Meath pair win unusual winter sport event – pulled by horses on a sofa built on skis

Irish friends who competed to defend their title at an extreme winter sport competition in Canada lost out on their bid but did win another unusual event.

Susan Oakes and her best friend Barry O'Brien Lynch failed to retain their sprint title at the Skijordue Festival in Calgary, but did win the Alpine Lounge race on Saturday. They also came second in the long jump event.

Skijoring is North America's fastest growing winter sport and consists of a horse pulling a skier over obstacles through the snow at breakneck speeds up to 65km per hour.

Their new accolade involved the pals both sitting on a couch, complete with table and a lamp, and being pulled across the snow at breakneck speed by two horses and riders.

Susan and Barry were the only team from Europe among up to 200 competitors from all over Canada and the US who took part.

The friends from Navan, Co Meath, shocked the skijoring world when they became the first Irish team ever to win the prestigious feature 2.5 furlong sprint race at the festival just before Covid-19 hit in 2020.

Barry (43) was even dubbed the 'Tractor guy' by competitors who marvelled at how the duo had trained without any snow with a tractor pulling Barry in a sledge along a roll of carpet. This time their no snow training technique consisted of Susan on horseback pulling Barry along on skis tied to skateboards.

The win was even more impressive considering that accomplished horsewoman Susan (39) was told by doctors in 2005 that she'd only have two years left of being able to ride a horse due to an autoimmune disease and that she made a remarkable recovery after a fall from a horse in 2016 left her with an acquired brain injury.

They entered the competition after Susan, who holds a Guinness world