About Horse Shoe Pits

Horseshoes is a popular social game that can also be played on a competitive level. It is a common game at parks, beaches and in the backyards of homes. Creating your own horseshoe pit does not require much in supplies. A pit can be made relatively quickly and makes an attractive playing area for the game.

Identification

Horsehoe pits can be official horseshoe pits that include wooden borders around the edges of the pit filled with sand. A horseshoe pit can also be made in the backyard for casual horseshoe play. These horseshoe pits can be created as simply as hammering a stake into the grassy ground. Some home horseshoe pits may have sand surrounding them, but could be lacking the wooden borders as well.

Dimensions

The width of a horseshoe pit is 36 inches across. The depth or length of the horseshoe pit should be 48 inches long. A metal stake must be nailed in the exact middle of the horseshoe pit. To create an entire horseshoe playing area, you will need to create two horseshoe pits at opposite ends of the playing area. The playing area should measure 48 feet from the back of one pit to the back of the other pit. This means the distance between the two stakes will be 44 feet, as there is 2 feet behind each of the stakes in each pit.

Horseshoe Pit Box

If you wish to create an official horseshoe pit, this pit should be framed using wooden boards. The boards should be 2 x 4 inches, with four that measure 36 inches and four that measure 48 inches The 36-inch boards are placed perpendicular to the playing area. Each pit should include one board 2 feet in front of the stake and one 2 feet behind the stake. The 48-inch boards should be placed on either side of the stake, 2 feet from the stake. Create two sets of these borders for the horseshoe pits. The boxes may be painted or decorated if you wish. Using a shovel, remove the grass inside the box and place sand in the box at least 3 inches deep.

Maintenance

During play, the sand in the horseshoe pit will shift and possibly fly out of the box when a horseshoe lands in it. Before each game, rake the pit to make the sand even and level. Add additional sand from time to time when the pit appears to have a low amount of sand compared with the original 3 to 4 inches. For poor weather conditions, cover the sand pits with plastic or vinyl tarps. You can secure these tarps with tent stakes to keep them in place.

Warning

Make sure that anyone using your yard is aware that the horseshoe pit is located in the backyard. This can help people avoid injuring themselves on the wooden frames or the stakes. An additional step you can take to avoid the risk of injury on the stakes is to put an empty bucket over each stake when the pit is not in use.