Horseshoe Up or Down? The Folklore, Checked

Loch Ness · VERIFIED OR VIBES? · Lucky charms

By Camille G., founder of Loch Ness · Published September 27, 2026 · Last updated September 27, 2026

Among the lucky charm meanings, the horseshoe comes with the internet’s favourite argument: points up or points down?

The claim: “There is one right way to hang a horseshoe”

There isn’t. In some traditions it hangs points down, so the luck pours onto whoever walks under it; in others points up, so the luck doesn’t fall out; in others it doesn’t matter, as long as the shoe was used and found rather than bought (Wikipedia). Over barn and stable doors, where the horseshoe acts as protection, it often points down — “no witch will pass under it” (Cape Girardeau history). No one agrees, and no one ever has (American Farriers Journal).

Verdict: 🔴 Vibes only — both ways are traditional; pick the one you like.

Why a horseshoe at all?

Iron. Folklore held that supernatural beings are repelled by iron, and horseshoes were an easy source of it to nail above a door (Wikipedia). Traditionally a shoe was held by seven nails, seven being a lucky number (Cape Girardeau history).

And then there is St Dunstan, the blacksmith saint who nailed a horseshoe to the Devil’s hoof. The story is real folklore, but the version everyone repeats is younger than you think: St Dunstan and the Devil: how old is the legend?

Our horseshoe charms

Antique-silver charms in about a dozen shapes, from 14 × 9 mm to 30 × 24 mm, for bracelets and necklaces. → See the horseshoe charms

The other classics

What the evil eye really means · four-leaf clover rarity · where the dreamcatcher comes from

Sources

• Wikipedia — Iron in folklore
• Cape Girardeau history — Horseshoe up or down?
• American Farriers Journal — Why are horseshoes lucky?

Update log

September 27, 2026 — First publication.