My Own Mushing History and Activities
I have been casually interested
in the sport of dog mushing throughout the 15+ years that I've lived in
Alaska but active participation was limited to training my own pet dog
to pull a toboggan during historical reenactments and winter camping trips.
Following the death of my beloved wife,
Shiloh, I had free time on my hands and needed an activity that would
keep me mentally and physically active during winter. Dog mushing
seemed the ideal solution. I have many good friends in
Two Rivers who encouraged me to pursue the sport, and have served as
teachers and mentors.
From the very beginning I have
wanted to drive dogs in a manner that is historically accurate. As
a historical reenactor, I want to recreate and reenact many
eighteenth and 19th century mushing
techniques while exploring the back country, hunting, camping and
sight-seeing. Focusing on a limited number of large, historically
authentic freight dogs allows me to do all of these things within the
financial constraints that are a fact of my life and lifestyle. I
feel I am making good progress toward that goal, but don't expect to
achieve it for another 3 to five years.
The first step in the project was to
learn the mechanics of driving a team and dog sled. During the 2005/06 season I handled
for local sprint mushers Edie Forrest and her nephew Randy Dunbar. Edie
races the 6 dog class and Randy is currently running the 8 dog class
with an eye toward advancing into the unlimited. I
also ran dogs with my good friend Mike Green. Last year (2006/07)
I trained with Lynn Orbison as well as working with my own
team. Lynn specializes in fostering, rehabilitating and re-homing
rescued sled dogs, and many of the dogs I handle for her are DWIs (dogs
with issues).
Being a handler and training assistant offers some great advantages to a
new musher. It allows one to learn the craft under the supervision of a
mentor before investing considerable time and money in dogs, sleds and
equipment. It also allows one to decide what style of mushing is most
appealing, establish personal mushing goals and create a plan to achieve
those goals.
Over the summer of 2006 I was able to
acquire two good sleds and all the necessary lines and harness needed to
run a small team. My basket sled is historically authentic to the late
nineteen and early twentieth centuries, but my toboggan sled is
thoroughly modern. In a tremendous stroke of good luck I was also able to
adopt two excellent experienced sled dogs from the Fairbanks North Star
Borough animal shelter to compliment my two pet dogs. In the
spring of 2007 I was given a pair of
Hedlund husky pups that are
proving to be excellent sled dogs. Recent additions to the team
include two brilliant leaders retired from long distance racing teams,
another big trap-line leader and Amazing Grace, a yearling with tons of
talent I am training for a friend.
As a result
I currently have a strong team of 10 hard playing dogs. When
compared to the huge kennels of other mushers my kennel is very small,
yet we are able to follow any trail a larger team can negotiate.
Sometimes we just do it a lot more slowly.
Through the winter of 2006/2007, my
focus was on conditioning and training for all members of the
Stardancer team, including myself. When not stuck at my
"place of employment" I tried to run my dogs as
frequently and as far as is prudent, never allowing more than 3 days to
pass without a good training run for the team. In addition to running my own team I
continued to train dogs with Edie and Randy, and especially with Lynn.
In February 2007 I was contacted by a
production crew from Towers
Productions to assist in a television documentary of the 1925 Nome
serum run for the Weather Channel. With the help of a borrowed dog
and some very good friends the Stardancer Historical Sled
Dogs depicted the team of "Wild" Bill Shannon, the first musher
in the relay race of mercy. The documentary is planned to air
sometime in 2008.
In September I had my kennel
inspected for the Mush with P.R.I.D.E. Voluntary Kennel
Inspection Program, and am very proud that we not only met all
the mandatory requirements for certification, but every single
one of the optional requirements to earn the "Certified Plus"
rating.
My goal for the 2007/08
season is to train my team to run in the
Chena Hot Springs Resort's annual Centennial run, a
passenger race that is more historical reenactment than race. I
frequently post information about our current training progress on my
Old School Alaskan blog.
  
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