| The
history of horseshoe pitching can be traced
back to Roman soldiers. During their idle
hours, the soldiers occupied themselves
with games that consisted of tossing metal
rings over stakes pounded into the ground.
Whether these first metal rings were actually
horseshoes is a matter of some debate.
Which Game First—Horseshoes
or Quoits?
There’s no doubt that the games of
horseshoes and quoits are closely related.
A quoit is a metal disk with a hole in the
middle that may at one time have been a
weapon. A game of quoits consists of attempting
to throw the disk over a hob or pin embedded
in soft clay. Some historians speculate
that Roman officers played quoits while
their underlings improvised by pitching
horseshoes. Others believe it happened the
other way around. Soldiers began by pitching
horseshoes and someone began forming the
shoes into rings.
War Games
Either way, we know that quoits was being
played in England in the 14th Century, much
to the chagrin of the English rulers who
felt the games distracted men from military
training, particularly archery. The game
was outlawed in 1388. By the 16th century,
English peasants were playing both horseshoes
and quoits and would later export both games
to North America.
Like the Roman soldiers,
North American soldiers found horseshoes
to be good wartime recreation. During the
Revolutionary war, US soldiers evidently
played horseshoes causing the Duke of Wellington
to write, “the war was won by the
pitchers of horse hardware.” Union
soldiers pitched mule shoes in Civil War
camps.
From the Military Camp
to the Back Yard
Soldiers took the game home with them after
the wars and horseshoe courts sprang up
in communities across the US and Canada.
The game became a family sport that was
enjoyed by men, women, boys and girls. There
is some evidence that the first horseshoe
club was founded in Pennsylvania in 1899.
The first “world championship”
horseshoe tournament took place in Bronson,
Kansas at a 1909 horse show.
The rules of this first
tournament called for two-inch tall stakes
to be placed 38 feet apart. Ringers were
worth five points and leaners counted three.
Shoes that were close to the stake were
worth one point. Games were played to 21
points. Thirty-four men entered the tournament
and the winner, Frank Jackson, was appropriately
awarded a belt with a horseshoe buckle.
Jackson would go on to win six more world
championships. He still ranks fourth on
the all-time horseshoe world championship
list.
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