DAPNET Forums Archive › Forums › The Front Porch › Off Topic Discussion › Skijoring
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northplow.
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- October 20, 2008 at 4:09 pm #39847
jen judkins
ParticipantSince we are expecting our first snow this week in the Northeast, I have been thinking ahead to winter activities. This will be my third year, participating in skijoring competitions here in central NH with my family (brother and his young kids). More info at: http://www.nesja.com. Skijoring is a relatively new ‘sport’ where a rider/horse team pull a skier through a course as fast as possible without mistakes. It is based on a very old traditional form of transportation developed by the scandinavian folks who originally used reindeer. Any draft animal, however would work. There are a couple of draft horses competing each year and though they are not fast enough in general to compete with the lighter breeds, they are always a crowd-pleaser and I’d like to see more participation in the chunk category.
I have had an ongoing interest in bringing back the old style of skijoring, where there is no rider, simply a man (or woman) and a draft animal pulling them along. There are a few in our group interested as well and one of our group is actually working on this with a camel and hopes to be ready for a demo at our first event in January. Peanut is too young to compete in the main event, but I am hoping to be able to harness his power in the more traditional version (and at a slower pace, lol), for the sake of bringing the old tradition to the public for viewing.
Yesterday, at the GMDHA plowing event, I saw some young teamsters who I thought ‘hmmmmm, they might be skiers as well!?! and a plan was hatched. Would anyone be interested in triing their hand at traditional skijoring with their teams. Would make a great demo and would be good advertisement for animal power. Did I mention that the Discovery Channel is planning a show around our January event? Yep…and they’re looking for ‘characters’!
Below are some youtube footage of skijoring (there are tons), the first is of My brother and I last year in Newport. The other was filmed in Leadville, which is the heart of the national organization NASJA. Let me know if anyone feels up to this…Keep in mind that the traditional version does not require speed or jumping (totally optional).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqSeOUPaNTk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J99beRxI6s
Jennifer.
October 21, 2008 at 7:59 am #47737Drummond Fraser
ParticipantWow! That looks like a hoot, Jennifer! I’d be very willing to give the old and new style a try. It looks like some of the NESJA events are North of the border, too (What on earth is the Eleven Town Race?). I’d be interested to know details about the equipment, how to approach training, and how the ‘old style’ works.
Drummond
October 21, 2008 at 1:05 pm #47729ParticipantDrummond, How far are you from Quebec? The winter carnival is always a spectacular event! The eleven town race is a new event and I don’t know any details yet.
In regards to equipment. The competitive version is pretty simple, saddle with breast collar (recommended) and a tow rope clipped to the back of the cantle. We generally rig a big carabiner with mountain climbing webbing tied to the saddle rigging. The tow rope has to attach to the middle of the cantle and has to be a maximum of 3 inches off the cantle (can’t slide or jiggle about) ….its a safety issue. Some horses will need a crupper depending on their build as the skiier can really rock the saddle back and forth (very strange sensation to get used to by both horse and rider). Tow rope is generally a cotton 5/8″ line and cannot be longer than 33 feet. The course is generally 1000 feet long give or take. The jumps are 4 feet (at our events, higher out west) and there are a dozen or so ‘gates’ the skier needs to navigate correctly to avoid penalties. There are also hanging rings, that the skier needs to pick up on their way by to avoid penalties. Pretty straight forward. The speed is fast…the really top horses can get up to 40 mph…but with speed generally comes more skiier error. So a team with a horse in the middle of the pack for speed can usually score big if they have a good skier.
Training wise, there’s not much to it. The horse just needs to get used to a skier chasing them. Since there is a rider, it can be accomplished pretty quickly. In my case, I have a kind of slow horse, so I haven’t completely desensitized him to the skier. Because of that I get alot more speed out of him. Most horses will readily pull a skier who is skiing right behind them (in their blind spot). Its when the skier starts coming in and out of each eye, back and forth that they can initially come unglued…so you just have to have the skier adjust to the level of the horse’s confidence in the beginning. I’ve seen one team use blinders, but its pretty uncommon.
The traditional skijoring is alittle trickier. Its more like driving and it can definately be done in harness, since there is no skier. There aren’t any rules, and I definately go with a shorter tow rope. The problem is how to attach yourself to the horse in a way that allows you to disconnect in an emergency or in case of a fall. I’ve tried using a windsurfing harness, but have been dragged pretty far before it released…so I’m back to the drawing board. I’d appreciate anyone’s thoughts on that piece…its definately where I am hung up right now.
Jennifer.
October 21, 2008 at 8:11 pm #47740CharlyBonifaz
MemberThe problem is how to attach yourself to the horse in a way that allows you to disconnect in an emergency or in case of a fall. I’ve tried using a windsurfing harness, but have been dragged pretty far before it released…so I’m back to the drawing board. I’d appreciate anyone’s thoughts on that piece…its definately where I am hung up right now.
may be this helps (you can enlarge all the pictures):
http://www.ski-joring.net/home.asp?lang=de&page=13
and I think this is a closeup with a clue 😉
http://www.planet-horse.com/sites/gestion_donnees/modules/photo_album.asp?lang=de&id_album=1037
hope you have lots of fun and snow!
elkeOctober 22, 2008 at 12:04 am #47730ParticipantThanks, Elke…that was extremely helpful! The photos are great. Several of them show what I am triing not the do and that is to be hauled around by my horse’s mouth, lol. The close up is key…I wonder if I can make something myself…hmmm. Anyway…appreciate the info. Jennifer.
November 9, 2008 at 7:32 pm #47741TBigLug
ParticipantWow, that looks like so much fun! I’m gonna have to try this winter with some baler twine and a scoop shovel for ski’s! lol
January 25, 2009 at 1:17 pm #47731ParticipantHey all, the 2009 Skijoring season is about to start. First race is Sat Jan 31st at Coleby Sawyer College in New London as part of the New London Winter Festival.
Details at http://www.nesja.com. I found a nice overview of the sport with a slide show at: http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/_sports/skijoring/index.html .
There was an AP journalist at one of our events last year interviewing and taking photographs and this was a result of that visit. The woman’s voice early on talking about the history fo the sport is mine.
Come and check it out if you live nearby. Races all start at noon.
February 2, 2009 at 5:21 pm #47739Theloggerswife
ParticipantJen,
Maybe you have already seen this, but it was on the local news the other night. My 9 year old daughter thought it was totally awesome…her two favorite sports horses and skiing combined! She thinks that we need to try it out with the draft horses now~
click on this link to see the news cast:
http://www.wcax.com/Global/category.asp?C=142185&nav=menu183_9Missy
February 3, 2009 at 12:44 am #47732ParticipantI hadn’t seen that…so thanks. Those are my skijoring buddies and looks like it was filmed the day before our race…cool. Your daughter is welcome to come try her hand. We will be in Newport on the 14th and 15th.
March 3, 2009 at 3:25 am #47738mstacy
ParticipantJen,
Have you heard of “skijoring mounted shooting”. It was the next video that popped up on utube when I followed the link that you posted at the beginning of this thread.
It looks to have fantastic potential for a Darwin award … but an absolute hoot!
Matt
PS: Would Peanut maintain his composure while dragging a gun toting skier plinking targets on the fly?
March 3, 2009 at 12:25 pm #47733ParticipantMatt, I think if you look closer, you will find that I posted those videos on youtube;). I have not personnally tried the mounted shooting….so far I have simply parked my horse in the vicinity to see his reaction. Last year he tried to jump back in the trailer through the window:o. This year he was unphazed.
I’m not a gun person, so may never try it, but it does look fun!
What’s a Darwin Award?
March 3, 2009 at 1:31 pm #47727Carl Russell
ModeratorYou know, the stupidity gene? Remove yourself from the gene pool, by making a really stupid mistake, and win a Darwin Award.:D
Carl
March 3, 2009 at 2:12 pm #47734ParticipantDoes anyone know when that draft horse barrel race is?:p
March 3, 2009 at 3:55 pm #47743Robert MoonShadow
Participant@jenjudkins 6562 wrote:
Does anyone know when that draft horse barrel race is?:p
Jen ~ I think it’s right after the ‘drafthorse polo match’. 😀
March 4, 2009 at 1:27 am #47728Plowboy
ParticipantI flip through the mounted shooting magazine whenever I’m at tractor supply. I’ve never bought it though it does look like fun. Probably an expensive sport by the time you bought a good horse, two more revolvers, fancy boots, expensive hat, saddle that cost more than the horse, etc. Like anything else it would be alot of fun with friends but when you get into big competition it gets cutthroat and expensive.
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