St-Hubert Derby
You can bet these racers aren’t going over the meadow and through the woods to Grand Mother’s house. These Canadian cowboys are racing one and two horse sleighs at St-Hubert sleigh races taking place during Carnival de Quebec in Canada. The festivities are over for this year, but I just had to share these crazy equestrian antics with my fellow horse lovers.
Derby St-Hubert
As a Californian I have only ridden in the snow on a horseback riding vacation two times. Both times were magical rides. My first time we were riding to the Little Beehive in Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. We started out in the sunshine, horseback riding alongside the shimmering blue waters of Lake Louise, then we continued climbing in elevation and hit a little rain; eventually we reached the snow line and the Little Beehive. I was giddy with excitement.
My next encounter with snow was at Triple Creek Ranch in Darby, Montana. I was on the Klicks for Chicks endurance ride and it was early November. I can’t say enough good things about this all-female horseback riding vacation. However, it wasn’t until I had returned to California when I heard about ski joring from the wranglers of Triple Creek. Those Montana cowboys and cowgirls are open to any adventure. This time it was skiing while being pulled behind a horse.
What is Equestrian Ski Joring?
The sport of Ski Joring began several hundred years ago in Scandinavian countries as a way to travel during the winter. Ski Joring is a relatively new sport to North America. In the 1950’s, riding horseback, ranchers attached a long rope to the saddle horn and pulled equestrians behind them on skis. According to the North American Ski Joring Association, organized races began in 1999 with the first sanctioned race taking place in Frisco, Colorado in January 2000.
Riding horseback
Have you tried sleigh racing or ski joring? What about ring riding? What other unusual sport have you tried on horseback?
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If You Go:
Quebec Winter Carnival
Article written by Travel Writer Nancy D. Brown of What a Trip. Photo credits: Carnaval de Quebec
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