Several from the West End have competed in recent years in the San Juan Skijoring, an “extreme winter sport” event held in Ridgway. A corporate-sponsored competition and also part of a greater circuit, two-member teams run a course with one person galloping a horse, while also pulling a skier (or snowboarder) behind them. That skier has to complete a course with gates (specific turns) and jumps. Different levels of competition in the skijoring exist, from novice to open (professional).
Sam Rich, Blaine Tedder, Michelle Zunich and T.J. Haskell, all of the West End, have entered the event for at least five or six years. In the past, Rich has been a skier, but this year she’s riding one of her horses and pulling her daughter Morgan Wallace. Blaine Tedder is set to pull Mont Zunich.
Rich has a string of horses — Martini, Roper, Copper, Carl, Al, Max and Red to name a few— and most all of them have done the skijoring. They’re pack horses, part of an outfit, and they don’t mind having a taut rope rub against their sides or hind ends, since they already know how to pack dudes or animals. They also don’t mind the chaos that is part of skijoring. Rich’s horses are basically what horsemen call “bomb proof.” They regularly ride in parades from Telluride to Norwood and Nucla. Rich said the horses actually enjoy skijoring.
Rich, too, loves everything about the event.
“It’s too much fun,” she told the Forum last week. “The first year we did it, we fell in love with it.”
Riders in every class have to execute jumps of some sort; Open competitors jump a full-size truck. Ccontestants will be permitted to walk the course beforehand and see the layout. Riders can also take their horses up and down the course. No teams, though, are allowed to practice pulling the skier until their go.
The skijoring starts Friday, Jan. 12, with the novice and runs through Jan. 14. There will be a beer garden on site and food vendors, plus a hospitality tent for competitors.
Rich and her crew are ready to have some fun this weekend. Every year, either she, her horses, or her skijoring partner have won money. She’s not won a buckle yet in the skijoring, but perhaps this could be her year. The closest she’s gotten in the past is second place.
For Rich and the other West End riders, part of the fun is also connecting with some of the people they’ve met on the circuit. Some competitors will trailer their horses down from as far as Montana and Wyoming for the skijoring. Many of them will also do the Leadville or Silverton skijoring events too.
There will be new entries this year. In fact, another contestant with ties to the West End will be competing. Elizabeth Foley, of Norwood and a working cowgirl, has entered with teammate Cayley Odell, also a working cowgirl. Foley and Odell might be novice in the skijoring, but they’re both experienced hands when it comes to horses, and Foley is also a ski instructor part-time.
The San Juan Skijoring event, produced by Rich Weber, welcomes people to come watch. Tickets are available online or at the event. Admission is free on Friday. Rich also said she believes the event is live-streamed, or televised, for people who want to watch from home.
