Old horseshoes are a great source of cheap scrap metal for blacksmiths to practice with.
They might be a weird shape to start with, but you can make literally hundreds of different things from them.
In fact, horseshoe art is hugely popular on Pinterest nowadays and people are willing to pay top dollar for creations made from recycled horseshoes on marketplaces like Etsy.
Most people just nail or glue things to horseshoes to create new objects. But as a blacksmith you can actually forge and reshape them for entirely different purposes.
In this article I’ll share lots of unique ideas for how you can repurpose old horseshoes as a blacksmith and practice various techniques.
How Much Do Used Horseshoes Cost?
With more and more people using horseshoes for all kinds of crafts and projects, the cost of buying used horseshoes has gone up over the years.
There’s more demand, but not really an increase in supply!
Still, you should be able to buy used horseshoes in bulk for between $1.00 and $2.00 per shoe.
While writing this article I did a quick search on eBay to see what I could find, and found someone selling 45 used horseshoes for $35. That’s about $0.77 each. The auction hadn’t ended yet, so they may well have sold for much higher than that though.
Another listing I found was for 50 used horseshoes and had a current bid of about $56.
Of course horseshoes are heavy! If you’re buying them online, expect to pay $20 or more in shipping to get a box full of horseshoes to your door.
It might be better to search for a farrier or someone with a large horse farm in your area and see if they’ll sell you some used horseshoes directly instead.
The horseshoes you’re getting will be worn either way. So expect them to be a bit rusty and have some imperfections.
Verify That Your Used Horseshoes Are Made of Iron Or Steel
The vast majority of horseshoes are still made of iron or steel. But there are horseshoes made of synthetic materials out there nowadays.
There are also racing horseshoes that can be made of other materials like aluminum or titanium.
In most cases you can assume that horseshoes will be made of steel or iron. Normally you’ll be able to easily tell when looking at any photos. But before you go meet someone on Craigslist to buy a big box of old horseshoes, it’s a good idea to verify what material they’re actually made of.
You don’t want to drive to meet them, only to find out half of the horseshoes they’ve got for sale are made of plastic instead of metal.
Things You Can Make Out Of Old Horseshoes
Here are some great ideas for things you can make out of horseshoes.
I couldn’t get the rights to use images for the designs that I mention below. But if you search online for them, you should be able to find some great ideas and designs to get you started.
For example, if you’re interested in making a wine rack then search “horseshoe wine rack” in Google Images.
Make A Horseshoe Wine Rack
Speaking of a horseshoe wine rack, that’s the first idea on my list!
Horseshoes are just about the perfect size for holding a bottle of wine.
Just weld a few shoes together a little less than a wine bottle’s length apart and you’ve got a unique looking stand.
You can make your wine rack as large as you want. Maybe you just want to display one or two bottles of wine at a time. Or maybe you want to make a big pyramid-shaped horseshoe wine rack that can hold ten bottles at a time.
Make A Horseshoe Coat Rack
You can either make a free standing coat rack from a bunch of horseshoes. Or alternatively, nail a couple of horseshoes to a piece of wood to make one that you can hang on the wall.
You can add an extra metal hook to the horseshoes to give a place to hang hats, coats, and other outdoor clothing items. Or simply bend the tips of the horseshoe down to create a natural place to hang things.
Horseshoe hangers and brackets are also a great place to hang up brooms, dustpans, tools, and other items.
Make A Horseshoe Christmas Tree
A horseshoe Christmas tree is certainly a conversation piece during the holidays!
It’s more environmentally friendly than buying either a real Christmas tree or an artificial one. It’s made of solid metal and will probably last for decades!
If you live in the country, it’s a great way to add some personality to your holiday festivities.
Check Google Images for a good idea of what a horseshoe Christmas tree looks like.
A small one takes about 14 horseshoes to make and is a nice tabletop decoration. But a full-sized horseshoe Christmas tree will take 50+ shoes to make and is really a major project. If you’re a beginner I’d start off small and you can always add more shoes to the typical pyramid shape of your tree larger if you want to make it even bigger!
Add some Christmas decorations, lights, and a star on top of the tree and you’re good to go!
Make A Horseshoe Coffee Table
When you weld them together, horseshoes are really strong. Just as if your table’s legs were made of solid metal. Plus they give a very interesting gravity-defying look to it!
You can make just the legs of your table from horseshoes, or use shoes to create a whole support system for the table and put a piece of glass on top of it.
Make A Horseshoe Key Or Jewelry Hanger
Nail four or five horseshoes to a board or directly to the wall and you can use them to hang keys or jewelry on!
Often if you buy used horseshoes they’ll come with the nails still in. Take out every other nail and you’ve got plenty of little hooks that are great places to hang small items like jewelry or key rings on.
It’s practical, plus it adds a bit of decorative flair to your home.
Make A Horseshoe Hoof Pick
Maybe you’ve got used horseshoes lying around because you own a horse yourself!
In that case you can make a hoof pick to get the mud, rocks, and other debris out of your horse’s hooves.
If you don’t have a horse, they work great on work boots or hiking boots as a way to easily scrape caked-on mud out of the tread of your boots as well.
To make a horseshoe horse pick, you’ll need to heat the horseshoe and use your hammer to taper one end of the horseshoe into a curved point. On the other end, most blacksmiths create a decorative horse face which doubles as a handle.
Are you brand new to blacksmithing? Check out my Recommended Gear Page to get started!
Make A Horseshoe Heart Decoration
With a bit of bending and shaping, it’s easy to make a couple of horseshoes into a heart shape. It makes a great wall decoration and your wife is sure to love one as a hand-made gift for Valentines’s Day!
Make A Horseshoe Bench Or Chair
There are some pretty mind-blowing designs out there for chairs and benches made entirely of horseshoes.
They don’t look too comfortable to me. But you could always add some wood or cushions to make them into a more comfortable seat.
A horseshoe chair might look a bit too rustic for indoor use. But they make great outdoor chairs for your deck or around the campfire. Coat them in some kind of rust protection and they’ll handle outdoor weather for years to come.
Make A Horseshoe Gate For Your Garden
As a blacksmith maybe you’ve already made some cast iron gates or railings before.
Using horseshoes is a way to make a really creative looking gate for your yard or garden.
You’ll need a lot of horseshoes to do it, but your gate will definitely be the talk of the neighborhood! You can even make entire fences made of horseshoes, although that would take hundreds of horseshoes and a LOT of hard work on your part!
You can keep them as-is, or paint them any color you want.
Like most things on this list, I think the difference between making a gate out of horseshoes that looks like a work of art instead of tacky is how much work you put into it.
If you just weld a bunch of horseshoes together in the same direction to make a gate, it might come off looking a bit redneck. But if you create a unique pattern or use some blacksmithing to alter the shape of the shoes a bit, you can really create a work of art.
You can make every part of the gate out of horseshoes, including the hinges and gate latch.
Make A Horseshoe Napkin Holder
A horseshoe napkin holder is probably one of my favorite simple designs and one that I’d definitely suggest that beginners try. All you need to do is use one horseshoe as the base, and then weld two horseshoes on to it.
Try combining other shapes like the horseshoe heart I mentioned above for a one-of-a-kind look.
For more of a challenge, try making a paper towel or toilet paper holder out of horseshoes too. Or even a magazine rack.
Make A Horseshoe Handle
You can use horseshoes to create all sorts of different handles.
You can re-do your kitchen and add horseshoe handles to all of your cupboards and horseshoe drawer pulls to all your drawers!
You can also make larger handles for your garage door or barn out of horseshoes too.
Use Your Imagination!
Horseshoes are super versatile and you can use them to make all sorts of things.
Don’t be afraid to try different blacksmithing techniques on them to change their shape and create all sorts of different items.
Everything you make out of horseshoes doesn’t need to still incorporate the horseshoe design into their shape! In fact, some of the most impressive objects I’ve seen made of horseshoes, you’d have no idea they were originally horseshoes when looking at them. I’ve seen fireplace pokers and all sorts of metal items made from horseshoes that no longer look anything like the piece of metal they started with!
Don’t be afraid to experiment. If you mess it up, you can always start over and re-shape the metal you’re working with. Or melt it down to cast it into a more uniform bar of iron or steel. Worst case scenario, you’re only out a dollar or two if you have to simply throw it away and start with a fresh horseshoe.
Go search online from objects made of horseshoes and you’ll have no shortage of ideas for your next blacksmithing project.
And don’t forget to hang one over your shop door to catch some good luck too!
Have you made any interesting objects out of horseshoes? Let us know in the comments section below!