We Ride Sport and Trail Magazine December 2017 | Page 10

10 / Sport and Trail Magazine

Choctaw Indian foal whose ancestors were selectively bred for their gentleness and gait, as well as beauty

The annual event in Sun Valley, Idaho set against a pristine backdrop of snow covered mountains, attracts many bold female equestrians as well as daring female skiers.

Veteran skijor competitor, Jeffery Dahl of Durango, Colorado rides Rage at Jackson Hole, Wyoming in 2016. The race is held annually at the base of the beautiful Teton Village Ski Resort.

I grew up in Perm, the big industrial city in Ural Mountains, Russia. We had a prominent horse race track that specialized in harness races. I was an exercise rider there through my school years. The rest of the time between school and the race track I was cross country skiing, as we lived at the edge of the city and the forest was literally around the corner. However, I’ve never seen those two activities put together until I got to see an equestrian skijoring race in the American West.

I first learned about Skijoring when I met Loren Zhimanskova, the head of Skijor International when she was promoting the movie Ice Cowboys at the Equus Film Festival in New York City in November of 2015. Watching this sport on the big screen took my breath away. The snow

under the hooves flying in your face, the high ski jumps, the rings you capture while being pulled by a rope behind a wildly galloping horse, the speed, the excitement, the adrenaline rush.

By the time I met Loren, I had already started my personal photo quest, “Horses in Our Modern Lives”, which was motivated by living in the big city, namely New York, and required re-confirmation that there are plenty of ways we cherish and maintain our equine-human partnership in a technological era. And it is very specific to the country with its unique history and culture.

The first skijoring competition at which I took photographs was Jackson Hole, Wyoming in 2016. I wanted to go so badly that I wrote to Loren and stated