Ski Joring in Whitefish, Montana

The marvels of living in a small town in Montana never cease!

The extent to which people go to entertain and have some fun in the winter is amazing.

I mean...

who in the world thought of the idea

of

a horse racing in a circle in the snow, 

pulling a skier over jumps, making them go through a course and 

timing the whole thing so as to be rewarded at a bar in town later?

I can tell you one thing...

it was a man who thought up this sport. 

The reason I know this is because I live with four little men who, when they get ahold of a rope, will tie bikes to wagons or scooters to skateboards or sleds to their snowpants (I have a picture of this one I'll share at a later time) and they will pull whatever they are pulling 

with that rope 

at dangerous speeds.

And that is what happened this last weekend at the Ski Joring here in Whitefish.

We went to the event, which was held at the local airport runway we were hoping the whole time that it was no longer in use, mostly worried about the safety of the skiers,

but soon found out that the riders were the ones to worry about. 

There were three horses that slipped and fell on this turn. I didn't get any pictures of the falls, but all the horses and riders ended up being okay.

Some of the riders came from Colorado and Wyoming, trailering their horses all the way for a chance at pulling a skier through the course and getting the best time. 

This cowboy was the man in charge and had a booming voice.

This cowboy had a special jacket just for the event.

I didn't even realize that when I took the picture.

I thought this cowboy looked very cool on his horse, snow falling around him.

And this cowboy just needed his picture taken because of sheer cuteness.

I thought this pony was pretty cool looking- like a Dalmatian.

I am sure that this kind of horse probably has a proper name and you horse people are gasping at my lack of knowledge. 

But, I am a California girl people. I know nothing about horses. 

We, um, got a little bored after awhile. 

I told Hottie Husband he should ski next year so I can whoop and holler from the sidelines and he can get a cool award at a bar later in the night. 

But, these spectators were having fun. 

They were visiting with friends...

cheering on their buddies...

getting lots of beverages from that little silver bus behind them from

the Great Northern Brewing Company.

I don't know if you can see it, but on the back of the bus it says,

"It's Buckin Good."

Nice!

The kids got very excited that

a passenger train came by!

They waved...

and I didn't realize until I looked at the pictures that this engineer

opened the window

and waved back.

Oh, the wonders of a small Montana town!