Horseshoes Hats

Horseshoe pitching is a game with a national governing body. The National Horseshoe Pitchers Association held its 2026 World Tournament in Weston, Wisconsin, in July with about 900 pitchers, ran the World Doubles in Hutchinson, Kansas, in October, and brought the US Open to Albuquerque in April. At the other end of the scale are leagues like the one in Sharon, Vermont, founded in 1976, with ten teams of four and 20 pits, where a player quoted in a Seven Days feature said it was not all about winning, it was about enjoying each other's company. The humor is built into the scoring. A ringer, a shoe that circles the stake, is worth three points, and the best-known line in the sport is the proverb that close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, in print since at least 1965. Team names such as Dead Ringers and Pit Bosses and a Brews and Shoes hoodie already circulate. These horseshoe hats cover the proverb, the pitcher who has the stake afraid of him, the family reunion king and the league-night regular. Every design is custom embroidered on an unstructured dad hat. Wear one to the pits, or give one to the pitcher who still says nice shoe after every throw.