Nearly 150 Teams Sign Up for 2nd Annual Winter Rodeo

Nearly 150 teams, about 40 more than last year, took to horses and skis Saturday for the second annual WYO Winter Rodeo on Broadway.

The day started with a warmup of coffee and donuts, with skijoring at 10 a.m.

Thousands of people lined the snow-packed route to watch riders pulling skiers over the course.

Among those who signed up for the event were Michelle Irwin and her boyfriend, Bob Barlow, who were participating in the event for the first time this year. Irwin said she was persuaded by Barlow.

Barlow said his goal was to finish the race standing up.

He said he and Irwin went to the horse sale in Billings last year, but after reading about last year’s winter rodeo, he and Irwin decided to skip the sale and started practicing for the skijoring instead. Barlow is from Story and Irwin from Buffalo.

Another pair of first-timers this year were Luke Moen and Daniel Bell, both from Sheridan. Bell was the rider, Moen the skier, and both said this not only was their first WYO winter rodeo but their first time at skijoring.

Asked what prompted their decision, Moen said, “You only live once.”

The winter rodeo was called early on Sunday due to track conditions.

The Team of RJ Klotz and Claudia Schmidt won the Pro Division with a time of 20.04.

You can view a Gallery of Photos from the Weekend On-line at SheridanMedia.com