During Medieval times, superstition reigned supreme in the horseshoeing trade as well as in other parts of life. The horseshoe was crecent-shaped and resembled a snake which was thought to be divine and keep witches away. Roman horse shoe nails were said to keep away the plague, and horses were suposed to keep nightmares away. Superstitious blacksmiths believed in tapping the anvil once every few blows "to keep the devil away" and in giving three blows at the end of the day to keep the devil chained up.
The tradition of putting a horseshoe over the door to bring good luck and keep the devil away was popular at this time. The story behind this tradition has many variations. This is one of them.
Once upon a time, a wise old blasksmith was hard at work making horseshoes. The sound of the anvil attracted the attention of the devil. He saw that the smith was making horseshoes, and he thought it would be a good idea to get his hoofs shod. So the devil made a deal with the smith and stood to be shod.
The wise blacksmith saw with whom he was dealing, and so he nailed on a red-hot shoe, driving the nails right square into the center of the devil's hoof. The devil then paid him and left, but the honest blacksmith threw the money into the forge fire, knowing it would bring him bad luck.
Meanwhile, the devilwalked some distance and began to suffer great torture from the new shoes. The more he danced and pranced and kicked and swore, the more they hurt him. Finally, after he had gone through all that agony, he tore them off and threw them away.
From that tome to this, whenever the devil sees a horseshoe he turns and runs-anxious to keep away from those torturous devices.
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