Usually, when you hear about a horseshoe tournament, you think of a bunch of old sun-burned dudes with beers in their hands wearing tank tops and wife beaters, throwing horseshoes into dirt or sand pits, trying to hit a stake for points.

Double Ringer – 6 Points – YEAH BUDDY!

There’s an old saying that mentions horseshoes that goes something like this: “Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.”

What that means is that when you have a goal, you need to accomplish that goal, and not just settle for “almost got it.” You see, in normal horseshoes, if you almost hit the stake, then you still get partial points for your throw. Throwing grenades is kind of the same thing. You don’t have to hit your target spot on every time because the shrapnel will do the damage for you.

Well, almost doesn’t count in horseshoes when you’re bending them!

Last week was the fourth week in the Diesel Classic Strongman Tournament, and the feat of strength contested was Horseshoe Bending!

The great thing about last week’s tournament was that both master horseshoe benders and beginner horseshoe benders competed.

In case you are wondering, there is a near endless variety of horseshoes out there to try and bend. In our DVD, Hammering Horseshoes, Mike and I cover about a dozen types of shoes that are readily available and easily obtainable.

Mike and I are also working to extend this list in order to give more options for beginners as well as more steps in between established shoes. Look for this listing to come out sometime soon.

Now, let’s get back to the tournament.

Here are the standings after last week’s tournament:

• 1st – Cameron Bailey – 4.5 Points
• 2nd – David Horne / Mike Rinderle / Darrin Shallman – 3 Points
• 3rd – Richard MacLean / Jason Steeves – 2 Points
• 4th – Daniel Reinard – 1.5 Points
• 5th – David Wigren – 1 Point

Here is how the tournament panned out this week. Remember, a win is worth 1 point. A tie is .5 points, and a loss is worth zero. A lot of how the tournament works out each week depends on the luck of the draw and how many people submit entries into the tournament.

So, after this weeks bracket, we now have a new leader and the running score is looking very different. Here are the standings:

• Darrin Shallman – 5 Points
• Cameron Bailey – 4.5 Points
• David Wigren – 4 Points
• David Horne / Mike Rinderle – 3 Points
• Richard MacLean / Jason Steeves – 2 Points
• Daniel Reinard – 1.5
• EJ Livesey – 1 Point
• Christopher Smith – .5 Points

So, now we head into the final week of the Classic Strongman Feats Tournament.

The rules for the final showdown of the tournament will be posted tomorrow.

Believe me, you do not want to miss the final turn of this spectacle. There will be MANY points up for grabs.

Now, let’s check out the awesome shoe bends from the entrants this week:

David Wigren – Kerckheart SSP 8X18 #000

Mike Rinderle – St Croix Forge Plain Regular #3

EJ Livesey – St Croix Forge Lite Rim #1

Darren Shallman – Diamond Classic #1

Daniel Reinard – St Croix Forge Polo #1

Andy Thomas – St. Croix Forge Ultra Lite #2

Christopher Smith – St. Croix Forge Ultra Lite #2

Great week guys. Look for the next challenge very soon.

Jedd