Skijoring- It’s an Experience
By: Gwendolyn Parker
This is a sport that combines my two favorite things in the world. Riding horses and skiing. I got into this when I was in college in Laramie. In Saratoga, one and a half hours away, the small Wyoming town held their first skijoring event in 2016 . I was working for a ranch at the time and had the perfect horse in mind. My friends are all skiers and one of them agreed to ski behind me. We took 3rd that year and from there we were hooked.
So, in skijoring there is a track made out of snow that is maybe 900 feet long from start to finish. On that track are red poles that the skier has to go to the right of, blue poles that they have to ski to the left of, rings hanging from magnets that the skier has to stick their arm through and collect, and trick jumps.
When it comes time for your team to compete, they will call your team name to the track. We were the Fat Giants when I was the rider, and the Blue Lizards when I was the skier. As a team of three; myself, the skier and my trustee stead, we were on deck and I was handed one end of a 33 foot rope, which I wrapped around my saddle horn, and my skier/teammate was handed the other end.
Now, my horse is getting anxious. The horses I used were always new to the sport and needed comforting. They needed to know that the human attached to the rope attached to them was not going to attack. If it was not our first run of the day, the horses get really excited because they know they are going to be asked to fire down the track as fast as they can when you give them their heads.
When my horse is calm and standing still, I look to my skier and wait for him to tell me he is ready. I see the fear in his eyes as my horse put on a show of pure power and strength. He knows this will be fast. He nods, I put my hand and my weight slightly forward, and we are off. I am working to keep my horse from spooking and pulling out to the right, causing my skier to run out of rope or miss a gate. My skier is in full fledge survival mode back there doing his best to keep from biting the dust and not miss any features. We are both trying to go faster than everybody else will. When we reach the end of the run, I let my horse keep going for a while. I let him slow down at an easy rate. I look back and I see my skier with his arms up and a fist full of rings and I know we made a qualified run. Yay! But there are also times when the tug from the rope disappears mid run, you hear the announcer go “oooohhhh”, and you look back to see your skiers legs in the air instead of his helmet.
On the other side, I am the skier. I am standing on the track at the start gate, gripping the rope, squatting down to prepare for the powerful jerk when the horse takes off, and I nod to my rider. I’m off, I am working my way up and down the rope to make my gates and get my rings. We are going faster and faster. I am doing really well then, smack! I tried to make it around a really sharp hard gate and my edge caught. My knees and then my face went slamming into the icy track. I was a little embarrassed so I shot up like rocket, smiled and waved, and hobbled off the track. My knee felt like it exploded, but it hadn’t so that is good news. That was my first run of 2 for the day. As I prepare for my second run, I am double nervous. I nod to my rider and we take off. I’m doing pretty well, I get my rings, I land my jumps, I make the first few gates then the gate that got me my first run approaches. I’m panicking thinking I am going to repeat my previous mistake. I half-heartedly move in the direction of the gate and whiz right by it; but, oh well, I am still up on 2 feet! I hit the last big jump, land it, and we make a qualified run! That was so much fun!
When you miss a gate, it is a 5 second penalty, so it really messes up your chances at winning. Although it is a bummer, I was pretty satisfied with my performance and just hope to get better as I gain more experience. We are all there just to have fun anyway.
Whether you are participating or spectating, skijoring is great fun! Be sure to catch the next skijoring event in Saratoga this February 5th through the 6th.
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