Our Original Horseshoe Heart. Skilfully hand forged from one whole used horseshoe. Crafted with care to retain wear marks and character of it’s old form combined with simple, clean lines of the new. Hand stamped personalisation is available on the arches of the heart, for names, dates or phrase to make your heart extra special and unique to you.
If you are in a hurry for a gift may we suggest our Boxed Gift Certificates here
The Process.
We can create our unique Horseshoe Hearts from your own horse’s shoes or use shoes from our own stock.
Dirt, nails and rust are no problem, we can produce a lovely result even from shoes that are years old. Each shoe is first carefully cleaned by hand, and clips and nails are removed. Every now and then a nail head may be very reluctant to leave a shoe and so it remains part of the heart.
They are then traditionally hand forged using hammer over an anvil. If text is required the personalisation is hand stamped at this stage.
The process doesn’t end there, the hearts are rasped and buffed to removed any sharp edges.
Each horseshoe has it’s own story.
We aim to retain this in the completed heart. Every Heart as unique as the shoe it was forged from.
Using your own horseshoe
We are often asked to receive and work with customer’s own horseshoes.
You’ll see the option to select using your own horseshoes in the drop down menu options above.
You’ll notice it costs more to use your own shoes. Why? The long and the short of it really is time.
When we began Horseshoe Hearts it was a way of giving new life to old horseshoes left over from Barry’s farriery work.
We found left over shoes that leant themselves to the designs we made. And, if we messed one up, never mind there was another. If we couldn’t get it clean without a fight, never mind there was another.
More and more we were asked to create using customer’s shoes. A real honour.
We receive your horseshoe/s. We take photos. We email you to let you know they’re here.
When in the forge, your shoes are the only shoes being worked on at that time.
We watch them closely so they are heated to the right temperature. Not too hot. We clean them, it could take 5 minutes, if older rustier muddier shoes it could take 15 minutes per shoe.
We take time in forging them. Whatever the shape, style, size of the shoe. But this takes longer than our stock shoes, we have to go more slowly, more carefully, to make sure we get it just right for you.
Over the years, working with customer’s shoes accounts for over half of the work that we do. And it’s a pleasure! But it is time consuming and so we have to make that extra charge to cover our extra time spent in making sure your precious horseshoes are just how they should be especially for you.
It really is a bespoke service. Please see ‘delivery’ tab for more detail on sending your own shoes.
A gift of love and luck
We find the combined wishes of love and luck within our Horseshoe Hearts one of the most endearing thing about them.
A horseshoe is a traditional symbol of luck. Only a used horseshoe mind, as the luck is said to have been struck into it by the footfalls of the horse or pony as they wore it.
Combine this age old belief with the symbol of a heart, hand forged, representing a love as strong as iron and you’ve the ultimate heartfelt gift for any occasion.
Moving home, changing job, good luck, wedding, birth, anniversary.. the possibilities of this beautifully crafted artisan gift are endless!
A Precious Keepsake
A heart crafted from the shoe of your own special equine friend makes a fabulous gift for any equestrian and a meaningful momento of a horse who has passed.
We take great care of your own shoes, contacting you to let you know of their safe arrival and dispatching them back to you via a tracked and signed service as we know just how precious these items can be.
We can use bar shoes to make Horseshoe Hearts, however they will look slightly different to our Hearts made from standard shoes. We never cut or remove any part of a shoe to make a Horseshoe Heart and so using bar shoes will give a slightly different shape and will retain a likeness of it’s original shape.
Weddings & Anniversaries
Our Original Horseshoe Heart makes a unique wedding or anniversary gift, as a twist on the traditional gift of a horseshoe to the bride or to represent iron or steel for a six or eleven years of marriage.
Packaging
Your order will arrive with you in a natural cotton gift bag.
They are ethically sourced and made of a natural fibre so you can pop it on the compost where it will break down naturally. Though we hope you may like to keep your gift bag and reuse it. Perhaps to store potatoes, carrots, maybe some grooming brushes or your plaiting kit, depending on the bag size. We’d love to hear what you come up with!
We aim to use wherever possible 100% recyclable card & paper packaging, including the tape on the postal boxes, so you can pop it all into the recycling bin once you order arrives safely with you.
Lead times
For horseshoe creation lead times please bear in mind we are not Amazon! Please be understanding of the time, effort and care that goes into what we do.
The majority of our pieces are hand forged and crafted to order. In general please allow 3 weeks lead time for dispatch of your order. We do endeavour to be as quick as we can. We combine Horseshoe Hearts work alongside farriery (and any emergencies that occur with this!) and other work, family life and our own animals.
Please allow 4/6 weeks lead time for Braided Horsehair items and Horseshoe Photo Frames.
Some larger pieces and larger orders may take longer lead time.
Please Note: If using your own horse’s shoes delivery lead times are from the date your shoes are received by us, not the order date. Please ensure shoes arrive with us as promptly as possible.
