Reindeer racing

• bentehaarstad

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I went to a reindeer racing last weekend, at the same festival were I saw the Edward S. Curtis-exhibition I wrote about in my last post. Reindeers were traditionally used to pull sledges for the Sámi families, but usually not anymore. There are a lot of reindeer racing in the north of Norway, in Finmark, but I had only seen this kind of racing once before. It seems both the reindeers and the “drivers” enjoyed the speed. There are more photos from this competition in this link to my gallery. And there are also photos from the Lopme Naestie festival on this link.

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99 thoughts on “Reindeer racing”

  3. I particularly like that the racers are not wearing safety helmets. I’m all for safety, but these days I think it’s overdone.

    Oh, look! The humans are also not wearing helmets! Cool!

    And yes, great captures.

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  7. Hej Bente. Fedt indlæg. Jeg så billederne, før jeg læste historien. Da jeg så rensdyrene, tænkte jeg, de har det sjovt. Det er også din oplevelse, læser jeg 🙂
    Fantastiske billeder.

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      1. I remember discovering your blog with the greatest glee Bente when you showed the reindeer and the villagers and costumes…was it last year or the year before? I don’t know, but you gave me an indelible memory.

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  19. I’ve never heard of reindeer racing before, Bente (and I’ve read & viewed documentaries about the Sami people as I’ve mentioned before).
    Thanks for sharing you wonderful images of the event.

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  21. The reindeer really do seem to be enjoying themselves. Not so sure about the people on the sled behind the feet. They seem to be getting a lot of snow in their eyes!

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  29. Those reindeer certainly seem to be enjoying the thrill of the race Bente love the way you’ve caught them veering speedily sideways !
    Lovely photos 🙂

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  38. Det ser ut som om renarna har kul! Underbara fartfyllda bilder! Min mormor är från Finnmark, men jag har aldrig varit i Tana där hon är ifrån.
    Verkligen älskar bilderna!
    Allt gott till dej och en klem!

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    1. Men da har du sikkert vært i Finnmark. En fantastisk plass, men har bare vært der noen få dager. og ikke besøkt Tana (ennå), og heller ikke sett reinkappkjøring der. I Finnmark er de jo veteraner til å kjøre med rein. Tusen takk, og stor klem til deg også.

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      1. Nej, jag har tyvärr aldrig varit i Finnmark. Min kära mormor gick bort redan 1989. Mamma var där för första gången i somras.
        Jag har dessvärre heller inte sett någon renkapplöpning. Å andra sidan av har jag verkligen något att se fram emot! 🙂
        Klem og alt godt til dae!

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  48. Can’t believe I completely missed this post.
    Now that I’ve seen these photo’s I must say it looks like these reindeer are actually smiling. In the second picture their faces are positively beaming. Must have been great being able to be there and see that race.

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