About

When someone mentions horseshoes, thoughts of guys horsing around, exerting little if any effort, and drinking beer often come to mind. But did you know…

  • Boulder Horseshoes Club has been pitching since 1956.

  • Our founding member, Ted Allen, was a 10 time World Champion.

  • The original horseshoe pits were located by the city library and are now located outside of the YMCA on 28th and Mapleton.

  • Our current membership is at 68, which consists of men, women and children whose ages range from 14 - 96 years old. Making Horseshoeing a great family activity.

  • BHC is affiliated with the Colorado Horseshoe Pitchers Association (CHPA) and the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association (NHPA). Our Boulder club is well represented annually at various statewide tournaments as well as the World Championship tournament.

Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night for 16 weeks in the summer, the Boulder Horseshoe Club meets. We play for City Championship, League Championship, State Championships and World Championships. The members are serious, although there is some horsing around. They are, after all, playing horseshoes. And there is effort, mental and physical, exerted by those who pitch. It is a serious sport.

The members of the club do not go to the pits to just throw a couple shoes around. They are competitive and the club has been that way since Ted Allen started the club nearly 50 years ago. When the first shoe was pitched there, a dirt road was going by and the nearest paved street was Folsom.

"This was in the country when I joined. There were the eight courts and a dirt road," said Stan Bonnes, a member of the club since the early 1960s.

The group is tight-knit. Everyone keeps score for other people and the ones who don't shoot the breeze on the bleachers underneath the trees. Stats are kept for each player, wins, loses, average ringer percentage, handicap and shoes pitched.

Photo of Ted Allen with the portable pit he used for exhibitions.