by Stephanie Chandler

Created on: June 02, 2009

The history of the game of horseshoes is like the history of the egg; which came first, the chicken or the egg; which came first, Horseshoes or Quoits?

What is known is that Roman soldiers played a game throwing metal objects over stakes. What is not known is whether these objects were rings (as in Quoits) or horseshoes.

Quoit-like objects were known to be used as weapons in war during these ancient times. The outside edges of the rings were sharpened and they were made to spin and throw at an enemy to cause bodily harm. However, horseshoes were also available, and it is speculated that as the Roman officers threw Quoits for game, the underlings threw Horseshoes. Since no one can go back in time to see which was actually thrown in sport; that part of history will remain a mystery.

Fast forward a few centuries to the 14th century, it is known that both Quoits and Horseshoes were played in England. In fact the rulers were not happy about the amount of time the soldiers spent playing these games, they felt it took away from their training. By the 16th century peasants across the land were partaking in these 'time-wasting' games and both games found their way across the ocean to North America.

Just as in times past, American soldiers found these pitching games to be great wartime recreation. However, due to convenience, Horseshoe pitching became the main sport, as with Quoits, equipment has to be carried, but with Horseshoes, the equipment was readily available. But with the civilian folks, the game of choice was somewhat regional with the Eastern Seaboard playing Quoits and the Mid-West playing Horseshoes.

At one time both games had a stronghold on the United States. So why have most people of today heard of, if not played, Horseshoes, but most have never heard of Quoits? The demise of Quoits can be attributed to a man named George W. May, an Akron, Ohio Fireman. May was an avid player of Horseshoes and in 1920 he decided that he would become a Ringer Specialist. Why settle for just getting close, when you could get ringer after ringer? In the National Horseshoe Tournament of 1920, May changed the world of lawn games, winning 24 straight games and tossing 430 ringers. Since then every Horseshoe pitcher aspired to get as many ringers per game as possible. This attracted more and more people to the game of Horseshoes, thereby leaving the game of Quoits behind.

The game of horseshoes has evolved since its introduction to North America, with

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