These guys are athletes. They hold 4 ramped up thoroughbreds just before the horn goes to start the race, at the same time hanging on to their own revved up outriding horse; then they follow the chuckwagon through the pattern and down the track. They have to finish within 200 feet of their wagon. They are often called upon to help out when things get a little sideways, as you saw in my last post with the horse/equipment problem- one of them actually went between the 2 lead horses to help untangle things; risky move! I watched one race years ago where the driver was thrown from the wagon and 2 outriders jumped onto the wagon to stop the runaway, only the lines were tangled around the team so one of them crawled up the pole and onto one of the horses to grab the lines and get the team stopped- all the while they were in full pounding flight. These are brave and athletic men.
Holding the team just before the horn goes. The second outrider is at the back of the wagon ready to throw the stove in.
Stove is in, team is under way. Going with them....
Now to get out of their way so they can turn the top barrel......
and jump on while the horse is in full stride....
Then around the barrel pattern following the wagon. Notice he is holding the short lead and a handful of mane, and no stirrups yet. Gather the reins, stick your feet in the stirrups and ride at Mach 3 with your hair on fire!
They were the winning wagon!
Both outriders made it to the finish line in time.
5 comments:
Wow, not for the faint of heart!
That wagon wreck you were talking about, that was Chanse Vigen that climbed the pole. He's a driver now but has been pulling double duty outriding too this year, not to mention he's drove a few heats for Colt who's out due to a back injury (Jason Glass has drove for him a few heats this year too).
The outriders helped out a lot when Rick's wagon flipped a few days ago. Thankfully no one (horse or human) was hurt. I feel bad for Rick, it's like he's jinxed at the Stampede. That wreck took him out of it and then the next two nights he was wicked fast!
I was rooting for Rick Fraser! That was quite the wreck, I put a link to the slow motion video of it on my Facebook page.
Yes, Chanse Vigen, and Rio King were the heroes at that wagon wreck.
Barrel racing looks pretty dang tame compared to chuckwagon racing. ;-).
I had never heard of chuckwagon racing! What an eye-opener. I'll be sure to check one out someday!
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