Tracie Binkerd: Wyoming's Ace Horseshoe Champ

You don’t have to know much about horseshoes to appreciate Tracie Binkerd’s pitching prowess. In her first seven years of competitive play, she’s won the Wyoming women’s state champion title four times.

“I took to it quickly,” said Binkerd, who began playing competitively at the age of 30. 

The four-month season of tournaments organized by the Wyoming Horseshoe Pitching Association kicked off earlier this month.

Binkerd, who lives in Cheyenne, begins her eighth season of competition with a goal to become a five-time state champ — and head to Salt Lake City in July to compete against the best of the best horseshoe players.

While you might toss some horseshoes at a summertime picnic or barbeque, there are world championship titles at-stake every year, and the competition is as fierce as it is fun.

“It’s fun to go to the world tournament,” said Binkerd. “But really, I’m just trying to do my best.”

Finding Her Pitch

Even if Binkerd took up horseshoes a bit later in life, she wasn’t exactly new to the sport.

For years, she’d attended tournaments at which her parents competed and became a regular scorekeeper. 

It took some time for Binker to warm to the idea of following her parents’ lead and swap tallying up scores to tallying up ringers, the term for the 3-point play when a horseshoe fully encircles the metal stake.

“I was concerned I couldn’t handle the weight of adult horseshoes,” Binkerd recalled.

So, she began pitching with a light pair of shoes before graduating to the standard weight.

Soon enough, Binkerd found a love and a knack for the sport.

In her second season, she switched up her technique, from the “turn” pitch favored by her parents (in which the shoe careens toward the stake like a Frisbee) to her now-signature “flip,” in which the shoe flies through the air flipping end over end.

With a pitching technique, Binkerd then leaned on something she’s found handy in other aspects of life: a preference for consistency.

That means she sets herself up for both her first and second pitches the exact same way; she takes a deep breath at the same time, and then takes a very short backswing and a very long step before pitching her horseshoe into the air aimed at a stake that’s 30 feet away.

“Everything feels very consistent,” she said. “It helps with that muscle memory.”

200 Shoes A Day

Like anyone who’s the best at what they do, a lot of practice has been required to develop and maintain that muscle memory.

So long as the weather cooperates, most afternoons of the week Binkerd will head out after work to get in a session of practice pitching 200 shoes. 

That’s a pretty typical number of pitches for one day of competitive play in a tournament, though Binkerd said she’s had a two-day tournament when the tally numbered more than 600.

“My shoulder feels it more than anything,” she said of those especially intense days.

During practice, Binkerd uses a clicker counter meant for baseball umpires to keep a running tally of the number of ringers and shoes she pitches — all to track a key metric in the sport: The ringer percentage. 

With an ultimate goal of pitching 50% ringers, Binkerd is looking to consistently improve throughout the season.

“At the end of the summer, I can hopefully be hitting my stride,” she said.

Dreaming Of Horseshoes

There’s a nominal cost of hitting her stride with a high percentage of ringers.

Binkerd’s pitching technique means horseshoes are more likely to crack on the end, so she buys a new pair every season. 

“A girl can never have too many shoes,” she joked.

Aside from a sizable horseshoe collection — the sport’s shoes are very different, by the way, from the shoes horses wear — and the dust that’s typically on her jeans, there aren’t necessarily any “tells” for Binkerd’s sport of choice. 

Then again, the biggest tell might be her palpable passion. Binkerd loves talking about horseshoes — “some would probably say too much,” she said.

She thinks about the game a lot and has successfully piqued the interest of friends and coworkers to give pitching a try. 

And so, it’s perhaps not surprising that the sport is on her mind, even while sleeping.

“I do dream about horseshoes on a consistent basis,” Binkerd said.

A Family Affair

Though Binkerd said she’s always had a competitive spirit and was a track athlete when she was younger, there was something more about horseshoes that really landed with her.

“It’s a great community of people,” she said. “I think people would be surprised by the camaraderie — people are serious, but they’re having a lot of fun.”

Part of the fun for Binkerd is that it’s become a family affair of sorts.

Her father, Tim James, is the reigning Wyoming men’s champ at the 30-foot distance, which is open to men 65 and older.

Binkerd’s mother, Karen James, competes, as does her husband Shane Binkerd.

What’s more, Binkerd’s two sisters are also at many tournaments — her twin frequently keeps score, while her other sister is a frequent spectator. 

But with so many players in her family, what does a get-together look like? 

“We’re a competitive group,” Binkerd said, and that means the horseshoes typically come out eventually. “Most of us are traveling with horseshoes in our vehicles.”

The level of competition has also evolved over time. When Binkerd was getting a feel for the sport, her dad would often spot her points. He’s since stopped doing that. 

“My dad is very good at horseshoes,” she said. “But I beat him every once in a while.”

Passion For Pitching

It may seem odd for a reigning champ, but even the opportunity to get “royally beat” is a match-up Binkerd relishes.

She has a few competitive, though still friendly, nemeses in the sport she’s chased — and in one case surpassed — and she welcomes any opportunity to play against the highest-level players because it only pushes her to improve.

“There are a couple gals who are very, very tough every year,” Binkerd said.

But one of the tougher aspects of the sport is that the number of players is dwindling nationwide. And in a state like Wyoming, people must really have a passion to travel far and wide to tournaments where the prize money might be just enough to cover the cost of gas.

“You’re not going to get rich playing horseshoes,” Binkerd said.

That’s why she hopes more people will appreciate the sport’s real prize, which is the community that players find when they start pitching, and the benefits that don’t end there. 

“Horseshoes has helped me to get to know people on a more personal level,” she said.

What’s more, her success in the pits has boosted her confidence when approaching other challenges. 

“It’s overlooked a lot of times,” Binkerd said. “It’s unfortunate because it’s a really fun sport.”