No chariot races this year in Glendo
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GLENDO - When you think of chariot racing, different images pop to the mind. Such as Rome, Sparticus, Kirk Douglas and perhaps Charleton Heston.
Certainly people from anywhere else but the wild, wild west would not equate chariot racing to Wyoming. Unless you are from Glendo, Wyoming.
In the past 20 years, March weekends of racing were set aside for preliminary chariot competition to qualify for state and then of course, the state chariot racing finals in Glendo. Complete with chariots, fire-breathing perfectly teamed horses and huge crowds of spectators, some standing ankle-deep in mud and a holding down a stout adult beverage in their hands. In past years they have even included Korgi dog races as kind of the “warmup band.”
“There will be no chariot racing this year,” Lisa Millikin said. “They decided not to come this year, I think because of the fuel prices and less racers.”
Money has traditionally been taken in by the group to help the Glendo FFA, 4H and the youth group.
“The racers all know each other and have really good camaraderie,” Gene Daly, racer and organizer said. “They’re great guys. There’s one driver here that came from Guernsey, one from Saratoga, several out of Afton and Glendo.”
After knowing the facts of people actually getting killed in the famous chariot race of Ben Hur, the question of safety is always a concern.
“It’s not too dangerous,” Daly said. “They have their horses fairly well broke, as long as they just don’t have a wreck. We’ve had some wrecks out here and it really gets the adrenaline going. We had one team that came out and hit a hump and threw the rider out. That’s why we have the outriders to catch up with the runaway chariot.”
According to Daly, the teams have to have four outs to qualify for the state tournament and the Glendo races gave the riders two outs for the championship weekend.
There is no age restriction to drive a chariot which consists of the chariot on wheels pulled by a team of horses. The problem, according to Tom Nelson, racer from the Saratoga area is that it’s a sport that was heavily participated in by generations gone by.
“The younger generation has not shown the interest that was there before the age of electronics,” Nelson said.
“We’ve had kids as young as 13 come out to race,” Daly said. “In a race last year, Jackson Newman drove and he is only a teenager. Most of these guys, however, have been running forever. Most of them are over 50. We DO need more young guys in it.”
One of those veteran 50-year-olds is Nelson. He is 58 years old and has been racing chariots since he was 17.
“My dad was in it when I was younger,” Nelson said. “I just came following him into it. It was primarily in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Colorado and Oregon had some teams years ago. They started racing their horses in the olden days. The horses that they brought their milk into town with. So, they started betting and they were running them down the main street of Thane, Wyoming. They started with sleighs and then went to wheels about 50 years ago.”
According to Nelson, the sport grew and gained momentum with better horses and equipment until it came to what it is today with more sophisticated rigs. He also mentioned that because of the sleighs, they couldn’t run on dirt so it was pretty much a winter sport and always had that element of danger.
“I was in a wreck once,” Nelson said. “It wasn’t nice. A horse came over and bumped the wheel and tipped me up off the ground. It just dumped me out of the cart and I landed in the dirt.”
Mike Newman is another racer who is not a stranger to an on-track mishap.
“I have had several wrecks,” Newman said. “But thank goodness I never got hurt. The one wreck that was probably the worst was on a very muddy track and I was tossed out of my chariot and slid on my shoulder for about 40 yards. The tongue came away from the neck collar and dropped into the ground. If you’ve ever seen the YouTube videos where it flips the guy, it was almost that scenario. So, you just lean back on your cart and try to keep the tongue up, but by the time I was at the finish I was exhausted, the tongue hit the ground and it just shot me out of the cart.”
Many colorful stories about this curious Wyoming winter sport can be gained as you sit with some of the experienced drivers who know firsthand what it’s like to have a team of horses going top speed on a muddy dirt track. No back protection. A metal shield in front. A bit of skill and a lot of luck. But all of the stories will not be heard this year from the chariot racetrack as it may be that another once popular sport is going by the wayside.