Ski Joring...

The sport of ski joring began several hundred years ago in Scandinavian countries as a way to travel during the long winters. Laplander’s skied on Nordic skis holding the reins attached to reindeer. In the mid 1950′s, ski joring found its way to North America, where ranchers attached a long rope to the saddle horn of a horse that was ridden at high speeds down a long straight-away. Currently, the sport of equestrian ski joring has become a highly specialized competitive sport, where competitors must navigate a course of jumps, gates and sometime spear rings. Competitive ski joring competitions are currently taking place in over 5 states in the USA, and in several countries worldwide. In some parts of the world, skiers are pulled behind dogs, mules and snowmobiles. Whatever the means, the sport of ski joring is growing rapidly, and is just as much fun for spectators as it is for competitors. North American Ski Joring Association
As part of winter carnival we had an event in town today. It was quite exciting to watch but as is often the case with me, I went more for the mood in the shot instead of a documentation of the event to give you a better feel for the sport.