Skijoring is an individual sport where participants are pulled on skis by dogs, horses or snowmobiles. Skijoring is undertaken primarily for recreation.

Skijoring is a winter sport where the participant, wearing skis, is pulled by a horse, dogs, or a motor vehicle. Skijoring with a dog is a sport in which a dog (or dogs), assist a cross-country skier. From one to three dogs are commonly used. The cross-country skier provides power with skis and poles, and the dog adds additional power by running and pulling. The skier wears a skijoring harness, the dog wears a sled dog harness, and the two are connected by a length of rope. There are no reins or other signaling devices to control the dog: The dog must be motivated by its own desire to run, and respond to the owner's voice for direction. The skier uses either a classic diagonal stride cross-country technique, or the faster skate skiing technique. In races, the skate-skiing technique is almost exclusively used. The skis are hot waxed from tip to tail, to avoid slowing the dog team down. Classic skis with grip wax are not used for races but are occasionally used for extended back-country travel.

The goal of skijoring is to finish a race of a pre-determined length in the shortest amount of time.

Although some races are unsanctioned, held under the sole guidance of a local club, many races fall under one of three international organizations. In the United States and Canada, ISDRA (International Sled Dog Racing Association) sanctions many races. In Europe ESDRA (EuropeanSled Dog Racing Association) provides sanctioning, and the IFSS (International Federation of Sleddog Sports) sanctions World Cup races all over the world, as well as a world championship race every two years. At the IFSS World championship event, skijoring races are separated into men's and women's, and one-dog and two-dog categories.

Dogs have been used to pull skiers throughout the world so it is difficult to determine a country of origin. However, as a competitive sport, skijoring is believed to have originated in Scandanavia as an offshoot of the older sport Pulka. Competitive racing has been taken up in North America and gained popularity. Equestrian skijoring was a demonstration sport at the 1928 Winter Olympics.

Dogs
Harness
Horse
Skijoring Belt
Skijoring Line
Snowmobile

Skijoring dogs are taught the classic dog sledding commands to start running (hike), turn (gee and haw), to stop (whoa) and to pass distractions (on by). 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. To participate in races, skijoring dogs must be taught to pass, or be passed by other teams without interfering with them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skij%C3%B6ring