On a New Kick : Following the President’s Lead, Americans Are Rediscovering the Old Game of Horseshoes

This year is the pits for George Bush and millions of Americans who are rediscovering the game of horseshoes.

About twice a week, the leader of the Free World pitches horseshoes on the newly installed horseshoe court at the White House, and much of the nation now is trying to follow in his presidential footsteps.

“He loves the sport, but the responsibilities of his office preclude him from playing as often as he would like,” said Don Rhodes, personal assistant to the President.

But clearly, the horseshoe-happy President, who also has courts at Camp David and at his vacation home in Kennebunkport, Me., has given the sport a presence and ring of respectability that won’t likely go away.

Giving It a Second Look

“People who wouldn’t ordinarily give the sport a second look might try it for the first time because they heard that the President enjoys the game,” said Edward St. Pierre, treasurer of St. Pierre Manufacturing Corp., headquartered in Worcester, Mass., the world’s largest producer of pitching horseshoes.

St. Pierre’s sister Nanette, marketing director of the family-run firm, also believes the President has pitched the sport back into the consciousness of most Americans.

“The President is doing for horseshoes what Mr. Reagan did for jelly beans,” she said.

But while jelly beans can mean a lot of empty calories and frequent trips to the dentist, horseshoe playing promises Americans of all ages a healthy exercise and an opportunity to meet new friends. And it’s an inexpensive pastime, despite having a preppy, pitching President in the White House.

“To get started, all you need is 50 feet of space and a set of horseshoes and stakes, which generally retail for under $20,” said Dave Loucks, president of the 15,000-member National Horseshoe Pitchers’ Assn.

Finding room to play is never a problem for the New Marines, a Los Angeles-based rock group that frequently tours the country in a 1954 Trailways bus.

Scratching the Itch to Pitch

“When we get the itch to pitch, we just pull off the road, pound in the stakes and start playing,” said Martin Kelley, 34, the group’s lead singer. It’s not all rock ‘n’ roll with the band.”

Nor is it strictly lap-top computers and mainframes from the employees of IBM in south San Jose, who have the luxury of choosing from 15 horseshoe courts during their lunch hour.

“I understand they run about 200 people through there in a day,” said Don Titcomb, president of the Northern California Horseshoe Pitchers’ Assn., who helped lay out the courts.

Norm Cone, a 71-year-old retiree who lives in a Huntington Beach trailer court, still prefers the home-court advantage. With approval from the trailer park’s owner, Cone jackhammered through 4-inch-thick asphalt to build his court next to the community clothesline on the property.

Partly because Cone was able to practice at home, he placed second in the Seniors Division of the 1988 World Horseshoe Tourney in Pleasanton, Calif.

The reigning women’s champion, Diane (Buzz Saw) Lopez, 42, of Lompoc, installed her court in the back yard with the help of Ray Silva.

Silva anchored the stakes by filling two 5-gallon pails with cement and covering them with blue clay that he dredged up from the nearby Santa Inez River.

“Sometimes I wonder why I put it in,” Silva said. “In a game to 50 points, Diane spots me 35 and I still lose 50 to 40.”

Centuries of Tradition

Whether you play horseshoes in your back yard, on a vacant lot, at work or at the White House, there are certain rules and traditions that you should observe to increase your enjoyment.

Historians credit Norman conquerors with bringing the game to England in the 11th Century, and the first waves of English settlers in America with establishing the sport in this country. Back then, Old Dobbin furnished the shoes, and the stakes--most likely--were fashioned from bits of leftover pipe.

Today, players toss 2 1/2-pound shoes of cast or drop-forged steel at stakes 14 to 15 inches tall and 40 feet apart. Women, juniors and seniors throw from a distance of 30 feet. A “ringer,” or shoe that encircles the stake, earns three points, unless it is canceled by an opponent’s ringer. In that case, the shoe closest to the stake, provided it’s within 6 inches, scores one point. A regulation game is 40 points.

“While you can merely drive stakes in the ground 40 feet apart and start to pitch, a permanent court of exact dimensions will increase your pitching pleasure,” said Wally Shipley, a Newport Beach horseshoe distributor and NHPA president from 1974 to 1983.

To build your own court, you will need an area at least 50 feet by 6 feet. For instructions, contact the National Horseshoe Pitchers’ Assn. (address below).

Clanging Got Them Hooked

Les and Sue Schuyler, who live behind Lopez in Lompoc, are installing their own horseshoe court. The couple blame Lopez for getting them interested.

“We kept hearing this clanging sound coming from Diane’s yard,” Sue Schuyler said. “I thought we lived next to the neighborhood blacksmith.”

When it turned out to be Lopez pitching horseshoes, the Schuylers started inquiring about the sport and even accompanied Lopez and Silva to some local tournaments.

“I wasn’t prepared for how friendly everybody was,” said Sue, a 38-year-old school librarian. “The veteran players’ acceptance of newcomers really set me back on my heels.”

At local tournaments, there are as many as nine divisions, ranging from the novice to the championship player.

A Level for Everyone

“This is one sport where Mom doesn’t have to feel like a golf widow,” Loucks said. “Right away, she can find a level of play that she’s comfortable with.”

Titcomb, a 1960 men’s champion who gives about 60 horseshoe-pitching demonstrations a year at local schools, businesses and churches, still lives for the weekly showdown in the pits.

“It’s the one sport where you can continue to compete among the top echelon of players well into your 60s,” Titcomb said.

Cone, whose powerful frame and bone-crunching handshake are a tip-off to his active sporting life, turned to pitching horseshoes after a back problems ended his golf playing.

“You may laugh, but pitching horseshoes is good exercise,” said Cone, one of the Tuesday and Thursday regulars at the Hart Park horseshoe courts in the city of Orange. “In a typical seven-game match, you walk about 4 miles and lift and throw more than a thousand pounds.”

Fitness, Concentration

“You don’t have to be extremely fit to play this game,” Loucks said, “but it can make you extremely fit if you play on a regular basis.”

Good players always seem to cite the same qualities for remaining at the top of their game.

“Once you get your timing and rhythm down, 90% of the game is concentration,” Shipley said.

Titcomb added: “People think of horseshoes as a low-budget, low-profile game, and it’s all of that, but it’s also a high-skill sport that leaves no margin for error.”

Lopez, an ex-softball pitcher who threw 83.4% ringers en route to her women’s title, holds the shoe with an overhand grip that results in a double flip. Most players, however, throw the shoe underhand with a single flip.

‘Had the Same Style’

At the White House unveiling of the new horseshoe court, Lopez pitched against the President’s son Marvin.

“I liked that because we both had the same style,” said Lopez, a southpaw. “That’s when the President kidded Marvin and said, ‘You might hold the shoe the same, but I doubt the results are going to be the same.’ ”

Did the President, an acknowledged 25-percenter, find the stake?

“He threw a ringer,” Lopez said, “and that’s when he quit.”

The President’s timely exit reminds that the game of horseshoes has a complete code of etiquette much like golf or tennis. For example, a member of the NHPA who heckles or engages in unfair rooting against any opponent can be expelled from the tournament grounds or even from the NHPA.

Sport of Restraint

“In my 37 years connected with the sport,” Shipley said, “I can count on one hand the number of controversies I’ve seen on the court.”

Perhaps because of the cool restraint shown by the players, horseshoe pitching has become a relatively safe practice. Shipley couldn’t recall any serious accidents, but still advised caution.

“The shoe can bounce off of the stake and roll, so you do have to be alert,” he said.

In April, “The Pat Sajak Show” hosted a pitching demonstration by Loucks, who had performed at the White House two weeks earlier. “We wanted the President,” Sajak said, “but Dave was a fine stand-in.”

There are at least 15 horseshoe-pitching locations in Southern California from Balboa Park in San Diego to the Cypress Community Center in Fontana where you can play. Local horseshoe clubs usually maintain the courts and charge members a minimal fee.

“It’s a shame the majority of the public doesn’t know how organized we are,” Loucks said.

For more information about clubs in your area, write Don Gregson, president of the Southern California Horseshoe Pitchers’ Assn., at Box 539, Crestline 92325; or call (714) 338-2864.

Another local source is Wally Shipley’s Horseshoe Outlet at 2646 Basswood St., Newport Beach 92660; (714) 760-3658.

Membership in the National Horseshoe Pitchers’ Assn., organized in 1920, is $14 a year, which covers your state dues and insurance. For information, write the National Horseshoe Pitchers’ Assn., P.O. Box 278, Munroe Falls, Ohio 44262; or call (216) 650-2234.