Horseshoes

The horseshoe equipment includes four horseshoes and two stakes. The two stakes are placed on 40 feet of distance between them. Although the actual horse shoes were used traditionally, now it has been replaced by a U-shaped bar which is double in size. The origin of horse shoes can be found in the old Grecian sport of discus throwing. Among other sports like archery discus throw was a very popular Grecian game but the discus used for playing the game was expensive and the poor and middle class people could not afford to buy the actual discus. Hence, this emerged as a replacement of the game of discus throw. It is believed that this game became a favorite pass time for the soldiers of the Grecian army. As the actual discus being used for discus throwing was very expensive the soldiers used unused or old horseshoe to replace the discus. They used a stake dug in the ground as the aim and the horse shoe was thrown towards the stake.

The trace of how and when one stake became two has not been found in history. The game became popular among soldiers and they used it as a pass time during the time of war. So much so that they brought back the tradition and helped in building horseshoe pits to teach people how to play the game and to pass the tradition on. This was the reason of the spread of this game and people build horseshoe pit and soon these pits appeared all across the country. The game of horseshoes became popular among the lower and the middle tear of the society.

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The first ever horseshoe rules for the game were established in 1869. At that time the distance between two stakes was 19 yards. The stakes were firmly embedded in a horse shoe pit. It was filled with clay. These horseshoes rules governed the game but no official competitions were held until 1909. The first horseshoe pitching competition was organized in 1910 in Kansas. At that time the horse shoe pit was full of dirt and the stakes had 38 feet of distance between them. The stake was 2 feet high above the ground. In 1911 the height of the stake was raised four inches. The horse shoe rules remained the same until 1914 after that. A ruling body for pitching was founded in Kansas in 1914. This association was called Grand League of the American Horseshoe Pitchers Association and it chalked the official rules for horseshoes. They introduced the cacellation of like scores in horse shoe rules. Here the rules for horseshoes regarding the 8 inch stake were introduced along with defined weight limit. The horseshoe pit construction dimensions were also defined with the distance on the side of each stake was three feet and six feet at their back. For horseshoe pitching the pitcher could stand anywhere inside the pitcher’s box. Under the association the ‘Horseshoe Guide’ was also published which held the horse shoe rules and other information. The stake distance of 40 feet was decided in 1919. Today the horseshoe pitching world tournaments and championships are held in all states of USA for all types of players be them men, women, young, old or children. Th two scoring methods used today include scoring by throwing ringers and throwing horseshoe nearest to the opposite stake.