Gaits and gates in 3D

This year, Saratoga Skijoring went 3D.

In previous years, there were Novice, Intermediate, and Expert classes a team could enter.

A team might enter the “Intermediate” division and have a time slower than the fastest in the “Novice” category.

That would win them … exactly nothing.

Last week’s Saratoga snow and track event featured SkijorUSA’s new 3D system.

A competing team no longer enters just a particular category and all teams are sorted into divisions based on their best times.

Say a team finishes with a day fastest 18 seconds. Everyone who finishes within a second of that time would fall into the 1D category with the 18-second time taking first place.

Those finishing in the 16 to 16.99 second timeframe would fall into the 2D category.

Anyone with times of 15.99 seconds or below would be in the 3D zone.

That seems more equal to me and prohibits “sandbagging”—or a good team joining a category below their standard performance.

But now that 3D is a thing, I have one question:

Where do I get the glasses?

God knows I want those teams to “pop.”

Joring Duty

Skijoring is a Scandinavian innovation. For hundreds of years, when the weather got really bad, Scandinavians would strap on some long skis and attach a rope to reindeer to get them where they were going. Thus would those arctic types go “joring” or, as we would say, “driving” to their frigid destinations.

Down and Back Up

In the 1928 Olympics held in St. Moritz, Switzerland, skijoring was debuted as a “demonstration sport.” The sole event, using horses, was held the second day of the games and featured a jumpless run across a frozen lake.

Skijoring has not made an Olympic appearance since then. You might come to the conclusion that skijoring was kind of a flop, but in the 1940s a quarter horse owner teamed up with an avid skier in Leadville, Colo. and equestrian skijoring began its rise as an exciting winter sport.

The sport of skijoring has now caught on in much of the north part of America and at least one Canadian province.

With our cowboy heritage, abundance of winter precipitation, and, well, not a lot to do in the winter (If you’re a winter nut I apologize—I play indoor sports come the snowfall), Wyoming seems the perfect state for the sport.

Heck, the Cowboy State’s second largest industry is tourism. Might as well get a bigger slice of that winter pie, too.

To The Dogs

A website named Fritinancy had a definition of skijoring that started like this:

Skijoring: Cross-country skiing with the assistance of dogs (or, less commonly, horses) …

What?

Turns out a lot of the skijoring world uses dogs to jore around (Jore around?).

To use dogs for skijoring, a skier wears a harness with a rope attached to a dog (or team of dogs) who also wears a harness(s) to pull the rider along.

A rider also propels himself with ski poles since his arms are free and uses verbal commands to guide the hopefully well-trained pups.

I did see a photo depicting a skier wrapped in rope on the ground. Also in the photo; a self-satisfied pup stood looking at the wrapped jorer.

The type below the photo cautioned dog-jorers not to stand still too long as over active canines can run circles around them, effectively tying them up.

Bum on a rope

In Wyoming, we pretty much all know the cowboy persona. You can’t turn around in a small Wyoming town without bumping into a cowboy (remember to say “excuse me”).

Ski bums not so much.

Sure, if you live in a place like Jackson where skiing goes on in the area regularly you may have distilled the skier essence.

People are people of course, but I am guessing you are more likely to get an enthusiastic “How’s it hanging, dude?” from one and a plain “Howdy!” from another.

Cowboys congregate where there are other cowboys. Getting the skiers to the starting gate is a little harder because they keep looking for the lift chairs to get them there.

It has been mentioned to me that cowboys and skiers make for an unusual personality mix.

So getting a horse and rider at one end of a rope and a ski enthusiast at the other end is fun to watch.

I can almost hear the cowboy thinking, “Bum on a rope … let’s see if we can shake him loose.”

If the skier could hear that, the reply would likely be, “Can’t you do it faster?”

One should remember that skiers have a motto that sums up a possible mindset: “If you’re not falling, you’re not learning.”

The horse is still just mad he had to go in that trailer again. The only thought he may have is, “Can I poop while running in front of this person?” This may be another reason the skiers wear goggles and/or masks.

With Great Powder …

Of course, the course depends on snow. This year Saratoga Skijoring had enough to make some higher jumps. Despite the seeming additional danger, organizers assure me they take a “safety first” approach to every facet of the race.

Saratoga’s track is designed with a dirt track for the horses to run on while the skiers slide over the snow-covered track replete with rings, gates and jumps.

On other courses, a horse runs through snow down the middle of the course while the skier travels behind going side-to-side.

Given the Valley’s horse culture, it was quickly decided that, for the health and safety of the horses, our horse portion would be groomed dirt.

As far as the skier’s safety, they are required to wear helmets and protective gear. Oh, and at least there are no trees for them to run into.

An additional safety measure is that no one participating (either riding, skiing or officiating in any way) is allowed to drink alcohol immediately before or during the races.

That actually is a pretty sensible precaution and adds to the family-friendly feel.

But you know the old saying: “With great powder comes great responsibility.”

Frugal Fun

This year it cost $5 per person to get into Buck Springs where Saratoga Skijoring is held.

That’s a pretty good value and works out to be about a dollar an hour for some good entertainment.

As opposed to the chariot races skijoring replaced, the action is more non-stop with riders and skiers racing pretty quickly on each other’s heels.

There have been years where the Wyoming wind whipped by incessantly—knocking over fences and banners in its quest to be “over there.”

We have seen snow and extreme cold. The weekend has also had its share of fairly nice days too.

Anyway, the event features a fun-to-watch sport, a congenial crowd and entry and concession costs that go to worthy causes.

Just bring enough cold weather gear.

 

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