Designer's Notes:  My son Tony and I brainstormed on this shoe for a couple of months gluing all sorts of things to the surface of various horseshoes and then throwing them, trying to come up with a gripping surface that really worked.  The waffle pattern that we ended up with was actually one of the very first things we tried.  Our first version of it was a raised pattern, but we eventually decided the recessed beveled grooves would be better.  It was truly a collaborative effort and that in itself was a cool experience.  To top it off, we got to utilize a name for the shoe (All-On) my grandfather came up with many years ago, making it a really nice little family project!

Well, as it turns out, this shoe happens to turn perfectly for my 1-1/4 pitch, so I've been throwing it in league and tournament competition since December of 2008 and I have to say that I've found the gripping surface to be extremely effective.  I was used to the feel of it in no time and it has really helped me to keep from dropping that short shoe that used to plague my pitching pretty regularly.  Plus, I've found that it's possible to pick up a sloppy wet shoe, give it just a quick wipe by hand (no rag) and pitch it without losing your grip on the shoe... it's nice to have that kind of confidence in your grip!  Overall, I'd say we truly accomplished our goal of creating a gripping surface that really works for a horseshoe.  The shoe itself. without the grip is really a great shoe... add the grip to it and you've got one of the best shoes I've ever pitched and I've pitched them all! If you throw a lively 1-1/4 turn, well you can't find a better shoe than this.  It is very much the same as the Steinfeldt shoe in the way that it just begs to be open... It's hard to miss with this one!

...Bobby White

Other Alan Francis horseshoes: Bullseye, Legacy & the Signature Shoe

Men's championship horseshoe pitching moved into its modern era in 1940, breaking the 80% ringer average barrier for the first time that year.  Since then, it has taken an average of over 83.5% ringers to win the world title.  Alan Francis has won 15 of them!  In nearly a hundred tries, it's a short list of six players who've pitched better than 85% ringers to win the title... the greatest of the greats... Fernando Isais, Ted Allen, Curt Day, Elmer Hohl, Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Alan Francis...  Alan has done this six times!  As of 2009, he's made 22 appearances in the Men's Championship Division at the World Championships and including all the bad days (there haven't been very many), he still has an overall lifetime average over 81% in the championship... In 2009, in Springfield, IL he set the all-time record for highest ringer average in the Men's World Championship Division bettering last year's world record of 89.4% with an astonishing 90.26% ringer average, putting Alan in a class of his own being the first world champion to ever average over 90%!  He's arguably one of the greatest to ever compete in this sport and he pitches this shoe that bares his signature!