Brief History of Skijoring

It is Winter Rodeo Time again in Sheridan. The winter rodeo will be held on Saturday, Feb. 10, at the Sheridan County Fairgrounds. Skijoring is the main event at the rodeo, with cowboys on horses pulling their partners on skis, and competing for cash, buckles and other prizes.

Shawn Parker of Sheridan Travel and Tourism talked about the upcoming event and the difference between holding the event downtown vs the fairgrounds.

But how did skijoring start?

Skijoring come from the Norwegian word snørekjøring which means “ski driving.” Rock drawings in Scandinavia show depictions of skiers being pulled by elk and reindeer. Later, skijorers harnessed dogs, horses and were even pulled by automobiles.

In the 1928 Olympics, held in St. Moritz, Switzerland, skijoring was a demonstration sport, and the athletes were towed behind horses, which were harnessed and driven by the skier. Later, it evolved to the sport we see today, where a rider guides the horse and the skier is towed, similar to a water skier.

As early as 1923 in Wyoming the Cody Enterprise, Feburary 28, talked about winter sports, including skijoring.

The latest development in this recently acquired appetite for summer and winter play on the part of the people is sport in the snow. It has been evolved since the war. Perhaps the red-blooded young fellows who came hack from “Over There” in such fine condition that they must let off steam through real exercise have been in part responsible. Anyway, the idea has become wide-spread that coasting, tobogganing, skiing, snowshoeing. skijoring, hiking and all the other winter sports easily within the reach of the average American in the North are first-class fun. The complementary idea is that a real tussle with Jack Frost in his native wilds is more conducive to red blood and rosy cheeks and a good appetite than less strenuous exercise under warmer skies at home or abroad. Scores of winter carnivals were staged during December, January and February, with every sort of entertainment.

In Sheridan, during the past few years, the event has drawn large crowds from all over.

The Green River Star, May 14, 1909, a caption on a photo, two women on skis being pulled by an automobile.

Parla saw a novel form of “ski-running” the other day— a form that might be called “skijoring by motor,” in which the ski-runner are drawn by an automobile. Skijoring proper was introduced in Sweden and the ski-runner drives the horse that tows him.

And this caption under a photo in The Buffalo Bulletin, May 18, 1911, talking about skijoring with horses. The horses in the photo were being driven by the skier.

St. Moritz is the great winter playground of Europe and there the sports of that season of the year are most highly developed. Skating, tobogganing and skiing are all popular, but perhaps the amusement most liked by both men and women is ski-driving, better known as ski-joring, in which the skijorer is towed by a horse in the manner shown in the illustration.

Skijoring was even considered as a Olympic sport and at the 1928 Winter Games was a demonstration sport, but it is currently not a part of the Olympic Winter games.

Although in the first skijoring events using horses, the horses were riderless and controlled by the skier, here in Wyoming, the rider guides the horse, riding a Western saddle. The skier is pulled over jumps and through Slalom-type gates at speed. In some skijoring events there is a ‘switch-a-roo’ where the rider and the skier switch off, so the competitors have to be good at both horseback riding and skiing.

Fastest time and clean rounds win the event. Skijoring is held in many states, and throughout Wyoming.

Parker added that he is excited about the upcoming event this year.

There is no per-registration, teams have to register the day before the event on Friday, Feb. 9 at Black Tooth Brewing Company between noon and 7 p.m. “We only take entries and registration the day before the race,” Parker said.

So, for some winter excitement, there is the 2024 Sheridan County Winter Rodeo on Feb. 10 beginning at 10 a.m. at Sheridan County Fairgrounds.