These are some pictures from Chariot Racing, a local sport with tradition in Southern Idaho, Western Wyoming and Northern Utah. Also known as Cutter Racing, even though they no longer race with cutters, racers put in a lot of money for basically a hobby. With little return value, racers, or riders, buy former race horses who are now too old for traditional horse racing or were too wild for the sport.
Chariot racing is also a family affair. For as much as 4 or 5 generations, riders have taken their two horses on the 50 mph, 10 second race. Not surprisingly, with modern technological advances, many choose to ride ATV's and dirt bikes over chariot racing. Regardless, the decline of the sport brings families closer together. Riders spend a lot of their own time training and caring for the horses, and they do not hesitate to embellish their horses with glitter and braided hair before a big race. Nonetheless, like horse racing, animal rights groups oppose chariot racing for what they call "cruel treatment of horses."