Reindeer before a race	Nenets women discussing the race
The winners	At the start line
At the start line controlling the reindeer bulls	Ready to start the race
More racers
A proud reindeer	Relaxing before the race
A troika of Reindeer

Although not an expert on reindeer I have attended many festivals in Russia. The festivals are traditional and are held in the summer and the winter. Racing is the primary entertainment with the sleds be pulled over tundra or snow, depending on the season. There are also snowmobile or snow sleds races held before the reindeer races.

These pictures are obviously a winter festival. The temperature was about -20 degrees. The racing was held on a frozen river bed. The track was about 1 kilometer. The races were exciting because reindeer behave differently than horses. They do not really like to pull a sled. They also follow the leader.

So if one sled goes off the track all the others follow the them off the track. The drivers have a very difficult time controlling the reindeer.

Links to reindeer sites

Site put together about reindeer by 2 nd graders, now ranked number 1 by Google

Reindeer Caribou site by Arctic Studies Center Smithsonian

Excellent scientific site on reindeer and caribou

There are many more sites about reindeer but they are commercial in nature so not recommended. And of course there are the Christmas related sites that basically are trying to sell you something.

So if interested in reindeer look at the sites above. They give very good information and also have pictures. Also check out the other reindeer pictures at Siberia Gym. There are many more pages with pictures. Just go to the Home page of Siberia Gym and go from there.

And don't forget about the Natives. The reindeer in Europe and Russia are all domesticate. None of them are wild unlike Caribou that live in North America.