I got this message on my phone yesterday from a nice man with a very thick middle eastern accent. So I call the guy back.

me - "Hi, this is Tom with Blackburn Forge Farrier Service returning your call. How may I help you?"

Him - "Hi Tom, I want to buy used black horseshoe."

me - "Do you mean an old used horseshoe that you can paint black and use as a decoration?"

him- "No, used black horseshoe."

me - "What are you going to do with the shoe?"

Him - "I must put it on front of house right away. Must be black horseshoe from black horse."

me - "Ok, so you want a used horseshoe that came off of a black horse?"

him - "YES!"

me - "Where do you live?"

him - "About 45 miles north . . . I will come right away to meet you and pay you for a used black horseshoe."

me - "I will be shoeing a black horse tomorrow morning in Maryland. That is about 60 miles from you. But next week I will be working a lot closer to your area, I could save you the old shoes I take from the black horse I work on tomorrow. We could meet when I am closer to your area. It will save you driving and gas. And you can have the shoes for free."

him - "Next week is too long. I must buy two black horseshoes very soon, very important."

me - "Well, if you want to drive all the way down to the stables in Maryland, I'll be there at 09:00hrs. You can have the old shoes and meet the horse that wore them. He is a very nice horse."

him - "That is good. I will be there at nine o' clock."

me - "You got my number from the web site?"

him - "Yes."

me - "Send me an email from the web site. I will reply with directions to the stables."

his email -

"Hi Tom,

It was nice talking with you on phone. I am looking for two black horseshoes.

Please email me on *********** address where we can meet tomorrow to get horse shoes.

Thank you very much,

********
********"

---

I replied with a Google map address to the boarding stables.

This morning I show up to shoe ol' Lucas. A 20yr old OTTB.

Guy shows up. I introduce him to the horse and my client (client has been forewarned of this special situation, we're both curious . . .)

him - "That is very very big black horse."

me - "He is 16.2 hands. His name is Lucas, he is 20 years old and retired from racing. Bigger than the average race horse, but not big for the breed. He is a very nice horse, would you like to pet him?"

him - "No, he is very big. I watch. You get shoes for me."

I get to work, pulled the shoes (Classic Roller #2 front w/side clips.) I asked him if he wanted me to clean up the shoes in the forge. He said no, he was "in hurry," but he did let me grind off the clips when I told him it would only take 2 minutes.

So I hand the guy the shoes and he insists he MUST pay me for them. HE MUST BUY THE BLACK HORSESHOES!

Guy stuffs a $10 bill in my hand, thanks me profusely, jumps in his car and drives away from the stables.

Honest folks, I couldn't make this up, it's just too weired. Not sure, but I think the guy is from Pakistan or India.

Does anybody know of any eastern "belief" regarding shoes from a black horse? :confused:

I was reading something about that last month. Something about the black horses having really trashed feet from being reshod so often so the owner could sell the shoes. Can't remember which nationality. Egypt maybe.("puter says Vedic that's India predominantly) Will 'puter and see if I can find it.... thebrooke.org case studies.

I've been know to make a prank phone call once in a while (usually to Lina Muggelsworth) but I don't actually show up the next day!

Eric Russell wrote:
when are you going to send a camera to her?

Tom,
Maybe you should get the "word" out and get paid at both ends of the shoeing job. Here in Denmak, I frequently get ask for old shoes. They are used at weddings. I'm not sure about all the details, but it is an old Danish custom.

How weird...

A Muslim woman living near Santa Fe ordered a gate from fellow smith, Ward Brinegar. Ward called me and I subcontracted to make about 20 stylized "roosters." Each rooster was made of flat stock bent the easy way around a homemade jig. The rooster was in the shape of half a yin/yang symbol, sometimes called a double fish diagram, kind of like a lopsided teardrop. After bending, I forge welded the "tail." Each rooster finished at about 10" tall.

I asked Ward what was the deal. He said that they would be installed next to each other near the gate bottom, kind of a frieze effect, in order to keep "bad Jin" out of the yard. That's what the woman told him.

You can google "jin." It is kind of hard to explain. Maybe we can think of it simply as "bad juju," like in the old Tarzan movies.

Am I the only one that would have just ask him at the time of the trade.I think there is a punch line comming .... that's so strange there is no way way I would have not asked..and at 10bucks a shoe just cause its off a black horse I would tell them I only shoe black horses..and that is my story I'm stickin to it

According to my google research: http://www.astroshastra.com/store/indian/tantra/blackhorse.asp

Objects will always Be given Power ,the Price of this is sadly more than just 10 Bucks ,sadly the Problems that Guy has will only get worse and worse ...

I had a Lady Client Years back and She wanted Hoof Nails to plant around her Home to ward witches and Evil Spirits Away..
The Problem was really how do you keep somthing out that is Inside

Ray_Knightley wrote:I've been doing that for 30 years but my wife keeps getting inside......

Kept the tire repair guy happy and in business though........

Rick Burten wrote:
ITS THE TIRE REPAIR GUY!!!!!!Thats is!

Travis Reed wrote:The guy seemed somewhat desperate and nervous. He wouldn't come within 20 feet of the horse. I figured it would be best for me to avoid asking questions that may be, from his perspective, of a deep personal (perhaps religious?) nature.

Ray_Knightley wrote:Ray, if he wins the mega $million lottery, I might be shoeing ol' Lucas a lot more often.

Tom, I was ask by a friend of mine if I could get him some shoes from a black horse. Some guy ask my buddy if he had a black horse and if he could have some of his old shoes. My buddy doesn't have a black horse so he called me and I dropped him off a set of old shoes from a black horse. Kenny (my friend) said the guy was very happy to hear that I could get him some shoes from a black horse. Never found out why the guy wanted the shoes but I think Kenny said the guy was indian. Kenny was only going to give him 2 because if they were good luck he was keeping the other 2. I will try to call and find out what they were for and let you know.
Joe Blake