What is the purpose of the gray horse in the photo? Is he part of the race, or in the wrong place at the wrong time?
that is our "Outrider". His job is to throw the stove in the back of the wagon when the gun goes off to start the race and then mount his horse and catch his team before they cross the finish line. It takes a pretty good cowboy to do that job right... it aint no easy task. and it is sure enough dangerous. you have 4 wagons with wide open out of control animals turning a barrel to face you and run past you. it takes a horse that dont get rattled and a lot of get up and go about it. Lots of the best outriders mount on the fly- Or "pony express em" as some folks call it.