Afternoon traffic on Bend’s Franklin Avenue is chugging past Juniper Park, but the horseshoe pitchers pay it no mind. They’re listening for another sound – the clang of metal on metal as their horseshoes hit and, the pitchers hope, come to rest around a stake located 40 feet away.

This is known as a ringer and is an acquired talent, says Bill Graham Jr., 46, of Bend. He says his record is 23 ringers in a row.

”When you’re doing that, we call it being in the zone because it’s so easy and you’re not even thinking about it,” Graham says. ”When you get done, you’re surprised that you pitched that many. It’s effortless when you get into that zone.”

Before it becomes effortless, however, there’s plenty of practice required. On most spring, summer and fall Thursday afternoons, members of the Bend Horseshoe Club can be found perfecting their art on Juniper Park’s 14 horseshoe courts.

”It’s fun, once you can let go of that arm swing and wing it down there,” says Terry Scoville, 45.

Scoville, a Bend woodworker, started competing in horseshoe pitching in July. She said her ringer percentage has risen steadily, from 15 percent when she began competing to 35 percent after five events. Currently, she is preparing to represent Bend at the Oregon State Singles horseshoe championships Sept. 4-5 in Phoenix, near Medford.

Statewide, there are approximately 200 people involved in organized competitive horseshoe pitching, according to Graham. At the 2004 World Horseshoe Pitching Championships, held July 26 through Aug. 7 in Pocatello, Idaho, four pitchers from Oregon emerged as champions and 22 Oregon pitchers finished in the money.

Graham finished fourth in his division and 28th overall out of 1,201 competitors. Bob Bender of Bend was 12th in his division.

Anyone can pitch horseshoes – it’s a traditional summer activity for many people. But becoming an elite pitcher requires work and focus.

”It takes a lot of practice,” Graham says. ”What really separates the very good horseshoe pitchers from the ones that just want to have fun is being very dedicated to the sport and just total concentration.”

Scoville says the benefits of practicing are twofold: She gets better at her sport while spending time with new friends.

”I had never anticipated that I would be involved with such a neat group of people,” Scoville says. ”They’re very, very friendly and receptive to newcomers. There’s a lot of camaraderie, which is great. Even if you pitch poorly, you still have a good time, which is a bonus.”

Another bonus, she says, is that the sport isn’t a wallet-breaker and pretty much can be practiced anywhere.

”All you need is one pair of horseshoes, two steel stakes, and 40 feet of distance,” Scoville explains.

According to the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association, the sport’s origins were in the Roman Empire. Soldiers used to toss their horses’ shoes for fun. More formally, horseshoe pitching is thought to stem from quoits, an ancient game in which metal rings are thrown at stakes in the ground.

England established formal rules for horseshoe pitching in 1869. The first official world horseshoe pitching competition was held in 1910 in Kansas. Today, approximately 15 million people pitch horseshoes in North America.

Games commonly go to 40 points. Two competitors face off, each with two shoes, tossing at the same stake. A ringer – when the shoe lands encircling the stake – is worth three points. A ”shoe in count” lands within six inches of the stake and is worth one point.

Graham got into the sport professionally in 1994, after watching his parents play it for years. He’d toss a horseshoe now and again, just for fun. But his father, Bill Graham Sr., finally persuaded his athletic son to give horseshoes a serious try.

Graham Sr., 68, says he knew that his son – a 1976 graduate of Bend High School and former competitive wrestler and softball and basketball player – would take to horseshoes quickly.

”He was a natural, as far as throwing a horseshoe 40 feet,” says Graham Sr., a retired teacher.

Graham Sr. has been playing horseshoes professionally for 23 years, after he and his wife, Donna, found two pair of ”picnic” horseshoes in a San Diego park. It wasn’t long until he had graduated to competitive shoes. Professional pitchers use cast-iron shoes, which can weigh up to 2 pounds, 10 ounces.

Graham Sr., who helped build the Juniper horseshoe pits with his friend, Chuck Seal, the current California horseshoe pitching champion, says he wishes that the sport would attract more younger players.

”The older people, unfortunately, are aging out, and we can’t get enough younger ones,” Graham Sr. says.

Graham Sr. says it’s easy to pick out those who are new to the sport.

”In the lower (competitive) classes, people have fun throwing ringers,” Graham Sr. explains. ”If they throw four dead (two ringers in a row), you can hear them all over town.”

Dallas Finn can be reached at dfinn@bendbulletin.com.