The Wild West, on Skis

On March 8, a Sunday, the Dahls completed their runs in the open division, which included five skiers. Afterward, Greg’s knuckle was bleeding and Jason had a welt on his cheek where he took a hoof-molded snow chunk to the face.

As children, the Dahls were ski racers. Their father, Jeff, who wears 10-gallon hats and cowboy boots, moved to Leadville from Minnesota and began buying quarter horses. He rode them in skijoring events while seasoning his sons for a role at the end of the rope.

“He dug deep into the western way of life,” Greg Dahl said.

“My dad always says he couldn’t find skiers good enough, so he made them,” Jason Dahl added. “We also water-skied as kids, so it was the perfect hybrid. We had 100 acres north of town, and we’d set up a practice course. We’d be out there after school, training.”

Most skijorers use slalom carving skis and wear goggles and full-face helmets. The most important thing for a successful jump is building enough speed to put slack in the rope, they said, enabling them to negotiate jumps and rings without a taut connection to the horse dictating their movements.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/sports/skiing/skijoring-skiing-horses.html