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Horseshoes, which is also called horseshoe throwing, is a non-contact game which is usually played outdoors. It can be played individually, between two people, or two teams with two members each. This is a classic example of a old fashioned pastime that has turned itself into a organized and very competitive sport.
The game uses four horseshoes and two throwing targets set in a sandbox area. The game is for the players to toss the horseshoes alternately at stakes in the ground. It is usually placed 40 feet apart. Contemporary horseshoes game use a stylized u-shaped bar, it is usually larger than an actual horseshoe.
![throwing horseshoes](../images/horseshoes.jpg)
There are two ways to score in this game, by throwing ringers and by throwing the horseshoe to the nearest stake. A show, which is not a ringer, but is 6 inches closer to the stake, is worth a point. If both players’ horseshoes are closer than the opposing player, then they gain 2 points. A player gains three points for a ringer. Four points for the player in the case of one ringer and a closer horseshoe.
Horseshoe throwing technique can differ. Some players flip the horseshoe while others turn it in a clockwise or counterclockwise motion. Those who turn the shoe may do so with a 3/4 turn, 1 1/4 turn or 1 3/4 turn.
Similar Sports
- Washer Pitching — a target throwing game similar to horseshoes, in which players take turns to toss washers into a box or hole.
- Quoits — a traditional target throwing game in which rings are thrown at a target spike, the aim is to get them as close as possible to the target.
- Cornhole — a bag toss game, in which you throw a small soft bag towards an angled board with a hole at the far end.
- Varpa — an old outdoor game dating back to the Viking Age. It is similar to boules but played with a flat and heavy thrower known as "varpa" instead of balls, once made of shaped stones but nowadays aluminum is more popular.
- Tejo — a Colombian sport in which metal discs are thrown 20m to a target that explodes when hit.
- Jukskei — a folk sport from South Africa where competitors throw wooden pins to try and knock down a target wooden peg, possibly a precursor to horseshoes.
- Pétanque — a type of boules in which the objective is to throw hollow metal balls towards a small wooden target ball.
- Digor — a sport from Bhutan in which a pair of spherical flat stones are hurled at two targets fixed in the ground 20m apart.
- Calva — a traditional Spanish sport in which you throw a piece of metal to knock down bull's horn-shaped piece of wood.
Related Pages
- List of Boules-type sports
- Complete list of sports
- The Encyclopedia of Sports
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