Over 10,000 spectators, many in cowboy hats, visited the Wasatch County Events Complex on Friday and Saturday to watch skiers weave through gates and fly off jumps while being pulled by rope by a horse and its rider. Heber City was the first stop of the Pro Skijor Frontier Tour, which will move on to its other four competitions across Utah, Montana and Idaho through the end of February. The fastest time was 36.01 seconds, clocked by rider Michael Miller, skier KJ Savaria and the fittingly-named horse, Smoakem.  A run involves flying through about 15 gates and grabbing a ring on the track. If a gate or the ring is missed, a 2-second penalty is added to the team’s score. Rosie Smith of Eden competed in 10 races across the pro, sport, women’s and novice categories over the two days. The nine divisions are largely determined by the skier’s ability and also include snowboarding, children’s and teen’s categories, and the century division, where the ages of skier and rider must add up to 100 or more. Smith said the warm temperatures and lack of snow have been unlike any Utah winter she’d experienced. This year’s snow track was made artificially.  Smith, who is 25, has competed at the Heber City skijoring event annually as both a skier and rider for six years. She’s been involved with both sports since she was a child.  “I’m the mother mucker,” chimed in Smith’s mother, Karen Bossner. “She gets the glory. I clean the stalls.” Because horse riding is “straightforward,” Smith prefers the thrill of skiing.  Mizelle Mulder of Saratoga Springs disagreed. She called pulling a skier on her fast-as-lightning steed, Finn, the “coolest thing (she’s) ever done.”  Credit: Michael Ritucci/Park Record Credit: Michael Ritucci/Park Record Some competitors prefer the speed of horse riding, while others live for the thrill of flying off jumps. Friday was Mulder’s 30th birthday, which she celebrated by competing in skijoring for the first time. When she rings in the next decade, she might try skydiving. Mulder’s concern was going too fast for her rider — like what happened to skier Beau Brown of Magna during his first pro race earlier that morning. “I had probably one of the worst runs in the Pro Division,” Brown laughed.  He ran into a gate within the first 10 feet of the run, which wrenched his ski off. He said part of the reason he washed out so fast was because the speed of his horse, Pistol Annie, was “a lot to manage.” But Brown remained determined. He’ll be competing at the tour’s other stops in hopes of being invited to the final competition in Salt Lake City. And at least Brown made an impression. He wore cow-patterned pants and a gold tinsel jacket, with a unicorn horn affixed to his helmet.  “I was just looking for something really, really flashy and over-the-top because that’s the thing they do here, and I love that sort of thing. I’m a flashy, over-the-top person,” he said. “I was going for ‘chandelier that fell on top of a cow.’” His wife, Jess, thought it looked more like Big Bird going to the disco. The couple was joined by their mini Golden Retriever, Ruger, a mold detection dog and mascot of Brown’s business, CH Inspections. Ruger wasn’t the only dog that made it out for the event. An unexpected canine competitor shot down the track on Friday after a particularly inspiring run, to the announcers’ shock.  The dog was Phil, a mischievous 2-year-old blue heeler-border collie mix. “He’s standing next to me, and then, I’m like, ‘What the hell?’ I see him on TV,” said his owner, farrier Brian Decanter, afterwards. “He never chases horses. He’ll chase cows.” Decanter’s 9-year-old son, Grayson, provided a demonstration of how Phil had gotten so fast by racing him in a circle. “Everybody’s petting Phil and asking his name. … This is like the millionth time. Everybody knows him now,” Grayson giggled.  Credit: Michael Ritucci/Park Record Credit: Michael Ritucci/Park Record Skijoring involves weaving through a series of gates and grabbing a ring to avoid time penalties. “I say he’s running for mayor. Hey, Phil, you running for mayor?” Decanter called as the dog was petted by one of many passers-by who recognized him.  Phil’s fame was matched only by that of the riders who had competed in camp costumes. The “Pirates of the Carabiner” team, composed of Boston skier Heather Thomas and Ogden rider Morgan Dickerman, dressed to sail the high seas, inspired by the spirit of skijoring. “(Skijoring) feels like a clash of two worlds that get to come together,” Dickerman said. “(It’s) kind of this rebellious take on the sport. It’s not your everyday thing you get to see a skier pulled by a horse.” The last year Dickerman competed, she did so in a tutu. Her horse, Thaya, wore one, too. Quarter Horse Jess, 11, was not subjected to that kind of embarrassment, though he did have to be a third wheel to his rider, Zoe Ziebarth, and her skier, Gavin Rawle. The Charleston couple has competed in skijoring individually, but this was their first year doing so as partners. They competed in the women’s, sport and snowboard categories and have already hit the road to compete in the tour’s next events.  “We’ve been counting down the days. … We’ll be in the car for seven hours next week together, hauling back and forth,” Ziebarth said Friday. “It really does bring us together.” The Pro Skijor Frontier Tour continues in Bozeman, Montana, Jan. 24-25 and will return to Utah Feb. 27-28 for the finals at the Utah State Fairpark. The post Skijoring kick-off in Heber City attracts cowboys, pirates, mischievous puppies appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less