Dubois Chariot Races

Some of you will remember my talking about Betty, the chariot-racing waitress that we met in Dubois, Wyoming in 2012. Well, the reason for the timing of our recent trip West was to see Betty race on August 13. If you haven't read (or don't remember) my previous posts about Betty, you can read about her chariot racing here and here and about her packhorse racing here. 

Betty was in the first race on this day, so I had no time to practice my chariot-racing photography. I learned which side of the track Betty would be on and positioned myself near the finish line on that side. The next four photos are of that race. Betty is driving the team with the one white horse. 

This picture almost makes it look as if Betty won her race, but she didn't.

Betty, returning to the track after getting her team stopped, with the help of the outriders.

A scene from the second race of the day

This is Betty's husband, John, winning the third race.

My camera was on the wrong setting during John's race, so the above photo is taken from the video that Doug shot.

John was away out in front of his competitor.

This photo is from Doug's video, as the competitors in the fourth race leave the starting gate.

A scene from the fourth race

Following is a set of five short video clips from this day of racing. The first clip is of Betty's race. The second is of the second race. The third is of John's race. The fourth shows the outriders trying to catch John's team at the end of his race. And the fifth shows the fourth race.

I apologize for the shakiness on a couple of these clips. Doug had zoomed way in, and it's hard to keep the image steady at full zoom. If you can get past the first few seconds of the clips, though, it settles down.

In the years since we first met Betty, we've stayed in touch and even reconnected once in Dubois. But we'd never really had an opportunity to sit down and talk with her and had never met John. This time, though, the four of us found time to go out for supper together and get better acquainted. That was even more special than seeing John and Betty race.

Thanks for supper, John and Betty. Your friendship has enriched our lives.

Chariot Racing...Alive and Well in the Western U. S.

Some of you may remember my chariot racing post from last October. In it, I introduced you to slender, soft-spoken Betty, a waitress in a cafe in Dubois, Wyoming, who races chariots for fun.

Here is Betty again, racing in the Wyoming State Championship races earlier this month.

Here, you can see that belt buckle that sparked our initial conversation with Betty last fall.

Betty placed 2nd in the 3rd division in the Wyoming championships, winning another buckle, horse blankets, and a traveling trophy.

This just shows how close two teams can be when racing against each other at speeds approaching 50 miles per hour.

The traveling trophy that went home with Betty this year.

When the chariot races were finished, a pony race was thrown in for dessert.

Like most chariot races, the Wyoming State Championship Chariot Races were held for charity, raising money for the Shriner's organization, to help three local children. There's no profit in the sport for those who participate. They do it for the love of it and for charity.

Betty says, "It's a rush coming out of those gates." I can imagine. Quarter Horses can leap out of the starting gates at nearly full speed. It would be a rush just to realize you were still in the chariot.

The 2013 World Championship Chariot Races are currently underway in Ogden, Utah. John and Betty weren't able to participate this year because John was needed at his workplace. These days, no one can take a good job for granted.

Credit for the photos in this post goes to Christian Hansen, contributor for the Gillette News Record.

Go Fast, Sweet Chariot

After our day in the Tetons, we spent the night of September 23, in Dubois, Wyoming. The next morning, we had breakfast at the cafe next door to the motel. Our waitress, Betty, was a slender, soft-spoken young woman who was sporting an enormous belt buckle...the kind that are sometimes given as awards in rodeo events. We asked about it, and Betty said she had won it. We asked what event she had competed in.

Most of you will be as amazed as we were at her answer. It was chariot racing.

It seems that chariot racing is a very popular winter sport in the western United States. Of course, that encounter with Chariot-Racing Betty sent me to the internet to do a little research. What I learned made me want to do a blog post about the subject. Betty and her husband, John, graciously provided me with some photos with which to illustrate the post.

That's Betty driving the team on the right.

According to my research, chariot (cutter) racing was begun in the 1920s as a way to pass the time during the long, cold winters. Cutter racing is said to have originated on the main street in Thayne, Wyoming when the dairy farmers would bring their milk to the creamery and make bets on who had the fastest set of work horses. As the competition grew they would bring their saddle horses to run and eventually went to smaller sleds known as cutters. Over time chariot racing became more sophisticated and the sleds were replaced by lightweight cutters, which were basically chariots on skis. When there wasn’t enough snow for the cutters, it was trucked in for special events.

To alleviate the need for snow, the cutters’ skis were replaced with wheels, and they later evolved into high-tech aluminum and fiberglass chariots with shocks that can be adjusted to track conditions.  Each team has two horses pulling a chariot, and two or three teams run a straight quarter-mile race in about 22 seconds, or at roughly 50 miles an hour.

Chariot racing is not for the faint of heart. As in harness racing, horses can spook and turn over the chariot, reins can get caught on equipment, and chariots can drift into one another and crash. It’s a dangerous sport.

Quarter Horses, Paint Horses, and Appaloosas dominate the sport because of the short racing distance, and their breed associations have approved chariot racing as an activity that earns points and recognition within their breeds.

A closer look at the chariot and another team raced by Betty and John

The thrill of victory...Betty was awarded this hand-blown glass trophy for winning the Norman Epler Memorial Race, held each Presidents' Day weekend in Saratoga, Wyoming. Betty and John have each won one of these highly coveted trophies.

Racing partners...and friends, too

John and Betty allowed me to choose from a huge selection of pictures that included both of them in races. I opted to narrow it down to a select few photos that featured Betty, since she was the one who first introduced me to the subject of chariot racing and since her slight build and gentle spirit made her seem an unlikely participant in the sport.

Still, it didn't seem right to leave John out completely.

And, finally, one last photo to illustrate how very different life in Wyoming is from life in Indiana:

It's been a pleasure getting acquainted with John and Betty. I hope our paths cross again.

Thanks to Hilary at The Smitten Image for including this post as a Post of the Week.