Horse Shoes, a Great Backyard Game For Most Ages to Play

Cooking

Birds

Fun Games

Safety

Stay Current

Subscribe To This Site

Horse Shoes is a Fun Backyard Game That Has Been Around Forever

The game of horse shoes is a great game to play when entertaining your friends and family in your backyard.

We used to have a horse shoe pit in our backyard. It was really something fun for our guests to do. Not being professionals at this though all we really needed were two stakes set 40 feet apart with a sand pit around each stake

I actually made the pit out of 2 x 4's. The pit was about 6 feet by 6 feet, with the 2 x 4's embedded in the ground a bit and the rest of the space was filled in with sand.

Actually horse shoe rules are rather straight forward and easy enough for anyone to learn. Hey, the game even has rules of etiquette for those folks that want to play it a bit more on the serious side.

Playing the game

The game is broken down into innings. Each inning ends after both players toss their shoes.

Each player gets two shoes to toss per inning and you can use a coin toss to determine who goes first.

The first player tosses his or her shoes and then the second player does the same. Take care not to cross the foul line which should be set up 3 feet past the stake.

After all the shoes are pitched, both players then go to the other side to determine who has what points.

In tournament play a game would go to 20 innings or 40 points, but generally, in backyard play you would play to either 15 or 21 points. It really is your choice how you set it up.

We always played to 21 points.

If there is a tie you would play a two inning tie breaker.

Scoring

In order for a shoe to be considered for a point, it must be no farther than 6 inches from the stake.

The distance between the open ends of the horse shoe is 6 inches

You would be awarded 1 point for each of your shoes that are within 6 inches of the stake and closer to the stake than your opponents. If you had two shoes closer to the stake than your opponent, you would then score two points.

Leaners are shoes that lean up against the stake. They are worth one point and considered closer to the stake than shoes that sit on the ground.

Ringers are shoes that completely encircle the stake so that both ends of the open side of the shoe can be touched with a straight edge without touching the stake. These are worth 3 points.

As you can see in this picture, we have one shoe that is a ringer and one that is close, but not quite there.

Cancellation of points:

Anytime shoes of the opposing player are equal distance to the stake as yours, they cancel each other out. So for example, both you and your opponent have two shoes that are within 6 inches of the stake. You each have one that is equal distance from the stake and your second shoe is closer than your opponent's. You would score one point.

If both your shoes were closer than your opponent's shoes then you would score two points. Ringers can cancel each other out as well.

To win you must reach the agreed upon point total and be ahead when the inning ends.

Etiquette

Here are some generally accepted rules of etiquette when playing horse shoes that you should follow as well.

1) You should not make any remarks, sounds or movement that could distract or interfere with your opponents play.

2) When finished tossing your shoes, you should not walk to the other stake until your opponent is finished as well.

3) No shoes should be removed until the winner of points is decided and agreed upon by both players.

4) When you aren't pitching your shoes, you should stand on the opposite side of the pit and a couple of feet back from your opponent.

Well, as you can see, horse shoes can be an easy game to learn and a fun game to play. Although I am sure the first time you throw a shoe you will discover that it can be a difficult game to master.

I hope that you and your friends have a great time playing this game and generate many happy memories together.

Return form horse shoes to backyard games

Return from horse shoes to grandpas backyard fun

SBI!