Source: http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/city/article/350078
TELEGRAPH-JOURNAL
Published Thursday July 10th, 2008
MARY-ELLEN SAUNDERS
St. Stephen set to host horseshoe tourney
ST. STEPHEN - Jason Rideout remembers tossing horseshoes in the backyard with his father and grandfather every Sunday evening since he was a young boy.
Rideout said he learned from his father, his father was taught by his father, and Rideout plans to pass the tradition on to his newborn daughter.
"Growing up with my father, he always said he would never show any mercy on me," said Rideout. "It's sort of a fun thing, it is competition, you are always trying to beat your dad. I have once or twice, but he can usually beat me."
He said he lost many games 21-0.
Jason Rideout's father, Glen, said his father never took it easy on him either.
"He had to learn the hard way, my father always taught me what you gain is what you learn," said Glen Rideout.
The Rideouts are members of the St. Stephen Horseshoe Club - the largest in the province - that is hosting the provincial horseshoe championships this weekend. There are 57 people registered to play in the tournament and Jason Rideout said 34 of them are from St. Stephen.
Rideout said many of the members play with another family member and it has been the area's ability to pass the game on from one generation to the next that has led to its popularity.
"It's kept its roots because we are such a small area," said Rideout. "It's something that is important because it's in your blood. It's something fathers pass on to their sons, so it is respected. That is why it's so big."
He explained that the game involves throwing a two-and-a-half pound horseshoe 40 feet and trying to get it around a metal rod in the ground. There are different techniques called a spin and a flip shoe but the game, he said, isn't really about being the best.
Rideout said he plans to bring his baby to the tournament this weekend, which will make the youngest member only weeks old and the oldest member 83.
Leo Watson is 78 years old and can't remember a time when he didn't pitch horseshoes. When he was a kid he said he used to pitch them on his family farm with shoes right off a horse's foot, not the manufactured kind they use today.
Watson said it is not a sport that gets violent like hockey and it really isn't about winning or losing. It's meant as a way to get outside, talk to friends and have a good time.
But all the walking and throwing does keep him in shape and at 78 he doesn't take advantage of the 10 feet allotted for seniors.
Watson has attended the provincial and Maritime championships every year they have been held. He has also attended eight national competitions with a victory in 1987 and travelled to Waterloo to participate in a world championship.
Even though he is a former national champion, Watson said that doesn't make him the best pitcher.
He explained that anyone is allowed to participate in any tournament no matter how good or bad they are. The tournament, he said, has different classes judged on the percentage of a player's accuracy. A person can be the winner out of a group of players that average 10 per cent of shoes on the loop or a group that averaged 80 per cent.
"We all have just as much fun," said Watson. "If you are a champion in your class, you are still a champion."
Watson said the motto most horseshoe clubs go by is "just play to have fun."
And that is what he does.
Watson said he has a passion for pitching and has made friends from all over the world. Whenever he goes on vacation, no matter where he goes he said there is always someone there he knows through the game. He said with the focus on participation, the game invites players who are easy-going and willing to make life-long friends.
"I look forward to every Tuesday when we play," said Watson. "I would play every day if I had someone to play with."
The tournament will take place on Saturday and Sunday afternoons at the Border Arena on King Street.
Earle Stuart, 83, Leo Watson, 78, and Greg Rideout practise throwing horseshoes at Stuart’s home on the outskirts of St. Stephen. The three men will be among 34 St. Stephen players competing at the provincial tournament at the Border Arena on King Street this weekend.