And here's the horse-racing, as promised.

A couple of weeks ago, we saw a poster advertising Chariot Races. It was supposed to be in a field a couple of miles outside of Torrington; cost $5.00; from noon until 4. So, thought I, this sounds interesting, we should go!
I successfully remembered all the way to Lusk, Casper and back that I wanted to do this; and the following Saturday, we set out - only to find out that instead of the field promised, it was happening in a different field. One that happened to be about 1/2 mile from where we were staying. Handy, that.
The bad side - it was cold and windy and cloudy and really really cold. Brr. I spent the time in between races in the car trying not to freeze.
The good side - it wasn't raining or snowing. And there were all these horses! Skinny looking creatures, too; from being in training for racing, and not lazing about in a pasture eating themselves fat. The chariots (contrary to imagination) are not romanesque looking things, but teensy little aluminum platforms to stand on, with a curved front to lean against and wheels underneath. Woe betide the driver who goes over a bump; there's nothing to keep him on his perch! It was a lot of fun to watch - the horses in teams of two walking up the long muddy field, then racing back at top speed, spattering mud. One man drove with his whip in his teeth, like a pirate holding a knife. I think he was shouting around it too - something like "AAAIIIII AIIIII AAARRRRR AAAIIIIII" Teeth clenched the entire time. He won, too.

Then they had ponies - Shetlands, they must have been, they were so small - pulling small chuckwagons. It didn't seem quite fair to me that the smallest animals had to pull the heaviest, bulkiest wagons! But they were cute and fun to watch. They probably would have done better if there had been less mud. As it was, they got a bit bogged down and weren't very fast.

It SAID it started at 12, but it lied. That is - the whole thing started more or less at 12... which means, they started auctioning off something I never quite got. I think that was how they bet on the results? Bid on who you think will win? Maybe. It was away down the field from us, and even with the loudspeaker, we couldn't hear much to the point. The first race didn't actually start for another 45-60 minutes. Which meant, sniffsniff, we only got to watch the first 3 and one pony race, since we had an appt in town. Oh well. It was well worth my five dollars. :)