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Horseshoes... Yes Horseshoes

olbriar

olbriar

 
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I always considered myself a fair horseshoe pitcher. I always gravitated to the horseshoe game at picknicks and parties. The game seemed fun enough and I was as good or better than most I played with or against. (perhaps I was more sober) Years ago a friend came by and said he passed by a park in town and there were a bunch of horseshoe pitchers playing. We both grabbed our shoes and drove up there to kick some butt. We were immediately in awe of the level of competition we were witnessing. We had stumbled upon the Kansas State Horseshoe Tournament and the A class was currently pitching. I saw horseshoes pitched like I had never imagined. They weren't playing to 21 points but to 40 and a competitor only scored when his opponent happened to only throw one ringer instead of two. I had never witnessed such skill with each player throwing more ringers in a game than I had thrown in my life. Often they would pitch down and then back a number of times before someone missed throwing two ringers.

I had to get involved. I joined the two local horseshoe clubs (one club hosted tournaments and the other leagues) I practiced every chance I could in an attempt to be as good as I had witnessed that day at the park. I even put in an official horseshoe court in my back yard and installed lighting so I could pitch at night. I was all in. Being a doer and not a watcher, I was soon an officer of both clubs. It was rewarding but also demanding. It consumed all of my time taking care of the park's courts (24), running the leagues, organizing tournaments, and trying to keep everyone happy... participants as well as club members. I even talked the city of Wichita into having a novice based tournament as an official event of their annual River Festival Celebration which I hosted for 18 consecutive years. That tournament would see near 300 "back yard" pitchers each year.

Burn out, yep, I suffered major burn out. Though it was fun I got used up. I never improved my game to the A class level. The best year I pitched, I averaged 45% ringers. It wasn't the last year I pitched. I finally walked away from the sport and the obligations. I tried pitching again last summer but between the time of absence and the time now on my body I quickly became frustrated and put my shoes up.

I hope that I haven't bored you with this narrative. Horseshoes is a wonderful game that can be enjoyed at any skill level. It is a relatively cheap sport to play and is accommodating to all ages and sex. Much like bowling, leagues are handicapped so everyone has a chance to win. Tournaments are classed in groups of similar ringer percentage so the competition is comparable . And there is always that picknick or party where horseshoes is something to play for bragging rights or perhaps a beer.
Don't laugh off horseshoes. If you haven't played, give it a try.
 
ocnbrze said:
Isn't horseshoe, just throwing a horseshoe onto a spike in the ground?
Click to expand...
Absolutely, or being closer to the stake than your opponent. Official game rules and court size and legal horseshoes are all spelled out by the NHPA.
The National Horseshoe Pitching Association governs all sanctioned events. The rules and such are all set so that stats can be kept with all playing on even terms. In the back yard... anything is acceptable.
 
Just recently a sports bar / grill / restaurant establishment opened here in town. I've not visited it yet but they have pickleball courts along with a bunch of other stuff. I've heard the place is a lot of fun but for the trending set. All sports need a governing entity with official rules so that everyone playing is on an even plane of competition and the best at the sport can be recognized for their skill. Who would have ever thought cornhole would be a sport and played nationally?
 
I've not seen a game of cornhole played. I would guess that it's a real sport. I definitely consider horseshoes a real sport. It can definitely be played for fun but sanctioned tournaments are all business. The competition is fierce and as serious as a heart attack. Each court will have a designated score keeper. All questionable calls are measured by an official judge. No drinking... no smoking... and it's quite rare to have a verbal exchange between opponents. I once kept score for match between two very good pitchers in an intense battle. They canceled out each other's double ringers over 30 times in a row before one pitcher only threw one ringer, giving his opponent 3 points. Have you heard of Walter Ray Williams Jr. the renowned bowler? He is also a world class horseshoe pitcher. He played and easily won in two of my sanctioned tournaments. Horseshoes is a sport.
 
Like cribbage, I've played horseshoes since I before I can remember. I built pits in most of the houses I've lived in, boxed, clay, and pins in concrete. I'm, um, OK. I thought I was good until I went to some tournaments, and dudes were throwing 70-90% ringers. Yeah, I'm not that good. I had an uncle that threw the one rotation (like a frisbie where I try for a single flip) that could hit ringer after ringer. You often had to throw three ringers just to keep him from scoring. Me, three ringers in a game was pretty good. :eek:
 
I threw a common twist, a one and a quarter turn. The odd part of a true turn is that is the spin is created in the swing with the shoe starting out parallel to your body and then horizontal at release. The good pitchers have a 3/4 or 1 1/4 turn motion down so that it is always open at the stake and turning just a bit at the stake so that it stays on. I never mastered that but managed to get my game where I threw 45 out of 100 ringers average. Now that I'm an old fart it is difficult for me to throw 40'. I'm able to take advantage given to seniors, juniors, and females to throw only 30'. I found it impossible to use the one and a quarter turn at 30'. If I were to seriously take the sport up again, I think I'd try a three quarter turn from 30'.
 
Horseshoes has the same basic motion as tossing a bag of beans / corn or whatever they stuff the bags with. I've only tossed a corn bag once. It was set up outside an upscale burger establishment. The party I was with each took a turn for fun before entering the eatery. I lucked my toss directly into the hole. I know there is a lot more to the game than making that shot. Everyone took another shot after eating except me. Why prove my first shot was pure luck. :)

Back when my son was still playing baseball, a common time killer between games was to play washers. The game reminds me of cornhole and horseshoes in that you toss an object a given distance at a target. Cheap entertainment, much like horseshoes, has had a following around my area all of my life.
 
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