# Skijoring with horses?



## Allison Finch (Oct 21, 2009)

I lived in Colorado for many years. They did it regularly in Steamboat Springs and pulled tourists around. They had races where the skier would have to be pulled over little jumps, too.


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## ridingismylife2 (Nov 4, 2008)

It's really common here actually.  i would love to try it someday.


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## jamesqf (Oct 5, 2009)

ridingismylife2 said:


> It's really common here actually.


If you know of any web sites, could you post them?

And may I ask what part of Finland you're from? I have a very good friend who comes from Pori, though she's lived in the US for many years now.


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## masatisan (Jan 12, 2009)

I can't wait to go skijoring with Caleb this winter! I'm going to do the european kind, not the aamerican way, and I'm going to use downhill skiis, not cross.

In europe, they use a harness and use lines tied to the harness to pull them and use long lines to steer:









In the US the common way is to have a rider steer the horse and tow a skiier behind:


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## Honeysuga (Sep 1, 2009)

Hmmm, Im from America and I've always seen it done the "European" way over here too, very rarely the "American" way...


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## ridingismylife2 (Nov 4, 2008)

jamesqf said:


> If you know of any web sites, could you post them?
> 
> And may I ask what part of Finland you're from? I have a very good friend who comes from Pori, though she's lived in the US for many years now.


I don't know any websites unfortunately. 
I'm from Helsinki. 
Here they do it the "American way", with someone riding the horse while pulling someone. They probably do it the European way up North though (Lapland).


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## masatisan (Jan 12, 2009)

Honeysuga said:


> Hmmm, Im from America and I've always seen it done the "European" way over here too, very rarely the "American" way...


I just call it that because the European way is started in Europe, still popular in the U.S, just, not originated there. The American way was started by two guys from Leadville Colorado, here is a video about it:


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## jamesqf (Oct 5, 2009)

Humm... Seems odd that I'd never seen or heard about it before. But then, I'd never seen anyone dog skijoring until I took it up, and only a couple of people since.

Just got back from our first outing this year, in fact. Not much snow - the news was saying a foot or two in the mountains from the storm that went through yesterday, but there was only about six inches. Barely enough to keep from scraping on rocks, but we had fun.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

Not exactly the same thing but we used to use an old pickup hood as a sled behind a team of horses. Incredibly dangerous but still fun.


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## jamesqf (Oct 5, 2009)

smrobs said:


> Incredibly dangerous but still fun.


Dangerous how? Seems like the worst that could happen is that it gets to bouncing around and you fall off into the (fairly) soft snow. And where you were, you obvously didn't have to worry about avalanches, or hitting a tree on a fast downhill stretch


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

No, what made it so dangerous is that there was no tongue to keep the hood from sliding up underneath the horses during a stop, there were no brakes either. Plus, if you tried to turn a corner while going fast, it would slide out to the side and sometimes freak the horses out or trip them when the harness came tight at the wrong angle. Also, on average, our heads were in just the right position to catch the power point of a kick should they decide to.


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## 7Ponies (May 21, 2009)

I used to do this all the time with my old horse, when I lived in Ohio. I'd strap on my skis and grab onto her tail, and off we'd go. Yes, she was very cooperative


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