Gomez retiring as outrider

Among a group of young outriders was a man who has been working the Chariot Races longer than the other four riders have been living.

Larry Gomez has been working the Chariot Races for 33 years. He started when he was 33, and has missed only one race and that is when his brother-in-law died.

Being an outrider is not an easy job. They sit in the wind, dust beating their faces, waiting for the next race.

They don’t get to enjoy the hoopla going on around the track, drink a few brews, or visit with their friends.

Their job is a serious one. They have to stop more than two tons of thundering hooves, while riding their own horses.

The outriders have to coordinate where they are going to be and when to slow the racing chariot that just ran a quarter mile track in less than 30 seconds.

The horses can’t stop on a dime. In fact, the course used to slow the chariot horses down is longer than the race track.

“That is where the real action is,” Hadley Berger said Saturday night after the first set of races.

The outriders this year were Gomez, of Douglas, Wyo., Berger, who grew up in Saratoga, but now lives in Laramie, Dusty Smith, of Saratoga, Cutter DeHart, of Laramie, and Peter Walnofer, who is attending school in Cheyenne. Walnofer is a friend of DeHarts and grew up in Nebraska.

As the chariots race past the finish line, the outriders line up in the track to watch to see which chariot is going to need help.

Sometimes they use the whole track before they can get the chariot slowed down.

It’s tricky work. One of the outriders is in the lead to pace the horses, while the other two grab the reins of the chariot horses.

It’s like watching a high wire act, hoping no one falls to the ground - except in this case, there would be eight feet to trample over them.

Gomez was recognized this year for his 32 years of chasing chariots. He is retiring this year and from now on, he will be able to enjoy the races like all the other specters.

When the races had as many as 37 teams, Gomez would bring four horses and use all of them in the same day.

The Lions Club gave Gomez a set of spurs as a thank you gift, with chariot teams on each spur.

At the end of the races, the outriders wait around to see who wins the Dave Pennock Good Times trophy and Interstate traveling trophy.

As everyone pulls out, they load up their horses and head home … until next year.