What Is the Game of Horseshoes?

Series Summary

Horseshoes is a fun game popular among picnic lovers, backyard gamers and outdoor competitors of all ages. This series of free videos from our Sun City pro tells you how to get started. All you need is two stakes, some horseshoes and a place to play. Ideally, your pit will be a flat piece of land with a 30-40 foot clearing with no trees or obstacles. You have to have at least two people to play horseshoes unless you are just going to practice. Groups or tournaments can have unlimited numbers of players with at least two people on each team.

Points are given for horseshoes that ring around the stake (3 points), lean on the stake (1-2 points) and are closest to the stake within the distance of the opening horseshoe pitch (1 point). When teams are playing, a ringer from each team will cancel out the 3 points, and the closest horseshoe or horseshoes will score 1 point each. Most games are played to 40, but unless you are playing under certain rules, you can play to whatever score you wish. To find out more about the rules, visit the National Horseshoe Pitching Association (NHPA) at www.horseshoepitching.com.

There are a couple of ways to throw a horseshoe, the most common is tossing it end over end. The other is to hold it by the corner and toss it so it spins almost sideways. Experiment and decide which way works best for you.

Video Transcript

"Hi! I'm Bruce Arnold and I have been playing horseshoes for over 10 years and I am here to talk to you about it on behalf of Expert Village. In this clip, we are going to talk about what do you need to play horseshoes. First of all, you need two stakes. Your stakes are set 40 feet apart. They are driven into the ground and they have to be at a particular angle and that is set up prior to them going in. Usually w3e use a board to get them at the right angle and then fasten them down and this is a sand pit. There are different types of pits. Some people play in clay, some people like we have here sand and shell mixed but you can just tear up the dirt around you and in a backyard it is no problem at all. Any kind of a flat area to play in plus you need space for your horseshoes because they are going to be an arc and you don't want anything to block that so you need a clear space. If you've got some trees or something for shade near the end of the court, near the pit that is pretty good because here in Florida it gets pretty hot and you've got the sun beating on you. You need four horseshoes; two for each person and you need two people. You can do it almost anywhere. You can do it in a court like this with some shade perhaps or you can do it in your backyard with just plain flat area; two guys and you are ready. "