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New England's version of ski joring doesn't resemble the classic Norwegian form very closely. There are ramps, jumps, and detachable rings and gates to challenge any skier game enough to negotiate a course, all while dodging the ice chunks being thrown in one's general direction by four galloping hooves. itary locals would start arguments with each other in the local bars, as in, "My horse is faster" or, "I'm a better skier." Eventually these braggarts stepped back from the bar and put their boasts to the test, leading to drag-race style competitions that added riders and the aforementioned challenging implements. East Meets West Geoff Smith and his wife, Brooke, the president and treasurer, respectively, of the North East Ski Joring Association, learned of the sport by surfing television stations. "I happened to flick onto one of those recreation channels," says Geoff, who discovered coverage of a race taking place in Idaho and put down the remote. The Smiths were immediately hooked. That spring, they flew to Jackson Hole, Wyo., to meet with board members of the North American Ski Joring Association to discuss how to bring the sport to the East. NESJA, which hangs its signpost from the Smith residence in New London, N.H., has been in operation since 2005, when they held their first race in nearby Newport. They are trying to simultaneously grow at a deliberate pace and fan the flames of enthusiasm to burn ski joring into the winter sports scene. C H RO N O F H O R S E .CO M W INTER 2013 85

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