in Europe about 5th century A.D. when a horseshoe, complete with nails, was found in the tomb of the Frankish King Childeric I at Tournai, Belgium. The earliest clear written record of iron horseshoes is a reference to "crescent figured irons and their nails" in AD 910.

 This is the same shoe but from the reverse side, bought for a few pounds as a display piece, why the interest in horse shoes?

Brass Horse shoes.

One and its quite small, was found by my dad when he was escaping from the Italian Army. He had just escaped from a prison after capture in World War Two, the shoe was found on a trail as he escaped. This one is made from solid brass, looks used, its just 70mm long, so off a donkey I would assume?

 My dad was later re captured but he kept and carried that horse shoe untill he was later released, the shoe was later fastened to the back door of the garage at home in Maghull, Lancashire, England. It must have stayed there over fifty years and untill I brought it back to Hout Bay, near Cape Town last March 2011.

Roy