Hoe

Summary of the
II INTERNATIONAL HOE THROWING CONTEST
SANDOVAL DE LA REINA - 2000 (see the 1999 contest)

Roman hoe from the Smith museum of Ancient Inventions http://www.smith.edu/hsc/museum/ancient_inventions/hsclist.htm

III International Hoe Throwing Contest:
August 24th 2001 - 12:00 h (confirm at 942 360145)
Sandoval de la Reina - Burgos - Spain
We hope you'll be here!

The Hoe Throwing is a game of rural origins, dating back some time we have been unable to determine, but that it existed already in the 50's of the XXth Century, as some photographs of that time prove, which gave rise to its recreation in Sandoval de la Reina.
This is a game where ability is essential, and make competitors be both competitive and talkative.
The hoe must be thrown as far away as possible, without lifting your feet off the ground. It's main originality lies in the fact that the hoe must leave the hand of the contestant from behind his/her body forward between his/her two legs, as shown in the pictures.
Despite it's apparent danger, its safety has been proven, both for the thrower and the public, after more than 100 pieces of throwing of demonstration, attempt and competition.
The only place on the body the thrower could hit himself/herself, would be the front, if the pole remains stuck to the hand, quite improbable on the other hand because magnesia or talc are supplied so that the wood slips out easily.

In Sandoval there's a social Club (Peña), the Sandovale Peña, that during the summer, organizes a series of activities to keep the appeal of the village and get the emigrant locals, their offspring and family-in-law around continue coming in. The Sandodovale Club existence allow too to keep open a local as head office and a space to meet all along the year, thanks to the fiscal, legal and social benefits it involves.

Sandoval is in a geographical situation eminently rural. Recreational activities related to the country have, therefore, a particular interest to us.
Thus the Tuta and the Womes's Bowling, among others, are part of the traditional leisure activities of the village of Sandoval, and always have been. They are also part of other villages in the area.

However, when in 1999, the hoe throwing was suggested as a leisure and recreational activity, nobody around here remembered it had ever been hold, so we can say with full knowledge of the facts that this is not a customary playful activity here.
It has been anywhere in Spain, but we don't know where, neither when, and if it has existed for a long time.
The reason why we decided to organize a Hoe Throwing Contest has its origins in for photographs that a member of the club saw in an Exhibition of Leisure in Madrid in 1998. In this exhibition there was a section devoted to traditional rural games. One of them was precisely the Hoe Throwing of which just 4 pictures were there, very explanatory, but without any more pieces of information, place of origin of the photographs or the year. However, they were in black and white, in the 50's or 60's, and in Spain, both things inferred from the clothing of the throwers and the quality of the snapshots. Regrettably, we weren't precautions enough to take photographs of them, nor jot down the person or institution that was showing them.
Something related to what we are describing is a hoe throwing held in some places in Spain, but carried out whirling the arm that holds the hoe, which makes de difference with what we have adopted. We point out that the rotation system of throwing may cause the hoe doesn't come out in the desired way and thus, as it could be seen in a TV broadcast in the summer of 1999, the hoe fall down over the public. As we say, this is not the type of throwing we are looking for data.
In you know some information about our throwing will be very pleased if you wrote us and inform us.
Given the originality of the game and the obvious ability, more than force, its practice required, along with the ease organisation, we decided to star up and thus was made in 1999, for the first time in Sandoval de la Reina, without problems, except for a very short participation -11 competitors- due to its newness and lack of publicity.
In 2000, we'll do it again, trying to give it more publicity in the villages around and through the Internet, so that we can get more participants and increase its popularity.

Bearing in mind the lack of bibliography about this subject, at the beginning we had to imagine which would be the rules this game followed at one time. From the takes we inferred the way of throwing the hoe and that the feet should remain touching the ground all along the throwing.
Logically the obtained distance should be the establishing element for the ranking and therefore the winner. We have added little more and this has been done to make the contest clear.

Thus the rules, for us established, are as follows:

1.- It could be used both a hoe or a mattock considering:
Hoe: Gardening tool with a long handle and a small square blade, used to remove small weeds and break up the surface of the soil.
Mattock: A how with the blade longer and narrower than the usual hoe.

2.- Weight and measurements of the hoe or mattock:
Minimum weight: 1kg (handle + blade). Minimum length: 80 cm.

3.- Hoe or mattock will be thrown from behind to forward, passing between the legs of the thrower.

4.- Feet must touch the ground all along the throwing. Otherwise the throwing is invalid.
A variant is that feet are flat and still on the ground from the beginning of the manoeuvres until the blade of the hoe touches the ground when falling. But, for the time being we admit that the throwers can be on tiptoe as shown in the photograph above.

5.- When throwing, feet mustn't tread on the mark on the ground that shows the limit from where the hoe can be thrown. Treading on it makes the throwing invalid.

6.- The distance achieved is measured between the throwing limit mark and the nearest place where the blade of the hoe touches in its fall (the metallic part of it).

7.- The number of throwings per competitor will be 3 or 5 depending on the number of people entering the competition. The jury will decide upon this matter.

8.- The competitors entry will be fulfilled in the same place and time where and when the event takes place and it's free.

9.- The competitor who throws farthest the hoe in one valid throwing will be proclaimed champion.
A special mention will be awarded to the competitor having the highest sum of all his/her valid throwings. Nevertheless, it will be awarded to the second if the first is the champion.

10.- There will be a jury for the competition. Its decisions will be unappealable.

11.- The competition is open to women and men older than 18.

12.- The Sandovale Peña (Sandovale Club), organizer of the contest declines all responsibility for the harms, injuries or damages to the own competitors or to third parties, deriving from the course of the competition, assuming the competitors responsibility for the consequences of the use and operation of the farming instruments.
The public will be responsible for its own safety, avoiding to remain inside the strip put on purpose to keep the public away.
Therefore, the competitors will watch both over its own safety and the rest of participants and judges', in what they are in incumbent.
Despite this, organizers will put great means to avoid any accident:
- Keeping the public away of reach of the hoe.
- Warning throwers, public and judges.
- Etc

13.- For the unforeseen in these rules, the jury's point of view will prevail.

The field we use is a threshing floor ("era"), very common place in the villages of the region to make some operations with the harvest, mainly cereals. We paint a semicircle from which the thrower can't exit, nor tread on the line, and then, as a reference, we paint a short arc of circumference every metre of distance. One field judge or two look at the feet of the thrower and thene at the point where the blade touches in the ground to proceed to the measurement.

Before the contest starts, all those wishing will be able to try and throw.

In 2000, a carved trophy and a certificate (see image) was delivered to the winner.
It was also delivered a special mention to the second in the sum of five throwings.
All competitors were treated to a small gift.

In 2001 these trophies and gifts will be the same.
As a novelty, in 2001, there'll be two categories: Women and Men.