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Horsing around in the snow

It would appear that we are not done with the snowfall — dang it! It was so nice for a couple of days, horses were starting to shed out, birds were chirping — it just felt like spring.
Skijoring on March 9 near Cochrane using a horse.
Skijoring on March 9 near Cochrane using a horse.

It would appear that we are not done with the snowfall — dang it!

It was so nice for a couple of days, horses were starting to shed out, birds were chirping — it just felt like spring. We were even outside in shirtsleeves playing with the horses but, almost overnight, a huge dump of snow has changed our activities with our equine friends.

Now we look to see what other fun activities we can share with our horses. One of my friends has found an excellent activity call skijoring. Wikipedia defines it as “Skijoring is a winter sport where a person on skis is pulled by a horse, a dog (or dogs) or a motor vehicle. It is derived from the Norwegian word skikjřring meaning ski driving.” Of course, our choice is pulled by a horse.

There are lots of options on how you actually do this activity depending upon the skill set of the horse and the human.

The simplest way is to have a rider on the horse with a rope extending back to the skier (or snow boarder if that is your equipment of choice).

The skier either hangs on to the rope or snaps it with a quick release shackle to a harness designed for this sport.

The rider must be careful not to solidly attach the rope (no half hitches around the saddle horn) so that the rider can drop the rope if necessary. The skier needs to be able to drop the rope quickly when the situation arises (to avoid a fall or non-negotiable object in the oncoming path).

When my brother and I were young, we did a variation of this using a “flying saucer” instead of skis. My brother was on the saucer and I was on the horse. We had great fun trotting or galloping around our property with the odd “incident” that often resulted in a flurry of “conversation”.

One incident in particular stands out in my mind — I actually sent my brother into the air on the saucer. I thought it was hilarious at the time but he had a much different opinion. I neglected to allow for the arc carved by the saucer when I turned and, as a result, sent my brother over a rather large pile of snow and into the air. He had a soft landing in the snow so what was the big deal?

Another variation is for the skier to use a driving horse where the skier drives the horse from the ground. This does require a quick release style tow rope as the skier is busy with the driving lines and it is rather difficult to hang on to the rope and the lines at the same time.

Also, the skier needs driving lines long enough to allow sufficient space between the skier and the hind end of the horse.

A third variation is using the collar and traces part of the harness on the saddle horse and still have a rider guiding the horse while the skier is being towed behind attached to the lengthened traces (again with a quick release shackle).

As far as the skis go, you can use downhill, cross-country or snowboards for this activity. As the skier, you do want to have sufficient skill to be able to turn and stop effectively – the last thing you want to do is slam in to the “business end” of the horse.

Also, you want to be able to control your turns so you don’t knock the rider out of the saddle with the rope – nothing good can possibly happen in that situation.

You can get quite fancy — options include building jumps in the snow (for the skier, not the horse) or setting up a slalom course. Whatever you choose to do — be safe and have fun!

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