Horseshoe with Ice Calks

This horseshoe is a record of year-round historic ranching in the area as evidenced by ice calks, which are round metal knobs smithed onto the horseshoe for added traction. This horseshoe was used at the Mason-Lovell Ranch, a homestead located 13 miles east of Lovell, Wyoming. The ranch is one of four historic ranches in the Bighorn Canyon, and is known for open range cattle ranching and dude ranching. The ranch was settled while this part of the country was still considered wild, and settlers domesticated the local wild horses and lived here year round.