RED LODGE — The ski-joring national finals were hosted in Red Lodge at the Home of Champions rodeo grounds on Saturday, kicking off the start of a weekend of competition.
“It’s just a super fun sport where the skiers meet the horsemen that you’d probably never meet … They started it with dogs originally, pulling skiers, and then it changed to the horses," said Marty Steffes, a former ski-joring horse rider.
The Red Lodge Ski-Joring Association hosted more than 100 teams across multiple divisions, which the group said its been doing since 1980.
“The fastest time in each event (wins) ... you have to hit the gates of the jumps, no faults, no wrecks," said Terra Anderson, who attended the event as a spectator.
Competitors came from all across the country, including Wyoming, North and South Dakota, Idaho, Utah, and Colorado.
“It’s hard to match up horses and riders, or horses and pullers, or skiers too, because you gotta get just the right combination in order for it to make a good team," said Anderson.
