Conference hbahba::cam_sports

    	o how big are the pits themselves?
    
    usally 6 feet by 6 feet
    	o is the pin supposed to be centered in the pit?
    Yes
    	o what is the distance from pin-to-pin?
    40 feet
    	o anything else I need to know to begin construction?
    Make sure you have a place for the beer cooler
    Lean the pins a little forward, make the pit with pressure treated wood
    Fill the pit with a mixure of sand and clay
    
    REK

    
    >>Make sure you have a place for the beer cooler
    
    Any game where ya cain play and drink beer at the same time is a great
    game.
    
    >>Fill the pit with a mixure of sand and clay
    
    What, so if the game's boring, ya cain make funny little statues??
    
    (8^)
    
    JaKe
    

    
    Don't wimmin get to throw 35'?
    
    

	The following pit box dimensions come to mind.

        40 ft from stake to stake. 

        1 inch lean from centerline toward the other stake.

	1 foot from side of stake to pix box.

	18 inches in front and back of stake.
	 
   HTH

  Cazilla2
 
  Charter member Rocky Mtn. Midnight Horseshoe Assn.

    Thanks!
    
    Paul

    Umm, Don't forget to get some horseshoes before your first get
    together.
    
    Gin

    And it helps if the horses aren't attached...
    

	Well I went home and checked my source and find that I was off by a foot
in each dirsction. The box is four feet front to back and three feet wide. 

  Cadzilla2

    I'm trying to find out where or by whom the game of horseshoes
    was invented..
    
    Thanks

    
    
     >> horseshoes
    
      I believe it was invented by Edsa Leener, who was a range cowboy
    down in New Mexico.
    
     On the serious side, I don't think you'll find where or who or
    when it was invented. Just one of those things.
    
    

I though it was invented by George Bush who needed to do something to
keep himself occupied while pretending to be president.

The Crazy Met

    
    >I'm trying to find out where or by whom the game of horseshoes
    >was invented..
    
    	On a related question, who invented the game of
    handgrenades????
    
    JimH
    
    

    
      Someone pops in here with a legit qwuestion and you guys
     respond with a bunch of cornball gag answers. Beautiful.
     Just flippin' beautiful.

Well I have been thinking somemore.   I think the game was invented
by a Blacksmith.    What I figure was they have to heat up the shoes
prior to hammering them on an awl.    So some blacksmith was sick of
walking around picking up the shoes and walking back to the fire/furnace
and instead installed a stake in the furnace so that he could just throw the shows into the furnace using the stake or even multiple stakes to stop and hold
the shoe to be heated.   

Then A buddy of his that was hangin around drinkin a brew started a thinkin
and bet the origional blacksmith that he could get more shoes onto the
stake than he.  Thus the game of horseshoes was invented...
    
    
    
    But I still would like to know the real answer...
    
    Colin
    

That could be.  I'll see what I can find out.....

re: .13

yabbut if we didn't respond like that you would have nothing to
complain about. jus' helpin' you get through another day.

HtH

The Crazy Met

    
     Yet another content-free note.

> Yet another content-free note.

you did notice who it was mant for, right??

The Crazy Met

      Go to library, maybe they can help you...
    
      Tim

    I can't recall the name, but it was invented by the same guy who had
    decided that hanging horseshoes above a doorway was good luck.  He was
    a blacksmith who was trying to get farmers interested in shoeing all of
    their stock.  If it worked for horses, he surmised, why not for cows,
    and sheep and pigs?  He even tried making shoes for chickens.  But, he
    couldn't find nails small enough for them.
    
    Apparently, he had hung quite a few of them up over his door and when
    he slammed the door one time, a shoe fell on his head.  That made him
    question the supposed good luck idea.  He picked up the offending shoe
    and sort of flipped it over to a pile of cow shoes, which were not
    thought to be of any value.  
    
    His toss was a little short of the pile and the shoe hit a small metal
    stake in the ground.  The shoe spun around the stake before settling to
    the ground.  The sound it made while spinning on the stake had a
    ringing effect.  
    
    He was intrigued by this whole thing, and took down another shoe and
    repeated his toss.  "RRRRIIINNNGGG", he got another one.  He started
    throwing all of the shoes, when his helper entered the chamber.  Seeing
    the boss throwing these supposedly useless items, he asked if he could
    try.  He missed on his first attempt, but got the second one.  Again,
    the "RRRIIINNNGGG" sound emmitted from the stake.  They got to throwing
    the shoes, picking them up, returning to the original point and
    throwing them again.  The helper got the bright idea to put another
    stake where they had been throwing from, and the game had it's origin.
    
    Of course, hitting the stake in such a manner that the shoe spun around
    it and then settled to the ground with the stake in the middle became
    known as a ringer.  
    
    Nothing much changed in the game, save for developing a method of
    keeping score.  Then, one day, the smithies sister visited from afar.
    After dinner, she heard this "RRRIIINNNGGG"ing sound coming from the
    yard.  She walked over to see what they were doing.  Her brother
    explained, and asked if she'd like to try her hand at it.  She wasn't
    quite able to get a ringer, but she did hid the stake more often than
    not, with the resultant "CCCLLLAAANNNGGG".  She said it reminded her of
    another game, basket ball or something like that.  Yet, different.  
    
    To give her a fair chance of at least scoring some points, they decided
    to award one point for any shoe that ended at rest in the position that
    we now know as a leaner.  They called those particular shots "Lena's",
    'cause her name was Lena.  Over the years, the name was bastardized to
    leaner, as someone thought it had to do with being in a leaning
    position.  Not true, but no harm done.
    
    Hope this helps.
    
    Lee

       I wish I had seen this note yesterday 'cause I stopped in after work
    at the St. Pierre Manufacturing Co. in Shrewsbury, Mass to pick up a new set
    of American Official Tournement shoes. They have a display of their
    products (they also make chains for cars and trucks) and there were
    several sets of horse shoes that look like they were very old. I would
    have asked the person there if they new the history of the game.
    
    Incidentally, they sell the sets right at the factory and with tax it
    came to $26.57, a pretty good deal. The stakes will add a few bucks to
    the price. We play horseshoes every week up in Maine where we go
    camping and it is amazing how good some of the guys are. If you don't
    shoot at least 50% ringers you will find the game is over very quickly.
    There are two distinct methods of throwing, the flip and what looks
    like a modification of the Frisbee. I learned to throw a double flip
    when I was a kid and stuck with it. The shoe opens up (if I release it
    properly) on the second turn and I have not seen anyone else use this
    method. All they guys who throw a flip seem to use only one flip. 
    Wish I knew of an indoor facility during the winter. That might be a
    good sideline business if there is an old barn or garage that could
    hold 10 or 12 pits.
    
    Paul

I haven't played horsehoes in a long time, but it's a great game to
play for beers.

It's relaxing, and can be quite competitive.

When we were in the now-defunct Bloomfield (BMF) facility, we had a
pit out behind the office.  When it was too hot to play basketball we'd
play 'shoes....


'Saw

 I believe it's either Milbury or Sutton MA where they have indoor pits and
 winter leagues. Should be easy enough to check out if you're from around
 the area. Either use the yellow pages or the Telegram and Gazette........

 mike

  So what's an "almost" and what does it count for?

  George

>
>  So what's an "almost" and what does it count for?
>

You get points for being the closest without being a ringer.  I guess
that's an almost.

Course, an almost could be a "leaner" but I forget what that is worth....


'Saw

 what's a Leaner? hahaa 

 no such thing when men play. Closest to the pin gets a point if that shoe
 is within a shoewidth's of distance from the stake........

> no such thing when men play. Closest to the pin gets a point if that shoe
> is within a shoewidth's of distance from the stake........

  So are there separate rules for when men don't play?

  Sort of like blue tees and red tees in Golf?

  George

    
    
       Yeah some girlymon call a leaner ( a shoe leaning up against the
    stake) as 2 points. 
    
         My record is 6 Ringers in a row! :-)
    
    
    
    Chappy

>
>  So are there separate rules for when men don't play?
>

Only if they don't play with themselves...


>  Sort of like blue tees and red tees in Golf?


Yeah.  Real men play from the blue tees.  Nancy_boys play from the red 8^)

RE   <<< Note 122.29 by CAMONE::WAY "Try 664/668, Neighborhood of The Beast" >>>

>Yeah.  Real men play from the blue tees.  Nancy_boys play from the red 8^)

  ... or on some courses the gold or "tiger" tees.

  I heard once that at the Old Course at St Andrews they are pretty strict
about the tees. One time when a group U.S. pros were over playing the British
Open (it was at some other course near by that year) they went to play the
Old course. When they walked to the back of the tee the starter told them
to please play from within a club length of the tee markers.

  I guess real men follow the rules,
  George