Skijoring is a Norwegian winter sport where a person on skis is pulled by a horse, a dog, a pack of dogs or even a motor vehicle.
Equestrian skijoring consists of a team or a single horse with the rider pulling the person on skis hanging on to a tow rope similar to someone who is water skiing.
In Skijoring, horses are trained to work with the presence of a dangling rope and a skier right behind it. The slack of the rope determines the distance between the skier and the horse. Horses are trained for such annual occasions in different towns.
Leadville, Colorado has been hosting Skijoring since 1946. The Leadville version is normally spelled as two words: "Ski Joring".
A horse and rider pull a skier at a fast pace through a course that has gates, jumps and rings. The skier is timed through the course, and penalties are assessed by missing gates or jumps, and by missing or dropping any of the rings (two seconds each). The competitors race for cash prizes, and teams are made up by a random draw before the start.
Leadville Colorado, holds the "Highest Incorporated City in America," title at 10,152 feet above sea level. This small town has a character with bursting personalities.
Polo wraps support the ligaments and tendons on the horse's lower legs. They are also placed to prevent injury in a training or skijoring race like this.