For hundreds of years, Sami people harnessed reindeer and strapped on Nordic skis as a way to travel across vast snowy expanses.

Reindeer races are still held in Tromsø, Norway; Jokkmokk, Sweden; Inari, Finland; and Nadym, Russia.

In 1915, it appeared as a recreational activity in Lake Placid, New York, and beginning in 1916 was a regular pastime at the Dartmouth Winter Carnival in Hanover, New Hampshire.

[4] In 1928, equine skijoring made an appearance as an exhibition sport at the Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Competitive skijoring was further popularized at winter carnivals in Hanover, New Hampshire, home to Dartmouth College, and Steamboat Springs, Colorado, as early as 1915.

To simplify the equipment, cowboys on horseback simply attached a long rope to the saddle horn of a western saddle, added a knot at the end of the rope, and the skier held on as the horse was ridden at a gallop down a long straightaway—usually an open field or a snow-covered roadway.

In Saint Moritz, Switzerland, skiers rein the horses from behind and compete in a heat on a full oval track.

In 1976, Denver, Colorado, listed skijoring as an exhibition sport in their bid for the Winter Olympics.

There is an effort to include equine skijoring in a future Winter Olympic Games should they be awarded to Salt Lake City, Utah, in 2030 or 2034.

[8] At the Arctic Man competition in Alaska, skiers are towed behind snowmobiles that travel up to 86 miles per hour (138 km/h).

Equine skijoring continues to gain media exposure with live broadcasts of American events on the Cowboy Channel and the Wrangler Network.

During the Yuan and Ming dynasties (1271–1644) historian John B. Allen wrote, "tens of dogs pull a person on a pair of wooden boards ... galloping on the snow and ice faster than a horse."

Since many leashed dogs naturally tend to pull a skier with no training, the sport cannot claim a single country of origin.

At the IFSS World championship event, skijoring races are separated into men's and women's, and one-dog and two-dog categories.

[15] The world's largest skijoring event occurred in February 2011 at the City of Lakes Loppet in Minneapolis.

A section of bungee cord is often incorporated into the line to absorb the impact of the dog's forward motion or a quick stop by the skier.

Training is best done on foot, before the person straps on their skis, to avoid being pulled into objects, like trees or half-frozen creeks.

At some events, to add difficulty, the skier is also required to grab one or more rings as they ski past a station on the course.

At times, 100 teams compete each day over a racing weekend, prize pots can reach upwards of $20,000.

[citation needed] The horses are trained to accept the presence of ropes and a skier behind them, and to remain calm in racing conditions.

Competitive equine skijoring races take place in eight states in the US, most in the Rocky Mountain West, as well as in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Alberta, Canada.

There are different variations of the sport across numerous countries worldwide: France, Switzerland, Denmark, Latvia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Ukraine and Russia.

[17] In Poland, Gazdowska and Kumoterska Parades feature skijoring in the Podhale region of the Tatra Mountains with seven events planned in 2022.

[19] Other US venues include Wisdom, Red Lodge, Boulder, Lewistown, Whitefish, Big Sky and West Yellowstone, Montana; Clark Fork, Hailey and Driggs, Idaho; Gillette, Saratoga, Pinedale, Sundance, Buffalo and Sheridan, Wyoming; Kamas and Garden City, Utah; and Silverton, Leadville, Meeker, Pagosa Springs and Ridgway, Colorado.

[22][23][24] Skijoring features in the 1998 film Silver Wolf, starring Michael Biehn and Roy Scheider.

Skijoring is also mentioned in the Castle Films short Snow Thrills, which was later included in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Another character, Tom Servo, describes skijoring as "A safe and fun way to blow a Saturday... or a knee!"