The Sport of Horseshoe Pitching - a Traditional Game Marches On!

You may know that the game of horseshoe pitching involves, obviously, pitching horseshoes, but did you know that the game is actually considered a sport? In fact, there are horseshoe pitching leagues located across the world!

Horseshoe pitching is a sport in which players compete by tossing horseshoes at a metal stake, with points awarded for accuracy. The sport was popular in England from very early times, along with the similar game of quoits. Early settlers brought the game to the United States. The first horseshoe pitching club was organized in Meadville, Pa., in April, 1899. The first national tournament was held in 1909 in Bronson, Kansas. The first national governing body for the sport was the Grand League of American Horseshoe Pitchers, founded in Kansas City, Kansas, in 1914. This was succeeded in 1921 by the National Horseshoe Pitchers of the United States, and in 1925 the name was changed to the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association of America. The association sponsors an annual tournament every July or August, and leading horseshoe pitchers compete for the horseshoe pitching championship of the world.

The only pieces of equipment necessary for horseshoe pitching are four horseshoes and two stakes. Official horseshoes must be not more than 7 ½ inches long nor more than 7 inches wide, nor weigh more than 2 ½ pounds. The space between the ends must not be more than 3 ½ inches at the inside measurement. The stakes are of iron and are 1 inch in diameter. The official horseshoe court is 50 feet long and 10 feet wide. The two stakes are driven into the ground 40 feet apart. In some cases, the distance between stakes is 30 feet, especially if the playing league agrees to special rules for women and children. Each stake must be halfway between the two sidelines and must extend 12 inches above the ground. In official tournaments the stakes are in the center of 6-foot-square areas called pitcher's boxes. A pitcher's box is generally filled with damp clay to a depth of 6 inches.

The player stands beside one stake and tosses his horseshoes underhand one after the other at the opposite stake. His opponent then follows suit. After counting the score, the tosses are repeated in the opposite direction. In tournament play the score is determined as follows: three points for each ringer (a horseshoe that encircles the stake) and one point for each of a player's horseshoes that lands closer to the stake than the closest one of his opponent's. In tournament play the rules often require that a horseshoe rules often require that a horseshoe must be within 6 inches of the stake in order to count. If a player throws a ringer on top of one thrown by his opponent, neither ringer is cored, and the nearest of the other two shoes is counted. A player who throws a double ringer against one by his opponent scores three points. In non-tournament play a ringer usually counts five points.

In doubles matches a player and an opponent stand at each end of the court, so that each partner plays against only one of his opponents. Of course, the scores of the partners are added together. In national tournaments a game is 50 points, but games of 21 are common in non-tournament competition.